Page:An introduction to Indonesian linguistics, being four essays.djvu/74

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INDONESIAN LINGUISTICS
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108. Word-bases which denote a quality, state or process, are very often substantives in the IN languages. Accordingly such substantival word-bases need no further formative; but the verbs and adjectives thereto belonging do. Thus in Day. handaṅ is “redness”  ; “red” is bahandaṅ ; and “to make red” is pahandaṅ. In Mlg. lemi is “mildness”, malemi, “mild” . In Old Jav. lara is “sickness”, malara, “sick”; Old Jav. example, Wrttasañcaya, edited by Kern, strophe 45, 3 : saṅ nitya maweh lara-unĕṅ <r1> = “Who always causes love- sickness”.

As these word-bases are substantives, they of course require the substantival construction. As mentioned in § 72, w is a genitive preposition, and thus in Mlg. “mildness of temper” is lemi m fanahi, which by reason of the sandhi-Iaws has to be pronounced: lemi m panahi.

In this respect the IN conditions are mostly the opposite of the IE, Thus in the French rouge : rouyeur it is the substative that carries the formative, in Day. handaṅ : bahandaṅ, the adjective; and the same relation obtains between Mlg. lemi : malemi and the Latin lenitudo : lenis.

109. Word-bases in the IN languages often have more than one function:

I. A definite, but not large, number of Old Jav. word-bases, including tĕka, are used in threefold fashion: as substan- tives, tĕka mu, “thy coming”, as indicatives, tĕka ko, “thou comest”, and as imperatives, tĕka, “come !”

II. In Day. a definite, very large, number of word-bases, including tiroh, have a double function: as substantives, maṅat tiroh ku, “sound (was) my sleep” , and as imperatives, tiroh, “sleep !” ; the indicative is batiroh.

III. In Mlg. such words have only one function, viz. as substantives: turi, sleep. The indicative is maturi and the imperative maturia.

110. The IN word-base resembles the IE stem. The structure of Karo abat, “obstacle”, from the root bat, from*r1 In pronunciation a+u are contracted to o.