Page:An introduction to Indonesian linguistics, being four essays.djvu/331

 269. The phonetic phenomena which we observe in the various IN languages in connexion with the addition of suffixes, are chiefly and more particularly the following; and it is to be noted incidentally that the suffixes nearly all begin with a vowel:

I. Intermediary sounds appear; after i-sounds naturally y, after u-sounds w. Hence Bugis tunuwaṅ, “ to set on fire ” < tunu + aṅ from WB tunu, “ to burn ”. Or the intermediary sounds are h or q; thus in Southern Mandailing parkalahan, “ prophetic tables ” < par + WB kala + an; or in Madurese mateqe, “ to kill ” < pate, “ death ” + e.

Such intermediary sounds may interchange. After e in Makassar the intermediary sound is y, after o it is w; but in the “ Journal of the Princes of Gowa and Tello ” we always meet with Bontoya, “ the (country of) Bonto ” < Bonto + the article a, instead of the modern form Bontowa, e.g. on p. 8, 1. 15.

II. The final vowel of the WB becomes consonantal before the suffix: thus in Old Javanese i > y,u > w, as in katunwan, “ to be burnt ” < ka + WB tunu + an.

III. The vowel of the WB and that of the formative are in many languages contracted together. Old Javanese WB kĕla or kla + the gerundial termination -ĕn results in klān, as in Kawi Oorkonden, I, 3, 20: “ Shall be cooked in (the) cauldron of Yania ” = klān i kawah san Yama.

IV. The consonantal final of the WB is doubled in Madurese and a few other languages. From the WB ator Mad. forms the verb ṅatorraghi, “ to offer ” < ṅ + ator + aghi.

V. In Gayo a final nasal of the WB changes into cognate media + nasal, e.g. in kuödnön, “ more to the right ” < WB kuön, “ right ” + ön. Mentaway inserts the tenuis instead of the media, as in mämäräpman, “ to want to sleep ”, from WB märäm. Illustration: Ghost Stories, in Morris' texts, p. 82, 1. 8: “ I want to sleep there ” = Sleep + want + to there I = mämäräpman lä aku

VI. In Bontok a media becomes a tenuis. From WB kaeb is formed the verb kapen, “ to make ”, from faeg, “ to whip ”, fayeken.