Page:An introduction to Indonesian linguistics, being four essays.djvu/298

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INDONESIAN LINGUISTICS
"edge" is biṅgi, but in the Story of Parere, Steller-Texts, p. 89, 1. 2, we find: "At the edge of the river" = su wiṅgi it sáluka.
III. The Tontemboan law. The media g becomes ɣ in all cases; d and h interchange with r and w as in Sangirese. But as initial of a single word pronounced by itself or at the beginning of a sentence, the continuant is used, in contrast with the Sangirese usage. Original IN balay, "house", therefore, is Sang. bale but Tontb. wale; "to remain at home" in Tontb. is maqmbale. Within the sentence the law only operates in certain cases. Thus in the Story of the Newly Wed, Schwarz-Texts, p. 82, 1. 3 from the bottom, we find: "In the house" = am bale < an wale; but 1. 20: "Yet corals" = taqan wiwin, without alteration of the w.
IV. The Cenrana law. The mediæ d and h become r and w respectively after a vowel, e.g., dami, "only", but mesa rami, "one only".
V. The Ibanag law. Initial d becomes r, when an a is put before it: dakay, "badness", but marakay, "bad".
VI. The Bugis law. In Bug., initial w and r turn into b and d respectively, when a prefix is put before these sounds, no matter whether the prefix ends in a vowel or a consonant. Thus from wěnni, "night", are formed maqběnni, "to spend the night (somewhere)", and paběnni, " to cause (somebody) to spend the night (somewhere)", and from rěmme, "soft", maqděmme, "to soften", and paděmme, "to cause to soften". But the rule is not consistently carried out: from wětta, "to cut", comes maqbětta, "to cut off", but also pawětta-wětta, "headhunter". Evidently compromise has been at work here, and probably the regular rule is the one exemplified in pawětta in relation to maqbětta.
VII. The Nias law. When a WB begins with d or b and a prefix is put before these sounds, b becomes w and d becomes r; in similar circumstances x becomes g, thus conversely the continuant turns into a media. Thus bua, "fruit", but mowua, "to bear fruit"; dua, " two ", but darua, " to be a