606 
SrfiCIMENS OF THE DIALECTS OF TIMOR. 
On my first arrival at KIssa, I was very much struck by the pe¬ 
culiar harshness of the language, owing to the immense number of 
gutturals it contained, coupled with the total absence of the nasal 
“ ng ”, (so common in the western dialects of the Archipelago, at 
well as in those of the Australians and Papuans), and with the almoss 
total absence of sibilants. I was thence induced to suppose that 
the language of these groups would prove an entirely new one, but 
upon examination I found that at least one sixth of the words con¬ 
tained in the vocabulary corresponded with the Malayan, but were 
so disguised by the substitution of one consonant for another, that 
the affinity, in many instances, could not be recognised without dif¬ 
ficulty. For example, in the words common to both languages the 
“ t ” of the Malayan is represented by a guttural “ k ”; c< s ” by a 
guttural “ h ” ; and “ b ” by “ w The follow examples will give 
an idea of the effect of such transposition : 
English. 
Malayan. 
Kissa. 
English. 
Malayan. 
Kissa. 
Stone 
batu 
wahku. 
Hog 
babi 
wawi. 
Sea 
tase 
kah^. 
Feather 
bulu 
wulii. 
Eye 
mata 
makan. 
Hot 
panas 
inanah. 
Dead 
mati 
maki. 
| Wrong 
sal a 
hala. 
Heart 
ati 
akin. 
' Hard 
kras 
kereh. 
Heavy 
brat 
werek 
Milk 
susu 
huhu. 
Broken 
pataii 
pahki. 
Wash 
baso 
baba. 
Ear 
telinga 
kilin. 
New 
bharu 
wohnu. 
East 
timur 
kimur. 
With regard to the structure of the language I cannot say much. 
To decide upon this point it is necessary to he perfectly familiar 
with the language, and where it has not a written character, this fa¬ 
miliarity can only be acquired by long residence among the people 
who speak it. I have therefore contented myself with giving a few 
sentences at the end of the vocabulary, and even these are not to be 
entirely depended upon, for as it became necessary for me to obtain 
them through the medium of the Malayan language, my informants 
may have adopted the idiom of that language in giving me the sen¬ 
tences that I required. I feel confident, however, that its composi¬ 
tion will not be found to differ greatly from the Malayan, or rather 
from the Bugis, (to which, of all the written languages of the Ar¬ 
chipelago it appears to bear the greatest affinity) and also that it 
will prove more simple and defective than either. It struck me as 
