Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/82

 6s MINOR LANGUAdEfc tion. The dative and ablative cases are express- ed by prepositions, and the objective or accu- sative case simply marked by the precedence of the transitive verb, without a preposition. The pronouns are peculiar. The tenses of the verb are formed by auxiliaries, but of these there are but two, one implying a perfect past, and another a future. A passive voice is formed by prefixing an inseparable particle, (de*) The verb is changed from a neuter to a transitive sense, by prefixing an inseparable particle (ma,) or, occasionally, by sub- joining another (a/2,) or by both contrivances united. These few words comprehend the grammar of this most simple and inartificial tongue. The disposition, in the circumstances of society in the Indian islands, to form a language of defer- ence and respect, is discoverable in the simple speech of the Sundas ; but it is not carried far, being confined to some words of most familiar oc- currence, as the pronouns, the names of parts of tli€ body, and of the relations of consanguinity. There are no books in the Sunda language, for the Sundas have no national literature. The few who have any education aim at a little instruction in Arabic and Javanese, and even business is gene- rally conducted in the latter. The Madurese is the language of the island of Madura, and of the emigrants from that island on