Page:An introduction to Indonesian linguistics, being four essays.djvu/274

This page has been validated.
262
INDONESIAN LINGUISTICS

geminate consonant itself" (Kiliaan).—In Bontok the two consonants may also be separated by a hamzah as well; thus in Seidenadel-Texts, Headhunters' Ceremonies, 4, we find: "The old people" = nan amamqma.

84. The rarest cases of doubhng are those of h and q. Madurese has a few instances, e.g., ěhham, "ham", and leqqer, "neck".

85. As a rule doubling only occurs between vowels; before a consonant it is rarer, e.g., as in the Madurese lommra, "accustomed", in accordance with the law given in § 86, III.

86. Consonantal doubling in the living IN languages owes its origin to several distinct factors; these are:

I. Doubling of the root, which is one of the methods of WB-formation, when the root begins and ends with a similar consonant, as in the Kangeanese tottot, "tame". This case also occurs especially in the language of children, e.g. in the Achinese childish word mammam, "cakes".

II. Derivation from the WB. Here it may be simply a case of mere addition, as when in Toba from the prefix mar + AVB rara there results the adjective marrara, "red". Or it may involve phonetic processes, as when in Madurese from ṅator + the suffix aghi we get ṅatorraghi, "to offer".

III. Various phonetic laws. Before r or l Madurese doubles every consonant except , n, and w; hence the above-cited lommra, as compared with lumrah in other languages. In Talautese r is pronounced double when it follows immediately after the accentuated vowel.

As for consonantal doubling after the pepet, see § 5.
IV. Assimilation. In spoken Toba, in the combination nasal + cognate tenuis, the nasal is assimilated to the tenuis: thus Original IN and ṅwritten Toba gantuṅ ^ spoken Toba gattuṅ. Certain cases of assimilation also especially occur in sentence-sandhi ; thus in Tuuk Lb, I, p. 1, 1. 11, we find written: "Red because of their ripeness" = Red now because r. their = marrara do dibahen lamun-na; but the spoken language says dibahel lamun-na.