222 B. N. Cust — LanfjiMtjes of the Indo-Chinese [Nov. 



own, they use the word Kawi as correlative to Arabic, the depository of all 

 their learning, chiefly translations. In some species of composition the 

 writers introduce Arabic terms, as a proof of their learning and religious 

 attainments, but very few Semitic words have become actually part of the 

 Malay language. 



" The nouns have no accidents ; gender is onl}^ sexual ; number is indi- 

 cated b}^ a word of plurality ; cases by prepositions ; the only instance of an 

 inflexion is to express a possessive ; the idea of time in the verb is indicated 

 by particles, but they are often omitted ; the relation of the genitive is 

 expressed by juxtaposition, and the governing words precede the governed ; 

 a verb is changed from neuter to active by affixing or prefixing certain 

 inseparable particles ; the adjectives follow the substantives ; one part of 

 speech is formed from another with great ease by prefixing a particle, and 

 the same word in its primitive form is often used colloquially for several 

 different parts of speech. As in the Hindustani language, Arabic and 

 Sanskrit words can be incorporated into the Malay at the pleasure of the 

 speaker. It has been for centuries the lingua franca of the Archipelago, 

 and its simplicity, power of adaptation, and smoothness of pronunciation, 

 make it one of the strong vernaculars of the East, likely to absorb its weaker 

 neighbours. The best grammars are by Marsden, Crawfurd, in English ; 

 Etout, Favre, in French ; Roorda von Eysinga, 1840, Tugault, Pijnappel, 

 1866, in Dutch. The dictionaries are by Crawfurd, Favre, Marsden, Pij- 

 nappel ; one was commenced by Van der Wall, who died, but the work is 

 to be continued by Van der Tuuk. The vocabularies, reading books, and 

 treatises are without number in English, French, and Dutch. The Koran 

 has been translated into Malay ; the whole Bible has been translated both 

 into High and Low Malay, and in both Arabic and Roman characters. 

 Newbold, Crawfurd, Logan, and Favre give us vocabularies of the Orung 

 Binwuh, and the Samang, but there is much room for further inquiry. 



" The Javanese is the language of the island of Java and the adjacent 

 portion of Sumatra ; it has a high and a low form ; it is the most improved 

 and copious of the Malayan sub-family. Its written character, derived from 

 the Indian, is used by the Sundanese, Balinese, Madurese, and people of 

 Lombok, whether Balinese or Sassak, and partly in Borneo and Sumatra ; 

 its letters are not in the well-known classification of the Nagari ; the 

 character is perfect to suit the sounds of the language. The foreign in- 

 gredients of the language are very much the same as those of the Malay ; 

 the grammar and the syntax are very simple, and much is left to be gathered 

 from the context ; the general features of grammar are the same as those 

 described in the Malay. The population of Java and Madura amounts to 

 seventeen millions ; but of these, four millions speak the Sundanese, and 

 two the Madurese. The language is one of the most copious in the world, 



