44 EARLY INDO-CHINESE INFLUENCE 



Now the ideology of (he Mon-Annam group of languages 

 expressed on the same irlnciple is 2, 4, 6, 8, VL, that is : — 



2. — Genitive follows noun. 

 4. — Adjective follows noun. 

 6. — Object follows verb. 

 8. — Yeib follows subject. 

 VI. — Subject verb object is the normal order 

 of the sentence. 



Assuming then the ''Semang" ideological formula to be cor- 

 rect, it is clear that the syntactical structure of these Negrito 

 dialects differs considerably from that of the Mon-Annam 

 languages, but (as the author above mentioned points out) 

 conforms to the same type as the Selung (a mixed or hybrid 

 Malayan dialect of the Mergui Archipelago) and is very similar 

 to that of Andamanese, which is g^iven as 1, 4, 5, 8, I. III., 

 which means that in addition to the points above noted the 

 object sometimes preced s the subject instead of coming after it. 



On the other hand, according to Mr. Clifford,^^ the ideology 

 of the Senoi dialect of Sakai, and presumably of the other Sakai 

 dialects also, would appear to be identical with that of the Mon- 

 Annam group. This in itself is enough to draw a line between the 

 speech of the Negritos and that of the fairer race, which accord- 

 ing, to Mr. Clifford differ also widely in vocabulary, and the 

 identitj' of the Sakai and the Mon-Annam structures must be 

 admitted as an argument in favour of classing the former dialects 

 iu the same group as the latter and might even be' brought 

 forward to support the view that a strain of Indo Chinese blood 

 exists in these aboriginal tribes. While however admitting- 

 that conclusion to be a possible one, it is necessary to point 

 out !hat the argument on which it is at present assumed to rest 

 is 1 y no means strong : the Malay ideology is also practically 

 the same as that of the Sakai and Mon-Annam groups and 

 it has nut yet been proved that the Sakai structure, though 

 identical with the other two, is not in its origin independent 

 of both. At any rate, its connection with the one may be cjUite 

 as remote as with the other. That both have been in a position 

 to exercise an influence over it, is, as we have seen, sujfficiently 

 proved by the mere verbal evidence of a comparative vocabulary 

 £9, J. S. B. E. A. y.. No. 2t. p. 23. 



