Page:An introduction to Indonesian linguistics, being four essays.djvu/293

 Rh III The determining factors cannot be ascertained. In Hova, Original IN r2, sometimes produces r as in awáratra < Original IN bar2at, "west", sometimes s as in wesatra < Original IN betoat, "heavy", sometimes z as in zatu < Original IN r2atus, "hundred", and sometimes disappears altogether as in wau, "new" <^ bar2u.

136. When Original IN r2, becomes y, further developments may occur. The semi-vowel y may unite with the preceding vowel to form a falling diphthong, as in Lampong ikuy, "tail" < Original IN ikur2. By a further phonetic process such diphthongs may become simple vowels, as in Pampanga iki < ikuy < ikur2.

137. In some languages Original IN r2 disappears altogether, particularly in Old Javanese, as in dyus < Original IN dir2us, "to bathe". When the r2 was final in Original IN, then in Old Javanese the preceding vowel is lengthened by way of compensation for the disappearance of the to, as in Old Jav. ikū, "tail" < Original IN ikur2.

138. It is to be supposed that this disappearance was not a single, momentary change. In Old Javanese, r2 probably first turned into h, as in Dayak; such an h is still preserved in wahu, "new" < bar2u. — In other languages where r2 has likewise disappeared the hamzah may have been the transitional sound. In Tontemboan, Original IN r2 becomes q, but in several cases this q has disappeared: Original IN ular2, "snake" > Tontb. ulaq, but Original IN timur2, "south" > Tontb. timu.

139. Languages that are closely related to one another often exhibit a similar treatment of the r2- But this also occurs in the case of languages that are widely distant from one another ; thus both in Lampong and in Pampanga, r2 > y. Finally, it may happen that languages, which difier so little from each other that one can only call them dialects of one another, nevertheless diverge in this matter of the treatment of the To; thus in the various dialects of Talautese it is just the divergent representation of the r2 that forms the differ-