Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/109

 ^POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES. 91 Jhi ; in the language of the Friendly Islands, yi^rw fxfidu ; in that of New Zealand, ruru ; and in that of Madagascar, x>qIq, * As an argument against the antiquity of the Ja- vanese, and of Java being the country of the great Polynesian language, it may be urged, that many words are common to several of the Insular dialects not known in modern Javanese ; that in the Sund^ the language of Madura and those of Celebes for example, many words are founds which rather ap- pear to point out the Malay than the Javanese as the more primitive language. Most of the consider- able languages of the Archipelago have, as will be pointed out afterwards, produced a considerable influence on each other, but the greater number of the words in question are to be accounted for on a different principle. They are, in fa^t, words of the great Polynesian language, sometimes become obsolete in one language and sometimes in another, according to the accidents of time and the caprice of manners. For the satisfaction of the critical reader, I shall give a few examples. The follow- ing words of ordinary or familiar Malay, are no longer known in modern Javanese, but occur in the languages of several of the surrounding tribes. in. Butney's History of Voyages and Discoveries^ Vol. II* Madagascar, by Robert Drury, p. 45.9.
 * Hawkesvvorlh's Voyages, V^ol. II. Cook's Voyage, Voi.