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PART I
COMMON INDONESIAN
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SECTION I: PHONETIC SYSTEM.
17. We have to recognize as belonging to Common IN the six vowels : a, i, u, ĕ, e, and o.
18. The vowel a. We meet with this vowel in the Common IN word kayu, "tree". That kayu is a Common IN word is proved by the following table :
Tree. Philippines, Ibanag: kayu — Celebes, Tonsea: kayu — Borneo, Day.: kayu — Java, Jav.: kayu — Sumatra, Mkb. : kayu — Malay Peninsula, Mal.: kayu — Madagascar, Hova: hazu — Northern Border, Form. : caiou — South-Western Border, Simalurese: ayu-ayu.
Note I. — The spelling in Happart and Van der Vlis' Form, vocabularies is very awkward; we need have no hesitation in interpreting caiou as = kayu.
Note II. — Hova hazu < kayu In accordance with the two following phonetic laws: "Common IN k becomes h in Hova, except after the velar nasal or as a final ". — " Common IN y appears in Hova as z".
Note III. — The disappearance of k in Simalurese ayu-ayu is supported by the parallel case of iuq as compared with the widespread Common IN ikur, " tail ".
Note IV. — The word kayu appears in a number of other IN languages besides the above, e.g. in Sumatra in Běsěmah, Lampong, Karo, and Gayo, as well as in Mkb., and everywhere
unchanged in sound. But it will suffice if in each case we select one language out of each of the ten areas of distribution.
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