Nov 1924

140 Pages·2007·12.07 MB·Tagalog

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MALAYAN BRANCH
ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY
Vol. II. Part II.
JOURNAL
NOVEMBER 1924.
This Journal forms the continuation of the
Journal of the Straits Branch, Royal Asiatic Society.
of which Nos. 1-86 were published 1878-1922.
Sold at the Society's Rooms, Raffles Museum, Singapore,
and by
WHELDON & WESLEY, LTD.
3 & 4 ANTHUR STREET,
NEW OXFORD STREET,
LONDON. W. C. 2.
PRINTED AT THE METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE, SINGAPORE.
CONTENTS.
A Grammar and Vocabulary
of the
Dusun Language
By
A. L GOSSENS.
Vol. II. Part 11.
J O U R N A L
of the
Malayan Branch
of the
Royal Asiatic Society
November 1924
SINGAPORE
PRINTED AT THE METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE
1924

A Grammar and Vocabulary of the
Dusun Language.
BY A. L GOSSENS.
I have often been invited to give to the public whatever know
ledge I have acquired of the Dusun language during my long stay
amongst the tribe. My courage has failed me hitherto—but the
hope that some one, by the publication of this short grammar and
vocabulary may be roused to criticism and do better, has induced
me to print.
Nobody will deny that, when one has to deal with a language
hitherto unwritten and so spoken differently in every river or dis
trict (with an admixture of other languages such as Malay, Bajau,
Murut, etc.) the difficulties are not of an ordinary kind.
In this vocabulary I have followed the pronunciation of
Kadazan as used in Papar. Dusun call themselves Kadazan.
Phonetics.
The vowels a, e, i, o, u are pronounced as follows:
a as in ' father '; ama.
e as in 'may'; lame trickle, song te one drop.
e as in 'ten'; songnien when.
i as in 'meet'; muhi return.
I as in ' sing '; oniting clear.
It is often very hard to distinguish the e from the i e.g. eno
' that ' ade ' brother, relation '.
o is pronounced like aw in law, saw.
o in very few words has a sound between o and u as in to or tu
' seven '.
o in a few words and also those of foreign origin, is sounded as in
" note ".
u is pronounced as no in 'look'; e.g. nunu what; nuhu hill.
Each vowel is pronounced by itself.
y following a vowel makes one sound with it, as in mohoying 'old
man', oy as in 'boy', 'joy': kudah, shop, ay pronounced
like ' eye '.
r, 1, h are often exchanged for each other: e.g. muhi, mali, muri
' to return '. according to the district people live in: some
times it is left out.
g is always hard as in "to go".
j as in ' Jill'.
In the vocabulary oo, ua, uu, uo, ui, ua, ao, la, ii, io, iu are
never to be sounded as diphthongs; but CM and a'i are used to
distinguish these double sounds from the diphthongs oi and ai
88 Journal Malayan Brandt, Royal Asiatic Society [Vol. II
Whenever the vowel is long, it is marked a, i, o, u, e.g. koiman
deed; sumbong to go across. It is at least double the length of the
ordinary a, i, o, u.
With regard to the verbs, the active and passive are
given, e.g. momizad u zadaan abandon; mongohim, ohimon to
abjure, deny; kumodos kadasan to abstain; the final an or on, in
case the active voice ends in a vowel, should be separately pro
nounced; and if it ends with a consonant, in pronunciation that
consonant is doubled:—ohimon, kadasan really sound ohimmon,
kadassan.
The Article.
There is no article in Kadazan.
When it is desired to specify particular objects, the pronouns
ill ' this ', eno ' that ', and e ' which ' are used. When the name of
a person is pronounced, zi is placed before it, e.g. zi Daim; also
when some special person is spoken of with respect, zi mohoying
"the old man', zi kuro 'so and so', zama, zinde ' father ',
' mother '. Zi follows the declension of zisay ' who ':—suhap ni
Daim = ' Zi Daim's house': niman ni Daim 'done by Zi Daim'.
Substantives.
Nouns derived from adjectives are formed by the prefix ka,
ko or k and affix -an :—avagat ' heavy ', kavagatan ' weight, heavi
ness '. Often the word undergoes a change in sound; especially a
is changed into o: e.g. arassi ' good ', kovossian ' goodness ', and
the affix -an is often sounded -en. If the adjective ends in r or l,
it is changed into h, e.g. ogingol ' beautiful', kogingahan ' beauty '.
If a noun is derived from a verb, the first letter or syllable of
the root of the verb, or sometimes the second is repeated:—mana-
kaw 'to steal', mananakau 'a thief': mongimmuhau 'to sweep '.
i'immuha n 'a broom'. Some may be said to be formed from the
perfect tense (active and passive) by omitting no and adding
-an,—yumikot or ko'ikot 'to come', noko'ikol 'has come', ko'ikotan,
birth:—matay or apalay 'die', napatay 'has died', kapatazan
' death'.
Some are formed from the perfect passive by changing no or
na into ko or ka and adding an:—e.g. momohobong 'to bury',
hobongon, nohobong 'buried', kahabangan 'burial place'. Mong-
oril 'to bring', orilon, nooril, koorilan 'the thing brought'.
If the past is spoken of, in is inserted after the k:—kinosusu-
van, kinapatazan.
If a place is to be indicated where something is to happen or
has happened, o is affixed instead of -an :—kapatazo, place of
death: amu miho hinonggo kapatazo-ku, 'I do not know where I
shall die'. Kinapatazo 'place where some one has died' in is in
serted. Kosusuro place of birth, kinosusuvo ' place where some-
1924 ] GOSSENS: the Dusun Language. 89
body has been born; kinosuango ' place where somebody has
entered; kinohobuso ' place where somebody has got out '.
Another way of forming nouns from verbs is by omitting the
noko of the perfect active and affixing -an :—momohobong ' to bury ',
noko pomohobong ' has buried ', pomohabangan ' place where one is
going to bury ', pinotnohabangan ' place where one has buried some
body '.
Momohi ' to buy ', nokopomohi ' has bought ', pomohizan ' where
something is being bought', pinoniohizan 'where something was
bought '.
Momatay ' to kill ',noko pomatay, pamatazan or pamatayan,
pinamatazan.
Magassu ' to hunt', noko pagassu, pogossuvan, pinogossuvan.
Momatay ' to kill ', noko pomatay. Leaving out noko and affix
an becomes pomatay, ' the instrument with which the killing is to be
done ', pinomatay, ' the instrument used in killing'.
Number: The plural if not sufficiently plain from the context
is often indicated by ogumu 'many', ngavi 'all'.
Gender is indicated by the addition of the words kusay and
ondu: angaanak kusay ' boys ',angaanak ondu 'girls'.
Sunguhan indicates full-grown male or kusay small male ani
mals, onlohuan indicates full-grown 'boars', tandaha indicates
full-grown cocks and ondu or maganak full-grown hens.
Adjectives.
Generally these follow their substantives with do or d between:
—uhun do alangkar ' a tall man '. But they may precede the noun,
if stress is desired: otuhid uhun d'eno 'that man is just'. Most
adjectives begin with o or a, a letter often dropped however.
COMPARISO N OF ADJECTIVES.
Positive:—alangkair 'tall':—alangkair zisido 'he is tall '.
Comparative:—alangkuw zi Daim ko Masutar ' Daim is taller than
Masutar'.
hobi langkaw ko . .. . ' taller than ....'.
alangkair po ko .... ' more tall than ....', or 'still
taller than ....'.
Superlative :—alangkair kopizo ' very tall '.
alangkaw ko ngavi
' taller than all '.
hob i langkaw ko ngavi
Excessive:—nioindamaan langkaw 'too tall'.
asakakan gazo ' too great'.
Subpositive:—this is expressed by reduplication: alangkaiv-langkaw
'tallish': opuak-puak 'whitish'.
Pronouns.
(1). PERSONAL PRONOUN.
„ Nominative case. Objective case.
I' zou, ou. doho
90 Journal Malayan Branch, Royal Asiatic Society [Vol. II
, thou ' ziaw, ko. diaw
' he, she, it' zisido. disido
'w'e zioy, oy, ooy, onoy, zitokow,
kito. dahay, tokow
'you' ziozu, kow, konow. diozu
they' zosido. dosido
Zou, ziaw, zisido, zosido, zioy, zitokow are placed before the verb to
indicate emphasis.
Zou kuma'a okon ko ziaw ' I go, not you '.
Zisay mugad ? Zou ' who is starting ? I '.
Ou, ko, oy, ooy, kow, tokow, kito are placed after the verb:—muhi on
' I return '.
Zioy, oy, ooy exclude the person addressed.
Zitokow includes the person addressed.
Kito expresses two persons, the speaker and the person addressed:—
mintana kito ' we two go on foot': zosido mamadan ' they go by
boat '.
(2). POSSESSIVE PRONOUN.
my ku or dohodo.
thy nu „ diaw do.
his, her, its nisido, zo „ disido do.
our za, tokow „ dahay do, di tokow.
your nuzu „ diozu do.
their nosido „ dosido do.
Suhap-ku „ doho do suhap ' my house'.
ku, nu, etc. follow the noun: doho do, etc. precede the noun, also
with tanganu:—doho tanganu suhap ' my own house '.
ku, nu, nisido, zo, za, di tokow, nuzu, nosido are used to express ' by
me, by you, by him ' etc:—niman nuzu ' done by you '.
(3). RELATIVE PRONOUN.
e or do = ' who, which, that '.
uhun e ntidu ' the man who goes away ': pais e binohi-ku ' the knife
which I bought '.
(4). INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN.
Zisay 'who':—Zisay miimang? 'Who is fighting?' Niman ni-
say? ' Who did this?' Suhap nisay? or Disay do suhap?
' Whose house ? '
nunu 'what':—Nunu. wan nu? ' What are you doing?'.
hangga ' which ':—Hangga pillion nu? 'Which is being chosen by
you?'.
(5). DEMONSTRATIVE: PRONOUN.
d'iti ' this ';—suhap d'iti or itinu suhap ' this house '.
d'eno ' that':—uhun d'eno or eno uhun 'that man '.
1924] GOSSENS: the Dusun Language. 91
The Verb.
The Dusun or rather Kadazan language has the active and
passive voice, the passive being more used than the active. Beside
these there is the deponent verb :—
i . c'a cu ' I make'.
tan daon ku ' is being made by me '.
sogiton ou ' I am sick '.
hangadon ou ' I Jong for '.
PRESENT TENSE.
sumimbaou' I answer '
sumimba ko' thou answerest'.
sumimba zisido 'he, she, it answers
sumimba oy or ooy, tokow, kito ' we answer'
sumimba kow or konow 'you answer'.
sum-mil a zusido ' they answer '.
PAST TENSE.
suminimba ou, ko, etc. ' I, you, etc. answered '.
This is formed by infixing in usually after the first letter, but
sometimes also after the first syllable, when it ends in um:—
tumanud 'to follow', tuminanud ou 'I followed'; mongoy 'to
fetch', minongoy ou ' 1 fetched'; momobog 'to beat', minomobog
ou ' I beat'.
FUTURE TENSE.
This is formed by the present tense with may' after 'the verb, or
pronoun :—mimang may zisido ' he will do it ': sumimba ou may ' I
shall answer '.
When connected with a word that already indicates the future,
nothing more is added to the present tense :—sumimba zisido do
suvab ' tomorrow he will answer '.
So, too when mottu ' probably ' and dati ' perhaps-', are used,
.nothing more is added: sumimba mottu zisido 'probably he will
answer ': mint ana dati zosido ' perhaps they go on foot'.
Sometimes the future is formed from the perfect passive by
omitting n from the first syllable;—
novottu karat 'the rope is broken', ovottu karat ' the rope will
break'.
notipu ma-ram ' the stick is broken', olipu maraw ' the stick will
break'.
nahapos ko 'you have been whipped', ahapos ko ''you will be
whipped'.
IMPERATIVE.
This is mostly formed by changing the first letter of the
present tense m into p and suffixing o to verbs ending in a consonant
and no to those ending in a vowel:—
mamanaw 'to walk', pamanawo.
mongidu ' to take off', pongiduno.
92 Journal Malayan Branch, Royal Asiatic Society [Vol. II
In words of two syllables beginning with m, this m is
dropped:—
midu ' to go away ', iduno.
mongoy ' to fetch', ongoyo.
miho ' to know ' always retains the m.
If the verb has bu, du, gu, hu, etc. before the m, the imperative
is formed by leaving out um :—
sumimba ' to answer ', simbano.
humabus ' to go out ',habuso.
tumanud ' to follow', tanudo.
gumuhi ' to return ', guhino.
Sometimes a double imperative is used, ongoy from mongoy
' to go and bring' being placed before the second:—
ongoy tanud disido ' go and follow him '.
ongoy pokianu ' go and ask '.
Verbs beginning with popo ' to cause' omit one po:—
popohabus, pohabuso 'to let out'.
popoidu, poiduno ' to cause to run away '.
THE INFINITIVE MOOD.
This is like the imperative.
Onuay ou maraw pomobog disido ' give me a stick to beat him ' from
momobog.
Mongoy on doid kaday pomohi do sada ' I go to the shops to buy
fishes ' from momohi.
THE PERFECT TENSE.
This is formed by placing noko before the imperative, and
omitting the affix o or no:—
man garni' to take', panganu : noko panganu ouno ' I have taken '.
midu ' to run away', idu: noko idu ouno ' I have run away '.
tumanud ' to follow ', tanud: noko tanud ouno 'I have followed'.
miho is an exception, retaining the m, noko miho ouno ' I have
known '.
The words ' I cannot', ' I do not' are often expressed by the
perfect without the prefix no :—
amu zou kopanau, ' I cannot walk'
amu zou kougad, ' I cannot start'
amu zou kaakan, ' I cannot eat'
THE PLUPERFECT TENSE.
This is mostly rendered by the perfect. When however an act
is just past, the perfect is used but without the prefix no, only ko
remaining; in forms not having ko but only no, no is changed into
ko.
kaakan minugad ou ' as soon as I had eaten I started '.
kougad ko yuminikot zisido ' just as you had left he came '.
To express the action still more proximately, the same form is
used but the first syllable is repeated and raised in sound:—
koyiyikot zisido ' just as he bad come '.
kapapatay zisido ' just as he had died '.