Page:An introduction to Indonesian linguistics, being four essays.djvu/156

144 consists merely in this, that they appeared to me to be the most fruitful for my theme. It is only the inclusion of the Basa Sangiang that demands a more detailed explanation. The name Basa Sangiang means "language of the spirits", the genitive "of the spirits" being indicated merely by position, without any special formative. It is the liturgical language of the Dayaks. It differs from the Dayak proper in vocabulary and morphology. Thus in the last of the Songs of the Dead we find the sentence: "She has for cradle a spider's web" = Has + cradle spider's + web" = batuyaṅ lawa. Here by means of the formative ha- is derived from the WB tuyaṅ, "cradle", the verb batuyaṅ, "to have a cradle"; ordinary Dayak says hatuyan. However the Basa Sangiang may have originated, its formatives are strictly IN. Thus one of the formatives which it specially affects, viz. ṅa-, or ṅam-, occurs in another language of Borneo, namely in Tidung :

Tidung: ṅalikut, "to bind", from WB likut. nampuki, "to abuse", from WB puki.

Basa Sangiang: ṅalayan, "to rest", from WB layan.

ṅampelek, "to interrupt", from WB pelek.

In a similar way all the special features of the verb in the Basa Sangiang can be shown to be genuine IN; therefore I am justified in including it among the twenty-four languages.

11. Now follows a list of the texts of the twenty-four languages selected as a basis for my investigations and delineations:


 * 1) Bontok: mythical stories, accounts of battles, headhunters' ceremonies, working songs.
 * 2) Tagalog: Guillermo Tell ni Schiller.
 * 3) Tontemboan: mythical stories, descriptions of sacrifices, prayers at sacrifices, legends, ghost stories, tales.
 * 4) Bareqe: stories about animals, funny stories, popular songs, riddles.
 * 5) Makassar: the war epic Maqdi, the romance Jayalangkara, elegies, children's songs.