A grammar of the Malayan language, with an introduction and praxis..

lo A GRAMMAR OF THE
(according to the grammarians) and the Persians %ahir. In some parts
the Malayan sound approaches nearly to the /.
t ain. This vague letter, which has been the subject of much dis-
cussion amongst Hebrew scholars, is pronounced by the Arabians with
a peculiar hollow utterance from the interiour of the throat or fauces ;
but in this they are not imitated by the Malays, who pronounce the
words Jjic cikal cunning, i'jU Mat custom, «^Lc ibarat explanation, j^
\shk love, Uj doa prayer, j^ umur life, without any effort, and as if
they were written with hnmzah and the ordinary vowels. Indeed, it
may be said that the guttural part only of the sound is represented by
the c, the vocal part being determined by the marks respectively applied
to it: as will be more clearly understood when the nature of these sup-
plementary vowels has been explained. It is here only necessary
further to observe, that not having any appropriate European character
for designating this mutable letter, it has been judged convenient to mark
the several voAvels which stand for it with a grave accent.
c gJi, g/n; is a rough guttural pronounced as in the Irish word
" lough" a lake, or with the Northumbrian articulation, and is peculiar
to Arabic and Persian words, as k_^;l* gJiaib hidden, c-JU ghulib vic-
torious, t--j.y^ ghefib foreign.
c ng, sounded when medial or final as in " kingly, longing, bringing,"
is a stronger nasal than the final n of the French language, and prevails
much in original Malayan words, as cj^\ agung principal, ijLj birigong
half-witted, ^y iolong to assist, ^\ ayigin wind, cU nganga to gape,
^j£
ngarun displeasure. At the beginning of a word the pronunciation
can only be acquired by use, although in fact the same as the medial.
Where it occurs in a situation that might give rise to doubt as to the
division