Page:An introduction to Indonesian linguistics, being four essays.djvu/263

Rh closely related to Hova, and it is to be observed that in Hova the sound o no longer varies between o and u, but has become completely identified with the latter, so that Hova no longer possesses any o at all.

46. The varying pronunciation of sounds also occurs in certain IE languages. Thus Finck in his "Lehrbuch des Dialekts der deutschen Zigeuner", § 1, note 4, notices a case of variation between w and b.

Full and Reduced Pronunciation. 47. In some IN languages certain sounds are pronounced not in their normal, full form, but in a weak, reduced form. In Bontok, final g, d, b "are often scarcely audible" (Seidenadel). In Gayo "in the combinations ng, ñj, nd, mb the media is so very much weakened in pronunciation that in many  cases it is impossible to make out whether it is present at all" (Hazeu). In Hova "final vowels are on the point of disappearing altogether" (Rousselot).

48. This weak pronunciation is displayed particularly by such furtive vowels as the Minangkabau ǎ in such a word as púluǎh (disyllabic) < Original IN puluh, "ten"; by vowels that owe their existence to the principle of the repetition of sounds mentioned in § 232, like the y in the Hova phrase ari gyaga, "and is surprised ", for ari + gaga; by such sounds as merely serve to separate or link together two vowels, like the w in Bugis wanuwa, "land", for which some other languages say wanua. The weak pronunciation of the last-named class of sounds is reflected in the varying spelling of the manuscripts, which sometimes write and sometimes omit the corresponding letter. In the Bugis tale Paupau Rikadong the phrase "to the child" = ri + anaq is written riyanaq (p. 4, 1. 4) and rianaq (p. 10, 1. 18).

49. Weak pronunciation is the preparatory step towards complete disappearance. Thus the media after the nasal, which as mentioned in the preceding paragraph is weakly