﻿J. T. Thomson. — The Whence of the MaoH. 47 



that the Malays, who are nearest to the Malagas! by position, are yet most 

 distant by ethnology, and, on the contrary, the most distant tribes are yet, by 

 language, the nearest — in other words, the earlicsr the migrations from the 

 parent state, the nearer are the similarities, the more intimate the connection. 

 Referring to New Guinea and Malicolo, this principle applies to Negro as well 

 as mixed races. Thus, if we may be allowed to reason on the above narrow 

 basis, there seem to have been periodical waves of migration emanating from 

 the focus of energy — South India or Barata — the first and most distant wave 

 reaching far Polynesia, the second Madagascar, Sumatra (intei-ior), and 

 Mindanau ; a subsequent wave carried a new language to Australia, and 

 between that and modern times the Sanscrit impulsion has been by far the 

 most notable, in giving letters, arts, and science to a large portion of the 

 Indian Archipelago. 



That the archaic language of the South Asian Negro was highly vocalic 

 may also be indicated by the following comparison, corroborative of the above 

 princij)le. Thus, the most distant and earliest waves of migration have the 

 fewest consonants in their alphabets, viz.. Sandwich, six ; Marquesas, seven ; 

 New Zealand, eight; Tahiti, nine; Awaiya of Ceram, ten; Malicolo, twelve ; 

 Tanna, thirteen ; Malagasi, twelve ; Wugi (Celebes), fifteen ; Mindanau, sixteen ; 

 and Malay, eighteen. In other words, those races who have been nearest and 

 most in contact with the modern or historic consonantal languages of Asia, 

 have in the course of ages borrowed most. 



In order to give an idea of the comparative time taken in the changes of 

 roots of languages, I have drawn up a short vocabulary (Appendix III.) of 

 the English and Saxon, in juxtajaosition to the Malay and Maori, with inter- 

 mediate tongues. I regret that I have not had access to a Sanscrit dictionary, 

 so I have been only able to obtain three words of this. Over 800 years of 

 separation has had no radical efiect on the European languages, and of the 

 Polynesian words given, with immensely longer separation, this might almost 

 also said to be the case.* It will reqviire farther to be remarked that a 

 modern English dictionary contains about 80,000 to 90,000 words, of which 



* "Maori Races of New Zealand, by Wm. Colenso, F.L.S." "Its grammar is peculiar 

 as compared with those of western languages, having neither declension of nouns by 

 inflection, nor conjugation of verbs as there obtains, all such being clearly done by 

 simple particles affixed or suffixed. Its singular is changed into the plural number by 

 prefixing a syllable. There is no auxiliary verb " to he," but the particle ano often 

 supplies its place. Every verb has a causative as well as active and passive meanings. 

 Intensitives, superlatives, and diminutives, abound. It has double dual pronouns, and 

 also a double plural, both of which may be termed inclusive and exclusive, allowing of 

 great grammatical precision when speaking. " 



Such might be the description used in writing of the languages and dialects of the 

 Indian Archipelago, of which the Malay is now the best known to the European. 



