22 SOME NOTES ON THE SAKAI DIALECTS. 



In addition to the above vowel sounds, there are the semi- 

 vowels w and y, pronounced as in English, ex., Wek=to 

 shoot with a bow; Wih=donot!, desist!; Yat n =a grand- 

 father; Yap— to speak. 



There are also the diphthongs ai, pronounced eye, ex., 

 Pai=recently, just, only just; Laish=:an ant. 



ait pronounced like the vowel sound in how, ex., Pe-lau- 

 i=a star; Be-lau=a blow-pipe. 



oi pronounced like the vowel sound in hoy, ex., Sen-oi= 

 a man ; Che-noi=a post. 



The consonants are as follows, and are similar to those in 

 English, in so far as their value is concerned : — 



b, ch, d, g, h, j, k, I, in, n, p, r, s, t, and z. 



These consonants combine as follows : — 



«£• similar to the Malay c, ex., Ngen-tap=the testicles; 

 Meng=the cheeks. 



ny similar to the Malay (m _j> ) or the Spanish n i ex., Nyuh= 

 heavy ; Nyun=near. 



sh, which is equivalent to the Malay ^j* , ex., Ke-lesh=a 



mountain ; Jish=daylight ; Shok=the navel. 



There are two distinct r's in Sen-oi — one, which is gut- 

 tural, pronounced very deep down in the throat, I have ren- 

 dered r, ex., Ra-hu=the sky, the heavens ; Rej-a-roj = 

 lost, to lose one's way: and the other, which I have rendered 

 rr, is a rolled r more pronounced than the rolled r in French. 



Another peculiarity of Sen-oi is the existence of what, for 

 want of a better name, I have termed " nasal finals." These 

 are final k n , final/", and final t n . They are pronounced by 

 closing the. lips and emitting a very slight nasal n sound in a 

 descending tone after the final k, p or t has been articulated. 

 A similar sound is found, I believe, in the Hottentot dialects, 

 but I have as yet had no opportunity of comparing Sakai with 

 the African tongues. 



Every svllable in Sakai is pronounced separately and dis- 

 tinctly, with a kind of catch between each, and when Malay 

 words are adopted into the dialect, they too are always split 

 up into their component syllables. 



