LANGUAGES OF SOUTHERN INDO-CHINA. 21 



IV. Loss of second syllable : — 



Pechah ... pek [bek] .. pakaw [pako]. 



Patah ... Pak [bak] ... puit [pat]. 



Buka ... peek [bok] ... pak. 



Mata ... mat [mat, mot]. 



Tanda ... tan [dan] ... 



Tolak ... tol [dol] ... 



Pakai ... bak [peak] ... buik [puk]. 



The Cambojan and Peguan words have been transliterated, 

 to the best of my ability, from the written languages : where 

 the pronunciation is different, this is indicated by a second form 

 in square brackets, following in the case of Cambojan, M. Ay- 

 monier's spelling and in the case of Peguan the indications 

 given by Haswell, adapted to the ordinary modern system of 

 romanization. 



This list could be considerably lengthened, specially as re- 

 gards Cambojan, if space permitted : but I think it is enough * 

 to show that there is a field of research waiting for any Malay 

 scholar who has a fancy for hunting up Malayan words in these 

 languages. It would however be a great mistake to suppose 

 that the bulk of the vocabulary of Peguan or Cambojan can 

 be accounted for in this way : the contrary is the fact, and at 

 first sight any Malay student looking through a dictionary 

 of either of these tongues would be struck with their non- 

 Malayan aspect. It is by neglecting the essential relationship 

 which exists between Peguan and Cambojan f and ignoring the 



*In presenting a list which merely compares a few words in Pegu- 

 an and Cambojan with what I believe to be the corresponding words 

 in Malay, without taking into account the other Mon-Annam dialects 

 and the other languages of the Malayan family, I am aware that I am 

 offending against one of the primary canons of comparative philology. 

 But my present object being to make out merely such a prima facie 

 case as will justify further investigation in this direction, I have 

 thought it superfluous to being in the corroborative evidence that can 

 be supplied from the other languages. » I hope some day to deal with 

 this matter more fully and systematically. 



f It will interest Straits readers to know that this was first noticed 

 by our Straits authority, J. R. Logan. It has since been conclusively 

 proved by Forb3s in his " Languages of Further India." 

 R. A. SOC, No. 38. 1902. 



