Thomson. — Whence of the Maori. Iv 



aspii-ates to the Maori two, one dento-labial to the Maori none, and four 

 dento-palatals to the Maori tw^o. 





Labial. 



Sibilant. 



Palatal. 



Dental. 



Aspirate. 



Dento-labial. 



Dento-palatal. 



Malay- 



... b, p, m 



s, z 



lc,g 



d, t 



h, to, y 



/ 



j, n, I, r 



Maori 



... J), m 



— 



k 



t 



h, w 





n, r 



The eifects of this on the languages will be seen by the following examples : — 



Suka, agree, in Maori, becomes suka in Malay. 



AM, fire, in Maori, becomes api in Malay. 



Sua, fruit, in Maori, becomes lua in Malay. 



Suruhuru, hair, in Maori, becomes bulubulu in Malay. 



Kohatu, stone, in Maori, becomes hatu in Malay. 



Mahana, warm, in Maori, becomes panas in Malay. 



Ngahurw, ten, in Maori, becomes sapulu in Malay. 



Rima, five, in Maori, becomes lima in Malay. 



Tohutohu, direct, in Maori, becomes tuju in Malay. 

 and so on. Thus, with a knowledge of the bases of orthogi-aphy in different 

 languages, one radical may be traced (even though it may assume a different 

 form) to great distances. The cause is seen in the result, so, because the 

 Maoris have no letter 6, they pronounce hua as hua, etc., yet the radical, 

 wherever it germinated, was common to both. 



Again, by comparing several sentences in each language, we jBnd that in 

 Malay vowels are to consonants as 100 : 122, against 100 : 63 in Maori. This 

 indicates a wide difference in articulation, due no doubt to the approach of the 

 Malay to the consonantal languages of Asia, from whence they borrowed. 

 Hence Malay is phonetically more forcible in expression than the languages of 

 Polynesia. 



Malagasi and Malay. 



The Malagasi language, as stated before, has five vowels and sixteen con- 

 sonants. Comparing the latter with Malay, each have three labials, two 

 sibilants, two palatals, and two dentals ; the Malagasi has one aspirate to three 

 in the Malay, two dento-labials for one of Malay, each having four dento- 

 palatals. Thus, their orthography rests on a nearly equal basis, as below : — 



Labial. Sibilant. Palatal. Dental. Aspirate. Dento-labial. Dento-palatal. 

 Malay ... i,p, in s,z k, g d, t h, w, y f j, n, I, r 



Malagasi b, p, m s, z k, g d, t h f,v j, n, I, r 



The effects of this will be seen in the phonology, thus : — 



Toaka, toddy, in Malagasi, becomes tutvah in Malay. 



Ova, change, in Malagasi, becomes ubah in Malay. 



Ovy, yam, in Malagasi, becomes ubi in Malay. 



Vono, kill, in Malagasi, becomes buno in Malay. 



Voa, fruit, in Malagasi, becomes bua in Malay. 



Rivotra, wind, in Malagasi, becomes ribut in Malay, 

 and so on. Hence the same original exjDressions are clothed in the articulation 

 peculiar to each language, so as to conceal their identity until the principle of 

 their construction is set forth. 



