p. [156].

Their vocabulary is soon exhausted for it is composed only of those words which are strictly necessary to make known their daily wants, the necessity of defence and their superstitious feelings. They refuse to adopt any of those expressions that their brethren of the plain have learnt from other races, considering them as impure and perilous as the people themselves. This is an implacable application of the maxim "timeo danaos et dona ferentes" by folks who do not understand Latin and who ignore the existence of the Greeks but who know thoroughly well their stranger neighbours.

It is therefore vain to seek among the Sakais those poetical metaphors and that flowery, figurative style of speech which is attributed by us to all Orientals without distinction.

I am not a student or professor of glottology, contenting myself with being able to speak one or two languages without troubling my head over their origin, so I dare not judge upon the affinity more or less remote of the not too sweet Sakai idioms with others, but there seemed to me such a marked difference between the Malay and Sakai phraseologies that I should have declared them to be absolutely distinct one from the other.

However, the recent studies of the German, W. Schmidt, and the more profound ones of the Italian, A. Trombetti, have proved that all the tongues spoken by the inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula as well as those to be heard in the neighbouring isles are in connection with each other.

The most part of the words used by the Sakais are of only one syllable, polysyllables being very rare, and the way in which these accents are shot out from the lips would make a foreigner decide at once that the best method of translating their talk would be by a volley of shots.

For the curious and the studious I have here added a short list of the words commonly used amongst the Sakais but as their language is totally exempt from every rule of orthography I have tried as well as I can to give a phonetic interpretation of the same.

Arm—glahk
Arrow—grog
" (poisoned)—grog mahng tshegrah'
" (not poisoned)—grog pe' m tshegrah
Bamboo—annahd'
Banana—tellah'e
Betelnut—blook
Bird—chep
Body—brock
Born—egoy (alphabetical sound of e)
Blow-pipe—blahoo'
Brother—tennah'
" (elder)—tennah' bop
" (younger)—manang se ne (e sounded as in met, men)
Child—kennon
Cigarette—rockò
Come—hawl aghit (a as in father)
Cover—tshenkop
Day—e eah top
Dead—daht
Death—daht
Dog—chaw
Ear—garetook
Earth—in noos
Evening—danwee
Evil—ne' ghne' e' (alphabetical sound of e)
Eye—maht
Father—abbay', abboo', appah'
" (in-law)—tennah' amay
Fear—sayoo neot
Female—knah
Fish—kah
Flute—tshinelloi
Foe—pay kabaad
Foot—jehoo
Forest—dahraht
Fowl—poo
Fruit—pla'
Good—bawr
Good—abbawr
Hail—tayho oontoy
Hand—tahk
Harm—ne', ghne' e' (like evil)
Head—kovey
Heart—noos
Hen—poo
Hill—loop
Hot—baykahk
Hunger—chewahr
Husband—care lore
Hut—dop
Illness—nigh
Leaf—slah
Leg—kaymung
Lightning—bled
Malay—my gope
Male—crahl
Man—sing no
Mandoline—krob
Mangosteen—play semmetah
Many—jeho e
Medicine—penglie (ie as in lie)
Moon—ghecheck
Monkey—dak
" (with long tail)—raoh
Mouth—eneoong
Morning—pawr
Mother—amay, kennen, kenung
" (in-law)—tennah abbay
Mountain—lot, loop
Night—sin oar
No—pay neay'
Noon—dahjis
Nose—moh
Old—din grah
One—nahnaw
People—my
Plain—barrow
Pond—tebbahov
Poison—chingrah
Quiver—lock
Rage—roh
Rain—mahny
Rat—hay loy
Rice—bah
River—tayhoo
Season—moosin
Sing—jeoolah
Sister—kaynah
" (elder)—taynah kaynah
" (younger)—mennang kaynah
Sky—sooey
Sleep—bet bet
Slumber—n' tahk
Snake—teegee
Sorcerer—ahlah
Spirit—ghenigh nee
" (Evil)—ahtoo
Star—pearloy
Storm—poss
Sun—mahjis
Thunder—nghoo
Thunder—nahkoo
Tiger—mah moot, mah noos
Tobacco—bahkoo
Tree—jehoo oo
Two—nahr
Valley—wawk
Water—tayhoo
" for drinking— " engot
Wedding—ba' kaynah
Wife—kay el
Wild—loo
Will—engot
Wind—poy
Woman—knah, caredawl
Yes—aye aye.[12]