36 THE FORMATION OF WORDS, 
BS kelupak, to open up, as the developing banana bud 
(cf. kupak); 
& ae selubong, to cover ; 
SS selongkar, to turn upside down; 
soe selengkar, to be anxious ; 
jal. selongkang, to be counterfeit ; 
etc., etc., 
All these forms indicate conjugationa] changes of the pri- 
mitive words, with which most are coupled in the enumeration 
above. It is a conjugation which corresponds to the Tenth 
conjugation of Batak Grammar, and is formed by the infix -al - 
and another verbal infix or prefix. While there exist in Batak 
four different classes of these verbs, according to the difference 
of the infix or prefix combined with the characteristic of the 
conjugation -al-, the Malay seems to have preserved none but 
forms: which combine the commonest of all verbal prefixes, me-, 
men-, meng- mem- or meny- with the infix -al-. I know of no 
similar formations in Malagasy and Tagalog, though they might 
possibly be found after a more careful search, perhaps in a 
slightly varied form, in one or the other of the Philippine lan- 
guages. I will, however, for comparison, subjoin one or two 
examples from Batak : 
mangh-al-aputi, to do hastily (from haput) ; 
mand-al-etes, to be open (as country without jungle) ; 
mand-al-ntus, man-al-utus, to glide swiftly along (as a 
boat under sail). 
3. Before closing my remarks on the ancient forms of 
conjugation in Malay, it is necessary at least to mention the 
most common of all verbal changes, the one which in Malay 
has superseded all the rest. I refer to the one marked 
by the prefix: me-, men-, meng-, mem- or meny-, all of which 
are really the same, modified slightly by combination with the 
initial consonants or vowels of the verbs. This conjugation is 
Jour. Straits Branch 
