# An Introduction to Indonesian Linguistics

Original essays published 1910–1915
Asiatic Society Monographs
VOL. XV
AN INTRODUCTION TO
INDONESIAN
LINGUISTICS
BEING FOUR ESSAYS
BY
RENWARD BRANDSTETTER, Ph.D.
TRANSLATED BY C. O. BLAGDEN, M.A., M.R.A.S.
LONDON PUBLISHED BY THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY 22, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1916
PREFACE
The Indonesian languages constitute the western division of the great Austronesian (or Malayo-Polynesian, or Oceanic) family of speech, which extends over a vast portion of the earth's surface, but has an almost entirely insular domain, reaching as it does from Madagascar, near the coast of Africa, to Easter Island, an outlying dependency of South America, and from Formosa and Hawaii in the North to New Zealand in the South. The whole family is of great interest and im- portance from the Linguistic point of view and can fairly claim to rank with the great famihes of speech, such as the Indo- European, the Semitic, the Ural-Altaic, the Tibeto- Chinese, etc. Though but a small part of its area falls on the mainland of Asia, there is no reasonable doubt that it is of genuinely Asiatic origin, and of late years it has been linked up with another Asiatic family, which includes a number of the languages of India and Indo-China {e.g., Munda, Khasi, Mon, Khmer, Nicobarese, Sakai, etc.). The Indonesian division of the Austronesian family is the part that has best preserved the traces of its origin, and it forms therefore an essential clue to the study of the family as a whole. It has also been more thoroughly investigated than the other two divisions — viz., the Micronesian and Melanesian group and the Polynesian.
The Indonesian languages cover practically the whole area of Indonesia (otherwise called the Eastern, or Indian, or Malay, Archipelago, which includes the Phihppines and ex-tends from the north-western point of Sumatra to New Guinea), together with the whole of Madagascar, the greater part of the Malay Peninsula, the Mergui Archipelago ofE the coast of Tenasserim, some outlying tracts in Eastern Indo- China (which region there is much ground for regarding as ​the primitive home of the whole family), a considerable portion of Formosa, and a few island groups lying to the eastward of the Philippines. Its eastern boundary with the Micro-Melanesian division is still somewhat imperfectly ascertained, but appears to pass east of the Marian Islands and west of the Carolines to a point somewhere in (or near) the western extremity of New Guinea. The greater part of that large island lies outside the Indonesian division, much of its coast-line falling into the Melanesian section, while a very considerable portion is occupied by the entirely ahen Papuan languages, as is also in all probability the greater part of its imperfectly explored interior. Of the contents of the Indonesian area some details are given in Essay II, § 3, and need not be repeated here.
The scientific study of the Indonesian languages was initiated over half a century ago by two very eminent Dutch scholars, the late H. N. van der Tuuk and Professor Kern, to whom most of the good work that has been done in this field of research has been due, either directly or indirectly. Before their time many of the individual languages of the family had been studied, more or less systematically, but there had been no really scientific application of the comparative method, and consequently the conclusions arrived at by the earlier writers, such as Crawfurd and Logan, were founded on no solid basis. Many of them, in fact, have proved to be untenable and have been superseded by the sounder methods of the Dutch school. Unfortunately, however, most of the work of the modern school of Indonesian comparative philology has taken the form of articles in learned periodicals or notes in illustration of texts edited from time to time by one scholar or another; and by far the greater part of it is in Dutch. No comprehensive work dealing with the subject as a whole exists as yet in any language, and indeed it may be doubted whether the time has arrived for such a final synthesis to be made. There is still much pioneering work to be done in many outlying portions of the field.
Dr. Brandstetter, though thoroughly original in the handling of his materials, and by nationality a Swiss, is in the true ​line of succession of the Dutch school; and his monographis, of which four have been selected for translation into English, represent something like a new departure and are an important step towards the attainment of the ultimate aim. They deal in a comparative and synoptic manner with some of the leading branches of the subject, and are couched in a form which facihtates their use by students. The four Essays contained in this volume have been selected with an eye to the importance of the several matters discussed therein respectively, and that from the different points of view of three classes of students. I mean, in the first place, those who are interested in comparative philology in general (to whom the author's occasional comparisons of Indonesian with Indo-European phenomena will be of special interest and value) ; secondly, those whose desire it is to make a particular study of the comparative philology of the Indonesian languages, as an end in itself; and, thirdly, the considerable number of persons who are occupied primarily with some individual member of the family, but would like to see it in its proper perspective in relation to the cognate tongues, and are therefore impelled to give some attention to the family as a whole. By far the greater number of such special students are primarily interested in Malay, the best known and for practical purposes the most important of the Indonesian languages. But this very fact makes it the more desirable to present to them the results of the comparative work that has been done. For Malay is in many ways not a very typical member of the family: its grammar has been much worn down and simplified, and for various other reasons it is unfortunate that so many people are tempted to survey the-whole Indonesian field, with its luxuriant diversity, through the rather distorting lens of a knowledge of Malay alone. There has been a very widespread tendency among Malay scholars to regard Malay as the standard or norm of the Indonesian family and to attempt to explain the differences which they noticed in the other languages as deviations from that standard ; and that is very far from being the true view.
Further, even for those whose only object it is to master a ​single language, there is some profit in devoting a part of their energies to an acquaintance with the results of comparative research. In every language there are words, phrases, and idioms, which are obscure and cannot be adequately explained, or indeed even thoroughly understood, by the mere light of the language itself, whereas the comparative method often helps to make them intelligible. And the moment a person who has confined his attention to a single language attempts to explain such things, he is liable to fall into all manner of errors, unless he checks his theories by the results of linguistic science. It is to be regretted that the excellent work done by Dutch scholars (and some others) in the field of Indonesian comparative philology has been neglected by most English students of Malay, for the consequences have often been decidedly unfortunate. Thus a comparatively recent English work, of some importance in its own line, quotes extracts from writings by Crawfurd printed in 1848 as if they represented the latest light on the subject, though in fact hardly a single word in them has stood the test of modern research and almost every one of the theses they contain has been definitely and completely disproved. Similarly, another book, somewhat earlier in date, an admirable piece of scholarship in almost every respect, is disfigured by an appendix on Malay etymology that entirely ignores the' work of the Dutch school and pro-pounds various hypotheses which were plainly untenable at the time they were published, having regard to the facts then already made known to the world. And such instances could easily be multiplied, if it were worth while. It is to be hoped and expected, as a result of the publication of Dr. Brandstetter's Essays in English, that in future such errors will be avoided.
It is a great merit of Dr. Brandstetter that he incidentally does much to teach his readers the scientific mode of procedure in linguistics. His grasp of the subject is equalled by the soundness of his method and the perspicuity of his exposition. Though strictly scientific, his work is cast into a form that renders it intelligible to the average reader as well as to the specialist, and while the advanced student will find ​much to learn from it, a beginner of ordinary intelligence and education can read it with profit and understanding.
In the translation the original has been closely followed, and such few modifications as have been made in the text have been carried out in consultation with the author himself and with his express approval. There are certain obvious disadvantages incidental to the fact that these Essays were originally written and issued as separate monographs: a considerable amount of repetition has been unavoidable, and it often happens that some point partially dealt with in an earlier Essay receives completer treatment in a subsequent one. An attempt has been made in this translation to remedy such inconveniences to some extent by giving references in footnotes ; and these and other footnotes added by myself have been enclosed in square brackets. For the further convenience of students I have prefixed to each Essay a brief summary of its contents based mainly on the section headings of the original. For the sake of symmetry, the main divisions of Essay II have been numbered. In the Indonesian words and phrases quoted the author's spelling has been followed. On the other hand, in geographical names (including the names of the various languages discussed) and in the titles of works cited, etc., concessions have been made to ordinary usage and to the Hunterian system which is generally followed in English works where Malay words are spelt in the Eoman character. Quotations appearing in German in the Essays have been translated; but when the ultimate source was in English the original words have been reproduced from that source.
My thanks are due to the Committee for Malay Studies of the Federated Malay States Government for having commissioned me to translate the work, to the author for his cordial consent and his assistance in clearing up doubtful points, and to the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society for having sanctioned the publication of the book by the Society.
The author also desires me to express his appreciation of the recognition thus accorded to his work.
C. O. B.
CONTENTS
ESSAY I
ESSAY II
ESSAY III
ESSAY IV