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INDONESIAN LINGUISTICS
tekken.—Further, in the Hova of Madagascar the pĕpĕt appears in an accentuated syllable as e but in an unaccented one as i; accordingly Common IN ĕnĕm appears in Hova as enina. Hova therefore has two etymologically distinct i's, the one being Common IN and the other derived from the pĕpĕt. Now before the first of these i’s Common IN l becomes d in Hova, but before the second it remains unchanged. For Common IN lima, "five", Hova has dimi, but for alĕm, "night", alina.
Note.—In the final of Hova dimi we have a third i, originating from a, in accordance with the following law: “ A Common IN final a is assimilated in Hova to an i of the preceding syllable ”. Analogous cases of assimilation have been discussed by Conant in Anthropos 1911, pp. 143 seqq.
25. We have shown in the preceding paragraph that in Iloko and Hova the formerly existing pěpět is still traceable to-day; we therefore add the Philippines and Madagascar to the number of the regions mentioned in § 23, and are thereby entitled to style the pĕpĕt a Common IN feature.[1]
26. The vowels e and o. In contrast to the pĕpět these vowels have, one might almost say, a universal distribution; though it is true that Hova has no o and Mentaway very few words that contain an e. But e and o have in many cases originated out of other sounds, e.g. in Mad. pote, which stands by the side of Common IN putih, “ white ”. And secondly, words containing an original e or o can as a rule be traced only through a very limited number of languages. Perhaps the most widely distributed are the two words bela, “ companion, avenger, to share the same fate ”, and sor, “ above ” or “ below ”. The e and o in these words are original; at least I know of no indication whatever that they are derived from any other sounds.
To share the same fate. Celebes, Mak. : bela — Java, Jav.: bela — Sumatra, Gayo : bela — Malay Peninsula, Mal. : bela — Eastern Border, Bim. : bela.
- ↑ * [See also Essay IV, § 5.]
