24 LANGUAGES OF SOUTHERN INDO-CHINA. 



Malayan and alien tongues. The Malayan element is strongest 

 in the southeast, weakening progressively towards the north and 

 west. 



(3) At a remote age, before the introduction of the alien 

 element just referred to, probably the whole coast of southern 

 Indo-China from the Irrawady to the borders of Tongking, and 

 certainly the eastern part of it from Cape St. James to the 

 neighbourhood of Hue, was more or less occupied by communi- 

 ties speaking a pure Malayan language, possibly already slightly 

 differentiated into dialects. 



(4) It was probably from this region at a time when it was 

 still purely Malayan, that the various emigrations took place, 

 which ultimately carried dialects of that language to the distant 

 islands in which they are now spoken. 



I am content to rest this last proposition on the grounds 

 put forward by Professor Kern in the essay already referred 

 to ; the other three appear to me to follow, though not all with 

 the same degree of certainty, from the linguistic evidence of 

 which some specimens have here been brought together. 



Since writing the above, I have seen in the T'oung Pao for 

 March, 1901 (Series II, Vol.2, No.l, p. 86) a review by M. Gus- 

 tave Schlegel of a recent Siamese grammar. In noticing this work 

 (which appears to be the best Siamese grammar hitherto 

 published) after pointing out, what has been pointed out before, 

 notably by the late M.Terrien de la Couperie, that Siamese con- 

 tains a very large percentage * of words common to it and 

 Chinese (especially, the numerals f which are, up to a certain 

 point, pure Chinese loan words) and also a considerable number 

 of Sanskrit and other Indian words, the eminent Chinese 

 Professor of Leyden hazards the view that the residuum of 

 Siamese will be found to be a Malayan language, and supports 

 this thesis by a few words which no doubt are Malayan but may 

 very well be loan words like the Indian ones; everything that 

 the venerable professor writes is worthy of consideration, but 



* De la Couperie puts it as high i as 33£ Iper cent: "Languages of 

 China before the Chinese : " pp. 59-00. 

 t Not however, "one'" and "two." 



Jour, straits Branch. 



