The Tidong Dialects of Borneo, By Mervyn W. H. Beech,
M.A. (The Clarendon Press. 5s. net.)—Mr. Beech was for three years District Officer at Tawao, in British North Borneo. Here he learnt the Tidong language, being, indeed, the first European to acquire it. The Tidongs are a mixed race of Malays and Kayana. Portions of this race have made various migrations. The language of the original Malay-Kayan people, called Tidong proper, is no longer spoken. The Tidongs who have remained in their original settlement speak Bolougan ; the migrants use Tarakan, a dialect which has various subdivisions. Mr. Beech, to his great credit, availed himself of his opportunity to put together a grammar and vocabulary of those dialects. He has been able to obtain the help of an expert in the Malay tongue and literature, Dr. A. A. Fokker, who annotates the book throughout with observations drawn from his own knowledge, and also adds an appendix on the "Phonetic System."
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