THE SAKAI AND SEMANG DIALECTS, 53 
equally well-marked, are not observed by the author, that is not 
his fault: it may be explained that they somewhit resemble the 
French » sounds, but are not unfrequently followed by an 
ordinary consonant. The pronunciation of the palatal letters 
(ch, j, sh) seems to require further elucidation, as it is not quite 
clear whether they are identical with the corresponding English 
sounds or somewhat softer. ‘There is a question whether all the 
so-called diphthongs are really diphthongs or merely two vowels 
in juxtaposition, each retaining its separate force. A few letters 
seem to be doubtful: e. g., 2 and fin Newbold’s list, where the 
former represents a rough (probably palatal) 7 and the iatter 
generally a p; but both z and f appear, thouch rarely, in Sémang, 
and ina few Sakai words. On these points perhaps future 
collectors may throw more light. 
Reduplication and repetition as modes of word formation are 
next noticed, and then follows a most valuable section on pre- 
fixes and infixes. Their existence as formative elements in these 
dialects has been pointed out before," though never worked out 
as completely as is done here. ‘There can be uo two opinions as 
to its importance, especially in relation to the closely similar 
formation of the Mon-Annam and the Malayan families of speech. 
It may however be as well to express a doubt as to the soundness 
of the author’s view that a prefix can be assumed whenever a 
word appears in two slightly varying forms differentiated by 
their initial syllables, or by the absence in one case of an 
initial syllable which appears in the other. In the first place, the 
mutability of sounds in these dialects is something quite remark- 
able, but this need not imply that the syllable which changes is 
a prefix, that is to say a merely formal accretion and no part of 
the essence of the word: for the same mutability shows itself in 
the final consonants,” which must surely be part of the root. 
Secondly, where there are two forms, a longer and a shorter, it 
is by no means certain that the shorter is always the original 
one: it may be only an abbreviation, the result of rapid speech 
and phonetic decay. Some allowance, too, must be made for 
the defective observation and spelling of some collectors. 
u. e. g., by Mr. W. W. Skeat in Selangor Journal, Vol. V, p. 328. 
v. The author gives instances of the interchange of k, -t and -p. 
R. A. Soc., No. 39, 1903. 
