Page:An introduction to Indonesian linguistics, being four essays.djvu/116

 104INDONESIAN LINGUISTICS the other side”. — From §§ 86 and 97 it follows that we must recognize in the double function of ἰ, as both article and pre- position, a Common IN feature; but in the case of rɑ, on the other hand, only one function appears to be Common IN, viz. its use as an article.

The articles can also serve as unemphatic pronouns of the third person: e.g. Bug. soroq ἰ, “he recedes”; Mak., from the Zamenspraken (dialogues), p. 35: lino i, “it is calm (weather)”. Note. —If the article in Mlg. is ni, why does it not appear in the above-mentioned a luha and i masu? The answer is: In phrases of the nature of formulas the article can be omitted.

97. The 'preposition i. Philippines, Tag.: i baba, “at the bottom” — Celebes, Bug.: i liwěṅ, “on the (other) side ” — Borneo, Day.: i wa, “at the bottom” — Java, Old Jav.: i sira, “by him ” — Sumatra, Gayo: i Gayo, “in the Gayo country ” — Madagascar, Hova: i masu, “before the eyes ”. Note.— In Tag. and Bug. the preposition i is no longer a really living element of speech, it is only found in certain formulas; but from the point of view of our monograph that is immaterial.

98. Kamberese possesses a preposition la, “at, by ”, with a secondary form lai. This lai is the preposition la + the preposition i. — Herewith we have a piece of evidence for the existence of i on the Eastern Border also. Note.—That we have rightly explained lai by la + i, is proved by the following parallel: Old Jav. combines its two prepositions i and ri into iri, and all three forms have pretty much the same meaning, viz. “at, to ”. See also Hazeu, Gayo Vocabulary, p. 532.

99. The preposition i also does duty as a word-base for verbal forms. The one we meet with most frequently is ma-i, “ to go (to) ”, with the formative ma-, for which see § 148. This verb is found in many languages, from Form, on the Northern Border to Simalurese on the South- Western one. So now we have evidence for i in two more areas of distribution.