Page:A Concise Grammar of the Malagasy Language.djvu/8

 (Cambojan), Javanese, Malay, Tagala (Philippine Archipelago), and, no doubt, other members of the Malayo-Polynesian family.

Khmêr: slap, dead; samlap, to kill. Javanese: hurub, flame; humurub, to inflame. Malay: pilih, to choose; pamilihan, choice. Tagala: basa, to read; bumasa, to make use of reading.

Originally a prefix, as it still is in Samoan (ex. moto, unripe; momoto, to die young), this particle seems to have worked its way into the body of the word by a process of metathesis analogous to the transposition common to most languages (compare Anglo-Saxon thridda with third)."

Briefly stated, the influence of foreigners upon the Malagasy language is as follows:—

(1) The influence of the Arabs is seen in the names of the days of the week, the Hova names for the months, and in many terms connected with dress, bed, money, musical instruments, &c.

(2) The influence of the English and of the French is seen in many abstract scientific, theological, and architectural terms, and in the names of modern weapons. Above all, the Malagasy people have gained much by the reduction of their language to the condition of a written tongue, and by the translation of the Bible into Malagasy—for which benefits they are more especially indebted to the labours of the English Missionaries.

G. W. PARKER.