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THE LANGUAGES OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 
A SYSTEM OF CLASSIFICATION AND ORTHO&RAPHY FOR COMPARATIVE 
VOCABULARIES, 
The first step towards elucidating and comparing the lan¬ 
guages of the Indian Archipelago is the adoption of a settled 
mode of arranging and writing the words of which they consist. 
This may seem an easy matter, and it is so if we are satisfied 
with any arbitrary method that suggests itself, or has been used 
for other groups of languages. But if we seek one that is 
natural, and adapted to the peculiar character of the languages 
with which we have to deal, we shall find that the task is as 
difficult as it is important, and that a system combining sim- 
pkcity with freedom from errors and deficiencies, cannot be 
attained without the application of much more labour than has 
yet been given to the subject. 
To facilitate the comparison of the Malay with the other 
languages and dialects of the Archipelago, we some time ago 
arranged the vocabulary of the former under the usual gram¬ 
matical classification of nouns, verbs, &c. preserving an 
alphabetical order in each class. In the progress of this work 
we were made practically aware of its many disadvantages 
both intrinsically and with reference to the purpose we had in 
view; but, unwilling to sacrifice what had been accomplished 
at the expense of much time, we persevered until we had com¬ 
pleted a large portion of our task. When we then attempted 
to use this portion in forming vocabularies of unwritten lan¬ 
guages, we discovered that it rather retarded than aided us. 
Seeing therefore that, in the long run, we should lose time by 
continuing to use it, we did not hesitate to discard the fruits 
of our previous labour and begin anew on abetter foundation. 
To she w the imperfection of a merely grammatical system of 
arrangement, particularly for the languages of the Archipelago 
and Polynesia, we need only observe that in these languages, 
words do not appear to have originally existed under the three¬ 
fold form of nouns, adjectives and verbs This verbal simplicity 
has been preserved by many to a large extent, and even in those 
in which the distinction of forms is most artificially and sys¬ 
tematically observed, it has so little penetrated and sunk into the 
substance of the language, as to be still clearly recognized by 
the people themselves as something superficial and superadded. 
In all languages a multitude of ideas must find expression in 
all three forms, but the word appropriate to each form often 
presents itself as an independent symbol to the illiterate. But 
