Page:A SEA Dyak Dictionary in alphabetical parts, with examples and quotations shewing the use and meaning of words.pdf/6

VI of Malay and use fewer Malay words, but there is an increasing tendency with them to pick up any Malay words they happen to hear used, when in the Rangers or in the courts, and adopt them.

The Saribas and Skarang Dyaks, the keenest hunters after jun­gle produce (gutta, rotan, etc.) are better off than any other Dyaks and travel long distances, even to the Celebes, in quest of old jars, yet, in spite of their strong trading instincts and their smartness they do not make use of Malay words, when speaking their own tongue, to so great an extent as the two previously mentioned tribes, the reason being perchance, that they, or at all events the Saribas, have always been the dominant race in their river and as such have learnt to look down somewhat upon the Malays.

The Sabuyau and Bugau Dyaks can mostly speak Malay; the latter who inhabit the country beyond the Kalingkang range in Netherlands India territory are said to speak it fluently, the reason probably being that they are frequently visited by Kapuas Malay peddlers. The Sabuyau are a dwindling race. Scarcely a dozen families remain in their old home in the Sabuyau river, at the mouth of the Batang Lupar, but the majority live at Lundu where doubt­less the purity of their language lias suffered much through their close intimacy with their Malay neighbours.

The Ulu Batang Ai or Ulu Ai Dyaks, who live further up the Batang Lupar river than any other people, probably speak the purest dialect of the Sea Dyak language, but their accent is harsh and their speech rough sounding and unpleasant compared with that of those who live nearer the sea. From their position they have naturally had little intercourse with Malays until more recent years, and their knowledge of Malay is practically nil.

The importance of the Sea Dyak language in Sarawak cannot be over-estimated.

It is the language of one of the most numerous races in the country—a race which is increasing and spreading further and further year by year. It is the language of the most energetic and go-ahead of all the native races in the Island of Borneo, and it is a living and growing language.

Throughout the Batang Lupar, Saribas, Kalaka, and Rejang rivers and their tributaries it is par excellence the trade language. Nearly all Chinese living in these rivers speak or understand it; indeed if they understand a little Malay, they usually prefer to talk Dyak, for it comes easier and more natural to them to do so, as many are married to Dyak women. The language is familiar to all Malays who live in or near Dyak countries or who go inland (mudik ka Daya), and even if they are strangers they find they can rapidly acquire a knowledge of this language which is in so many respects similar to their own. Wherever there is a government station of any importance it is garrisoned usually by Rangers and this language there is in daily use.