Page:An introduction to Indonesian linguistics, being four essays.djvu/290

278 e and o and the less sonorous i and u of Hova and Kolo respectively.

II. The consonant following the pěpět is the determining factor. In Pabian-Lampong, ě before r becomes a, while before m it becomes u, etc. Hence Original IN sěmbah, "respectful salutation" > Pab.-Lamp. sumbah. III. The determining factors cannot be ascertained; thus in Bimanese, where the pěpět can be replaced by all the other vowels. 125. In Old Javanese, in consequence of the loss of an r2, the pěpět may be left standing before a vowel, in which case it changes into w and forms with the vowel a rising diphthong, as in bwat < Original IN běr2at, "heavy". In its further evolution the diphthong becomes a simple vowel, hence Modern Jav. abot < Old Jav. bwat. 126. In a few languages the pěpět disappears altogether. I. Disappearance before the accentuated syllable, in several languages, when the pěpět stands between a mute and a liquid, e.g., Original IN běli, "to buy" > Gayo bli, also however pronounced běli. — In Tagalog this phenomenon only occurs when the word is also extended by a prefix, so that even after the loss of the e the word remains disyllabic, as in itlóg, "egg" < Original IN tělur2. II. Disappearance after the accentuated syllable, in several languages, when the pěpět stands between a semi-vowel and a consonant. Thus Original IN dawěn, "leaf", results in Dayak in dawen, which is quite in conformity with the rule (§ 123), but in Malay it is not represented, as one might have expected, by dawan, but by daun (a disyllable). III. In Old Javanese inscriptions the pěpět is often omitted. Thus we find in Kawi Oorkonden, II, 10, b: "Shall be seized by tigers" = dmakěn iṅ macan. As Modern Javanese pronounces the pěpět in these cases, thus saying děmaq, "to seize", I do not quite know what to think of this omission of the pěpět.