Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/135

liAST-INSULAR LANGUAGES. 117 t)ecomes in Javanese sawah ; sahahat, skabat, and nc^kah, kalakah, whether in writing or speaking. The other oriental languages, which, besides the Sanskrit and Arabic, enter into the composition of the more improved Polynesian dialects, are Te- linga, Persian, and a few words of Chinese. The Telinga has been introduced chiefly through the medium of commerce, in the course of the traffic which is still carried on, and seems to have existed in very remote times, between the Indian islands and the kingdom of Kalinga, the only name for the whole continent known to the Insular lan- guages. A few words, 1 have no doubt, have also been admitted in the progress of the conversion of the Indian tribes, and some in making translations from the vernacular language of the Telingas* Words of Telinga are most frequent in Malay, the lingua franca of commerce ; and it may, indeed, be considered as singular, that they exist in no greater number. But the case with the Telingas is nearly parallel to that of the early propagators of HinduiwSm. They are not numerous enough for con- querors, and have, consequently, not ingrafted their tongue upon the vernacular languages. Still they <;onsider themselves superior to the natives of the country, and affect to play the part of instructors in religious matters ; but, in this case, it is the Arabic, and not their own language, which is called for. This affords a striking illustration of the his- tory and manner of the introduction of Sanskrit