l6 SOME NOTES ON THE SAKAI DIALECTS. 



dialects of Sakai spoken in the tract of jungle, or " Sakai 

 country " above referred to, and shall only use the vocabula- 

 ries collected in other parts of the Peninsula for purposes of 

 comparison and illustration. 



The two dialects here mentioned are called by the Sakai of 

 the lower half of this district " Sen-oi" and " Tern-be' ", res- 

 pectively, though the term u Sen-oi" is applied to itself by 

 each of the tribes in question, neither of which will allow that 

 the other has any right to the appellation. The term " Gob " 

 (a stranger) is applied to all mankind other than the hill-tribes- 

 men, the term "Gob Malayu " being used for the Malays, 

 " Gob Chi-na* " for a Chinaman, and "Gob Bi-ug" (the 

 white stranger) for a European. Aline drawn from Blanja on 

 the Perak River to the Bidor mountains, and thence to Kuala, 

 Nenggiri in the State of Kelantan, will roughly divide these 

 two tribes from one another, the country South of this line 

 being inhabited by Sen-oi, and the northern division by 

 Tem-be'. Trade and other intercourse is carried on between 

 the Tem-be' and Sen-oi, but though the dialects spoken are, 

 in my opinion, undoubtedly mere variations one of another, still 

 they differ sufficiently to render it impossible for a Sen-oi to 

 understand a Tem-be' and vice versa, unless either is familiar 

 with the dialect of the other. 



The grounds on which I base my statement as to the near 

 connection between these dialects, and their intimate relation 

 with one another, are the curiously close resemblance which 

 exists between many of the more elementary words in both 

 Sen-oi and Tem-be'. The following examples, taken almost 

 hap-hazard from my Sakai vocabularies, will amply illustrate 

 the above fact, and, in my opinion, are sufficient to justify the 

 belief that both tongues are sprung from the same source, even 

 if one is not a mere corruption of the other : — 



English. Sen-oi. Tem-be\ 



Cha' 



Chip 



Ok 



Kod 



Lup 



To eat 



Cha' 



To go 

 To give 

 To take 



Chip 



Ok 



Kod 



To laugh 



Luk 



