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transitive, and where the prefix is m that the verb is transitive ; in the latter case one of the suffixes Jean or i is sometimes given to show which of these forms is most commonly used; in some cases either may be used. Some roots may be used either transitively or intran- sitively, in which case the derivatives with ber and m are both given. It must be understood that the prefix m can always be used with deri- vative verbs formed with the suffix Jean or i; this being the case it has not been thought necessary to give the derivative formed with m as a distinct form of the word.
In derived words formed with the prefixes ber, ter, per, di- and Jc, the first syllable of the root undergoes no change, and the word can therefore usually be discovered without any difficulty, but with the prefixes m and p the root in many cases changes its form. A refer- ence to the following list of changes will usually enable the student to decide what the root is : If the root commences with
- I, m, n, or r, it undergoes no change ;
- b, the prefix becomes mm or pin, as buka, mmbuJca;
- p, the prefix becomes mm, or pm, and the initial p of the root is elided, as putus, mmutus;
- d or /, the prefix becomes mn or pn, as dapat, mndapat;
- t or cli, the prefix becomes mn or pn and the initial t or cli of the root is elided, as tarcih, mnaroJi;
- g or li or a vowel, the prefix becomes mrg or prg, as gali, mrg gali ;
- Jc, the prefix become mrg or prg and the initial Jc of the root is elided, as Jcararg, mrgararg ;
- s and sometimes ch, the prefix becomes mry or pry and the initial s or cJi of the root is elided, as suroh, mryuroli.
The chief difficulty in discovering the root arises when the root commences with p, t, or Jc, from the fact that when the initial letter has been elided there is no means of knowing what that letter may have been; thus the root of m,mutus might be either mutus or putus, and that of mnaroh and mrgararg might be either naroh or taroli, or kararg or ararg respectively. When in doubt the student must look for both forms. Thus with derivatives commencing with mry, the root should first be sought for under the more common letter s and then under cli, those commencing with mn should be looked for first under t and then under n, those commencing mm under p or m, and those commencing mrg under Jc or under the vowel which follows the mrg. Similarly of course with derivatives formed with p in its various forms.
The Malays have a remarkable aptitude for adopting foreign words, which in most cases become assimilated to the Malay style of pronunciation, the spelling being sometimes changed to suit the new
