It it more especially amongst the mixed races that the general agreement which I have mentioned is exhibited. Language often betrays at once the mixture of races, their succession, and the nature of the influence exercised by the different elements which have assisted in their formation. I will here give a striking example.
All polygenists have regarded the Malays as one of their human species; many monogenists have considered them as one of the principal races. I showed long ago that, in reality, they are only a mixed race in which white, black and yellow elements are associated, and that they are closely allied to the Polynesians. These facts become more striking every day as we know more of these two families which have sprung from a common stock. And further, as we study more thoroughly the history of these countries, we find that the relations between the insular and the continental regions must have been much closer than it was long thought could ever have been the case. Such are the results arrived at by anthropology.
On the other hand, philologists have only been able to form one linguistic family from all the Malayan and Polynesian languages, when considered from a grammatical point of view. As to vocabulary, the following are the results given by Ritter.
The Malay language comprises in every 100 words—
50 Polynesian words, all answering to a very inferior social condition, only designating arts and objects for which all languages have names (heaven, earth, moon, mountain, hand, eye, etc.).
27 Malayan words, giving evidence of a more advanced civilization, and of the existence of arts already in a state of perfection (kriss).
16 Sanscrit words expressing religious ideas and abstract terms (time, cause, wisdom, etc.).
5 Arabian words relating to mythology, poetry, etc.
2 Javanese, Dravidian, Persian, Portuguese, Dutch or English words, all relating to commerce.
We see, therefore, that the language of the Malays explains, so to speak, under another form, the same facts as their physical characters.