THE EISA W AH I LI. 



U9 



ments. The sound would be soft and harmonious 

 were it not for the double initial consonants, 

 aspirated or not ; for the perpetual reduplications 

 (the Arabic Radif), 1 a savage and childish con- 

 trivance to intensify the word, and for the undue 

 recurrence of the coarse letter K. Possibly the 

 fondness of the people for tautology may have 

 tended to develop their tautophony and euphony. 

 Abounding in vowels and liquids, the language 

 admits of vast volubility of utterance; in anger 

 or excitement the words flow like a torrent, and 

 each dovetails into its neighbour till the whole 

 speech becomes one vocable. 'Withal, every vowel 

 has its distinct and equal articulation. It wants 

 the short and obscure sound of the English and 

 other European languages (e. g. a liar, h^r, f/rst, 

 actor, and hurled) called by us the original vowel 

 sound. Like the Chinese and Maori lan^uasres, 

 and the other South African tongues, it confounds 

 the so often convertible letters, the L and the R. 2 

 The slaves, the Wasawahili, and the wild natives 

 mostly prefer the former, e. g. Mabeluki for 

 Mabruki, and the Arabs and civilized speakers 



1 Iu Kisawahili reduplication sometimes seriously modifies 

 the root meaning, e. g. Mbhali means 1 tar' or 'distant ;' Mbhali- 

 Mbhali is different or ' several,' meaning 1 distinct.' 



2 The Tupys of the Brazil, according to the Portuguese, 

 ignored both sounds — I presume initiative. 



vol. l 29 



