92 THE SAKAI DIALECT OF THE ULU KAMPAK. 



notice the increasing influence of the Malay language among 

 them, especially in places where the Sakais have begun to fre- 

 quent the public markets, as in Tanjong Rambutan, Gopeng, 

 Kuala Dipang, Kampar, Tapah, Bidor in Perak, and doubtless 

 in many other districts. 



The language represented in the following pages is that 

 spoken in the settlements on either side of the upper course 

 of the Kampar River*) in the Ulu Pulai, Ulu Gopeng, Ulu Kam- 

 par, as well in the hills around Batu Gajah, while the inhabi- 

 tants of the Ulu Kinta speak a language unintelligible to this 

 tribe. I have not been able to find any tribal name among the 

 people, though they evidently are what has been called Sen-oi 

 by and since Mr. Clifford. The only appellation with which 

 I have always heard these people designate themselves is " Mai 

 Srak " i. e. the people of the country or the jungle, in contra- 

 distinction to the " Mai Gdp " (also Mai ga), the strangers i. e. 

 the Malays. I have never heard in conversation the expression 

 " Gob Malayu " given by Mr. Clifford, except when " Malayu " 

 was given as translation of "gop", as in diik, rumah or house. 



Sen-oi seems to be a variation of the word srg-6n which 

 means " man ". 



In the transliteration used in the following pages, I have 

 expressed the accentuated syllable, whenever this has been ne- 

 cessary, by an acute ('), while (") merely indicates the length of 

 the vowel over which it is placed. All vowels have the Italian 

 sound except the following : 



a sounds like Swedish a or Danish aa, similar to English aw 

 in saw." 



a has the sound of the German Umlaut, similar to English 

 ai in " air ". 



ti and U sound as in German " Wiirde " and " fiir", or as in 

 French " sur " and " sure " 



A peculiarity of this language which ought not to remain 

 unnoticed is the pronunciation of final diphthongs, ai, ao, oi and 

 ui, which are almost pronounced as if the latter vowel had be- 

 come a consonant y or w (resp. v). The same pronunciation is 



* The late>t Map of the Malay Peninsula is unreliable in the upper 

 courses of this and neighbouring rivers. It is very desirable that the latest 

 surveys of the Government and of private surveyors should be published. 



