Page:Essays ethnological and linguistic.djvu/86

74 It must be confessed that this is a very obscure question and that it is only by exploring well the country, by joining together many data and comparing them with Geognosy that Ethnography will be able to form a well founded judgement respecting the origin of the people of Oceania."

The above remarks are taken from the Introductory Chapter of the work in the first volume, the remainder of which is taken up with statistical and other notices. In the 2nd Vol. is given a chapter on the dialects spoken in the Philippines, which the author says "are all only corruptions or varieties of one language which forms part of the great family known generally by the name of Malay." He says that it has but one declension of nouns and has neither cases, numbers, nor genders, in which statement all other writers on the Malay languages agree; thus they say, one good man, two good man, &c. The verbs also have no distinctive terminations, as they say, I eat, thou eat, he eat, &c. and they use in conversation only the Infinitive, present, preterite, past, future, and imperative. They seem to have in use some words derived from the Arabic, Persian, and Hindoo, and also from the Chilian, for which Martinez Zuniaga is quoted for an authority, adding that the Padre Fausto Lopez is forming a comparative table of all or most of the dialects of the islands.

Finally in corroboration of his statements and conclusions, the Author gives a Vocabulary of many words in the dialects of the Ilocos, Iagulo, Bisaya, Cagayan and Malay of Singapore, which certainly seem to warrant his opinions. I regret I did not make a copy of more of the Vocabulary than of the Numerals, of which the following is a summary with the addition of the Chinese (Jukien) —

Iloco. Jagulo. Bisaya. Cagayan. Malay. Chinese.

1

Meysa

Isa

Usa

Jadday

Satu

Child

2

Dua

Dalaua

D»ha

Dua

Dua

No

3

Tallò

Tallò

Tolò

Talù

Tigga

Sa

4

Eppat

Apat

Upat

Appa

Ampat

Si

5

Limà

Limà

Limà

Líma

Líma

Go

6

Juuem

Anim

Uniem

Annam

Auam

La

7

Pitò

Pitò

Pitò

Pitu

Jugin

Chit

8

Oalò

Ualò

Ualò

Ualu

Dlapan

Pe

9

Siam

Siàm

Siàm

Siam

Sambilan

Ka

10

Sangapulo

Sampu

Napulo

Mafulu

Sapùlo

Chaf

20

Duapulo

Daluaupu

Calohaan

Duafulu

Duapulo

Gichap

100

Sangagasut

Isamdaan

Usacaiatos

Magattu

Saratus

Chuppa

1000

Sangaribo

Isanlibo

Usa ca libo

Marifu

Saribu

Ching