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344
INDONESIAN LINGUISTICS
— “In Minangkabau the last word of a sentence, or its final syllable, bears the principal accent; thus they say, with a stronger intonation : ' He sleeps ' = inyo lalóq ” (Van der Toorn). “In Bada the last syllable of a sentence is spoken with a rising (opgang) of the voice, i.e. with a rising accent” (Adriani). — “As regards rise and fall of tone, or the musical accent, Malay pronounces the phrase: ‘Is that a stone ?’ = That stone = ini batu, in a rising tone, but : ‘ That is a stone ’ = ini batu, in a falhng tone” " (Van Ophuijsen).
336. The interrogative sentence. In the Bontok interrogative sentence the intonation rises and reaches “its highest tone at the final vowel of the sentence” (Seidenadel). — “The assertive and the interrogative sentence in Dayak may be illustrated by the following examples. Assertive : ' He is sick ' = iä hábăn. Interrogative: ‘Is he sick?’ = id häbán, in an interrogative tone which somewhat accentuates, and makes half long, even the last syllable of haban” (Hardeland).
337. In many IN languages the vocative, whether standing by itself or forming part of a sentence, throws the accent on to the last syllable of the word or group of words. Hence in many languages: iná, “O mother”, the vocative of ina, “mother”. Karo, from the story Kaja Kĕtĕnahĕn, in Joustra, “Karo-Bataksche Vertellingen” , p. 92, 1. 19: “Weep not, father !” = Not thou w., f. = ola ham taṅis bapá. Ibid., p. 91, 1. 18: “Let us go home to eat, my prince” = Eat we to house, prince mine = mati hita ku rumah, raja-ṅkú. — This fashion of accentuating the vocative must be regarded as Original IN.
