:. ©F/THE INDO-CHINESE NATIONS. 175 



at least ten in number, and the dialects of Sumatra, 

 vary almost as miicli, on a srtlall scale, as the dialects 

 d^ t\\Q: Chinese ; and to jumble together a number of 

 C'Gi1-esponding- wovds in all those dialects, may there- 

 fore be no very difficult task. Some coincidences 

 there certainly are^ between the Malnyu and the 

 Chinese^Maridarhi language ; thus in the first personal 

 pronoun, saya and o"/^«i which both signify /in ]\Ia- 

 ktyUy'V^iy nearly coincide with the Chinese seao and 

 ¥igo, AV4iich have the same signification; but, on the 

 whole, these coincidences seem neither very numerous 

 not important 



The 'Malayu langtiag'e is'extremely well fitted for 

 beittg a Lingua Franca, or general medium of com- 

 munication among the eastern isles, by the smooth- 

 ness and sweetness of its tone, and the simplicity of 

 its structure and construction. Its simple pronouns 

 indicate rank and situation, and are almost as nume- 

 rous as \\\ Chinese ; but the different dialects of the 

 Malayu vary considerably, both in the use of the 

 pronoiihs and of the verbal auxiliaries. It may also 

 be observed, that the more mixed and impure any 

 dialect of Malayu is, it is more verbose, more indefi- 

 iiite in its cxptessions, and more loaded with useless 

 auxiliaries and epithets, which encumber the lan- 

 guage, without adding either elegance, force, or dig- 

 nity. The beauty and elegance of the Malayu is its 

 simplicity ; and the purity of its minor dialects mav 

 often be ascertained by this criterion alone. 



The literature of the Malays, though the language 

 is well adapted for poetry, is not distinguished W 

 many features of originality. A degree of monotony 

 and repetition occurs in all the compositions of the 

 monosyllabic languages, which hi^s a great tendency 



