Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/17

 BOOK V, CHAPTER I. LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF JAVA. Alphabet.-^ Grammatical Form. — Copiousness. — Redundaticj^. — Ordinary and Ceremonial Dialects. — Analogy of Sound to Sense. — Figurative Language.~^Derivation of the Laii" guage.'-— Literature. — Division into Ancient and Modern Literature. — Lyrical Compositions.-^Hindu Literature.-^ Native Romances. — Historical Composition.'-^Prose Com- position. — Arabic Literature, — Education. — Books and Ma* 7iuscripts. — General Character of Javanese Compositions. Of all the languages of the Indian Isknds,^ the most improved and copious is that of the Javanese. It is written in a peculiar character, of great neat- ness, w^hich extends to the language of the Sundas, the Madurese, Balinese, and people of Lombok, and, in comparatively recent times, along w^ith the parent language, made some progress in Sumatra and Borneo. It is confessedly formed on the principles of the Sanskrit alphabet, but, unlike some other languages of the Archipelago, it has not fol- VOL. II. *