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CHAPTEE VII. 



CURIOSITIES OF THE MALAGASY LANGUAGE! WITH NOTES UPON 

 THE "HISTORY," "POETRY," AND "MORALITY" EMBODIED 

 IN NATIVE WORDS. 



MALAYAN, NOT AFRICAN AFFINITIES — ONENESS OVEU THE ISLAND — MUSI- 

 CALLY SOUNDING — PARALI-ELISM AND BHYTHMICAL STRUCTURE — 

 CURIOUS DEFICIENCIES AND FULNESS — PREFERENCE FOR PASSIVE — 

 DIALECTS — DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COAST AND HOVA FORMS — TABOOED 

 OR "fIdy" words — OBSOLETE WORDS — ADDITIONS FROM FRENCH AND 

 ENGLISH SOURCES — ARABIC INFLUENCE — EXAMPLES OF THE "HISTORY," 

 "poetry," AND "morality" IN MALAGASY WORDS— WORDS INTRODUCED 

 IN RELIGIOUS MATTERS— ONOMATOPOETIC WORDS. 



The preceding chapters upon the origin, divisions, and char- 

 acteristics of the different tribes inhabiting Madagascar may 

 now be followed by some account of their language, noting a 

 few of those curious features which distinguish it from our 

 western tongues, and especially showing (to borrow terms 

 from Archbishop Trench) how much " history," " poetry," and 

 " morality " is embodied in native words. (Some few parti- 

 culars — it wiU have been observed — have already been 

 noticed in discussing the origin of the Malagasy people.) 



At the outset we have the remarkable fact that although 

 Madagascar is, comparatively, so near Africa, the speech of 

 its people is not allied to that of any African tribe, and has 

 very few points of connection with the languages of the con- 

 tinent. Malagasy is, therefore, not of African stock, but is a 

 member of the great Malayo-Polynesian family of languages, 

 being, in fact, its most westerly representative. In Easter 

 Island, in the Pacific, we have its farthest eastern limit, so 

 that at the Equator these nearly allied tongues are spoken over 

 an area embracing more than half the circumference of the 

 globe. It seems very extraordinary that the peoples speak- 



K 



