Page:An introduction to Indonesian linguistics, being four essays.djvu/276

 SECTION IV : PHONETIC LAWS OF THE SIMPLE SOUNDS, SUMMARILY STATED. Preliminary Observations. 89. I have prepared for my own use a list of all the phonetic laws of all the hitherto known IN languages. From that list I here give a selection of the more important phenomena, being guided in my choice by the interests of IN research on the one hand and those of IE study on the other.

90. Phonetic changes are either unconditional or conditional (see § 10); in the latter case I add the condition. But it may happen that the condition is composed of several different factors, which it would take too long to go into; or alongside of the cases that follow the law there may be a serious number of exceptions; or the material at my disposal may be incomplete: in such cases I employ the neutral formula: "the phonetic change occurs in certain cases".

Laws of the Vowels. 91. Original IN a. I. It persists for the most part unchanged in the living languages. Original IN anak, "child", appears as anak in Old Javanese, Dayak, etc., as anaq in Bugis, etc.

II. Original IN a becomes o in several languages; thus in Tontemboan before w, hence Original IN awak > Tontb. owak, "body".—It becomes e in several languages; thus in Sumbanese by Umlaut, hence Original IN tasik > Sumb. tesi, "lake".—It becomes i in several languages; thus in Taimuruna by complete assimilation, hence Original IN lima > Taim. limi, " five ".—It becomes o in certain cases in Gayo, Rh