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INDONESIAN LINGUISTICS
Accentuation of Loan-words.
326. Loan-woids mostly acccmmcdate themselves to the native laws of accentuation; thus the Dutch gezaghebber, “ruler”, becomes sahébar in Dayak. Exceptions are rare, e.g. the Bugis sikelewá < Dutch schiláwacht. This cannot have been a case of imitation, for Bug. native words never end in an accentuated a.
Quality of the Accent.
327. All our previous researches have been concerned with the position of the accent. Let us now enquire as to its quality. In IN the accentuated syllable may differ from the unaccentuated ones thus: by greater loudness, by a higher pitch, or by increased length.
328. Select descriptions of the quality of the IN accent: “Accent in the IN languages is of a different kind from what it is in the IE. In Dutch, and particularly also in English, the principally accentuated syllable is pronounced loudly, the other syllables softly. That is not the case in the IN languages. There the unaccentuated syllables receive fairer treatment, but in consequence the accent is of course less distinct. In some languages the accent is nothing more than a lengthening or extension of the accentuated syllable. But Sangirese has not gone to such lengths as that ; its accent is distinctly audible” (Adriani). — “In the IE languages accent is stress, but in many IN languages it is a rise in pitch of the voice. It is true that this rise in pitch is accompanied by an increase in loudness, but that does not cause the un- accentuated syllables to be pronounced in a more cursory manner. As in Tontemboan the accent is produced by a rise in pitch and the unaccentuated syllables are all distinctly and perfectly pronounced, the Tontb. accent gives one the impression of being weak. It is, however, distinctly audible that it falls upon the penultimate” (Adriani). — “In Rottinese the accent is distinctly audible and falls upon the penultimate” (Jonker). — “In Minangkabau all the syllables have
