PA he nm nese" 9) we > fu + A ' 14, way, as en Anyier sentovin inaudion tanfmrsn Risers ov ebratesn tie gp. Grrahird anf YE) Agnwriim jtciahiariine mith, Scchey Aa. ) ef 4 iafarenlag Putiden ina, fp, | 6 ronanlese v0 cola! nop Fain emamic (Caanaan s a an Lenton antibar mean zi Pa ae Pefpatin soibaly ys | | x Varationms Lp 6 pete cafibas wpitd p, $f card nulian prose rebvte enchitre. prordieude Inetiis inden PIG 19 8} fered D910, p.i/6 By) ase ha! salty hr tp — I ea ale ay | A) | gmanttad, ut Bho, Bel, gone, iy i pT. a Bay ae Laufer PB palin jrrmeminite rend sanwmee st 1 TE Trmanen forthe LT Truriine Dpihed, npitlrme meminon vp Dhftrm hidiler p77. Longe fran frees sinerescanke | clinati'vaam fy rum ard, ‘e yoiea es i Goo ein and os | Saban (7) CA Mimporiinhig Taatdis indbre inten Se ae ei + Wh of, Suef, y \ ries Tea ie ja peat nae p < cs hp esecs rel i eee itu Minera curity g en. So decane ” — ne a Gray | wt ans 2) den a8 Raglan abafu verti F6 2. | opin "Lihnon agit, whitons Segenerant whit yf “Ay, eg? ne ek 104 BunjaeTiaan verte cam Hyp Hobe. ompors puZinan ye LOCUS. (31. 2 nom Sabons yume OD, pet 3} F cat, flengat bague uber Cee, Mines Po lth 107 mom Cerabom Sein ‘s pa s7) , Penglin 9 te hapa e muprece. efighe inned™ 0d ay act. pape Ape tt cope tre te GY nemteaueriat, p:19Q.142- Silay ypc ta 5 Ye mt fe mp 186, fo ag ie 5 Sa Hg aU Ansa PE ii nom oe W iieieiai ry 145. 5 ape rE fsck SAE A812 Bh re pi Ge 5 tol be aa inte, Binge ecg Zt JED ntl [id A179, frome: pugorols lace ld fsc/p: 182 r Raph gl cafe! waked foe jo af any af foe eof Of, Irina veden ov Emaar i ho -m “ hee Spt in ag ac Te gr ¢ FO es ana 1 rites on 180%. Aypons, bo rappowrs You Sinrrwess Ae eel eral meas eae 1 timers Aa wnfows tua Ral nea es . 9 Po Seer Mn ree, Hagen x Woe Aone eonyietinn, Pe Nipdet, b [homme geustt fol! be Sey pe te oninit ob het Blagat Je rattnhant tev Larges oe tet Be Hebrew dwt coy,a ey T bray erien i anbyee InMrim tom Cho ype = hee agit jperrite bento Or Bi ake, . Lee f. Em joy GEE Ge Cae ee pith alone : Suda 4) Pe ee és fpr pe? aaenert gon Pb gem J cnateyi> ae 9 [05 Ye gamdorn 7. ‘ Dee Bie moe MACE ee #7 Brae ss P ‘ “ p pase on 4 eon ee y | Dun oy Carmine pie neha $f. ee oa 7) gine pel. 2? a @ jo: Lage oo non f 0 ene 2 oy; é poe be jr uel feat Lp ; ate 9) pee Arn Le pees tel? celeste’ Daf TI XII] XIf 0% te “poem 49 . iM Jone Maem tae ee ee ae yuria pee pam “a é Lp an fist rer bu pple fvann vias ot ae LE Bag “ 7 sn V2 Xu: bow jam, prtatag Fora. ie My npc pe init pry fre . OD lS % 7 Ore. UME TONE? enact (3). Dept sn! NYA MGT pote f hi perenne ee HA ati lee npn Mime Fae gy gneuce aang. nt oe acater gpl ary tas eat podem Rink adeenpare tant fa. Qiwersez + 5 Dee 4 6 pian A 1Y Saige OB ate nil) Pe MC ray eS, a Pag I) Prernennt deparobe IS pl v, “ain? £ ATE Jee le st rd Wd po aw THT, pl 12K sateen ed v V . ee Ne ‘ cat " —e wk Nog BOR ey > Set ihe eee : a Ex bibliotheca Steph. Quatremeri. <36622281750019 Bayer. Staatsbibiiothek i ae elvan WR seg teeman wee.”ae fates FID VERE GRAMMAR OF THE BENGAL LANGUAGE BY NATHANIEL BRASSEY HALHED. SOM wots’ TW: ~eaifacts: APPLY SLAW RAT AR? Tae SAUL PRINTED AT HOOGLY in BENGAL M DCC LXXVIIL et:settle MOXCEEMPREFACE, HE wisdom of the Britith Parliament has within thefe few years’ taken a decifive part in'the internal policy and civil adminiftration of its Afiatic territories ; and more particularly inthe Kingdom’of Bengal, which, by the moft formal a& of authority in the effablifhment of a Supreme Court of Juflice, it has profeffedly incorporated with the Britith Empire. © Much however fiill remains for the completion of this grand work 5 andii PREFACE. and we may reafonably prefume, that ore of its moft important gefiderota, is the cultivation of a right underflanding and of a general medium of intercourfe between the Government and its Subjects ; between the Natives of Europe who are to rule, and the Inhabitants of India who are to obey. The Romans, a people of little learning and lef tafte, had no fooner conquer= ed Greece than they applied themfelves to the fludy of Greek: They adopted its. Laws-even.befare.they. could read them, and civilized themflves in fubduing their enemies. _ The Englith, who have made fo capital a progrets in the Polite Arts, and who are mafters of Bengal; may, with-more caleand greater propri+ ety, add its Language to their acquifitions : that they may exe plain the benevolent principles of that legiflation whofe decices they inforce ; that they may convince while they command; and be at once the difpenfers.of Ljaws and of Science,to, an, extepfigr nation. This fubjeét has, hitherto been, utterly. difregardedtin Europe 5 and it is fearcely believed that Bengal ever poli fedias native and peculiar diale@ of its own, diftin& from that idiom: which, under the name of Moor's, has been fuppofed.to prevail over all India, To remove thele prejudices, and to contributei my flender mite to the public fervice, 1 have attempted the fol-:. lowing grammatical explanation of the vernacular language of BengalPir EF a cE! itt Berigal :° in which itty principal aid bas béen to comprehend everything Adcefliry th bdikhottn'y'iivt contentinig miyfelf with a faperfici OF partial Ey! Hot COdfining thy Obfervations to the'more obvibue partienli ties. A-fhort treatife, when preceded’ tylother ‘mlore copious and "difiifive conipilations’ on the fime? fabjeA; may perhaps pats ford fudicioits abltra€, oF on elegant! compendiam 5 but every’ émiffion of the writér who hath cho- fin an unhandled topic will be imputéd to ignorance or neglects By thof whofe bagaeate ceric may have furnifhed: more® complete information. Net The grand Source of Indian Literature, the Parent of almott’ every diakee from the Perfian ‘Gulpb to the China Seas, is the’ anguage of the moft venerable and’ unfachomable’ hich although at prefent fhut up in the libraries of Bramjngy, gn, appropriated folely to the, records of their Religi- | ony. cappears, to-baye been current over molt of the Oriental Worlds and traces.of its original extent may ftill be diftovered- in abmofk every dilfiG, of Afia, 1 have been aftonithed to find the fimiltudeyof. Shanlerig yyords witht thofe of Perfian and Aras, bigyand yep of, Latin, apd Greek : and thee not, in technical ang , metaphorical termsg, which the mutust ign of refined grts argh gwproved manners might have occafionally inntreduced ; but iniv PREFACE in the main ground-work of language, in monofyllables, in the the names of numbers, and,the appellations of fuch things as would be firft difcriminated on the immediate dawn of civiliza- tion, The refemblance which may be obferved in the chara@t- ers upon the medals and fignets of various diftriéts of Afia, the light which they. reciprocally refle@ upon each other, and the general analogy which they all bear to the fame grand Proto type, afford another ample field for curiofity. The coins of Adam, Napaul, Cathmeereand many other kingdoms are all ftamped with Shanfcrit letters, and moftly contain allufions to the old Shanferit Mythology : the fame conformity I have ob- ferved on the impreffions of ,feals from Bootan and Tibet. A collateral inference may likewife be deduced from the pecul'ar arrangement of the Shanfcrit alphabet, fo very different from that of any other quarter of the world. This extraordinary mode of combination ftill exitts in the greatet part of the Eatt, « from the Indus to Pegu, in dialcAs now apparently unconneéted, and in charaters compleatly diflimilar; but is a forcible argu= ment that they are all derived from the fame fource. Another of {pee places, of tivles'and digniti channel jation prefents itfelf in the names'of perfons and which are open to general notice, and ia which, to the firtheit limits of Afia, may be found ma- ifchtPREFACE, v manifett traces of the Shanferit. ‘The meagre remnants of Cop= tic antiquities afford no (cope for comparifon between that idiom and this primitive tongue: but there fill exifts fufficient grounds for conje@ure that Egypt has but a difputable claim to its long- boafied originality in language, in policy and in religion, In fupport of this opinion I fhal] mention only one circumfia The Raja of Kifhenagur, who is by much the mott learned and able antiquary which Bengal has produced within this century, has very lately affirmed, that he has in his own poffeffion Shan- ferit books which give an account ofa communication formerly fubfifting between India and Egypts wherein the Egyptians are conftantly deferibed as difciples, not as inftrndtors y and as feek- ing that liberal education and thote {ciences in Hindoftan, which none of their own countrymen had fufficient knowledge to im- part. The few paflages which are extant in the anticnt Greek authors refpeéting the Bracmans at the fame time that they re- ceive a freth light from this relation, very ftrongly corroborate its authenticity. nce of But though thefe feveral proofs of the former preva the Shanfcrit are now thinly feattered over an immenfe conti- nent, and interfperfed with an infinite varicty cf extrancous matter, arrifing from every poffible revolution in the manners andvi PREFACE, and prin-iptes of the nations, who have by turas cultivated or deftroyed it 5 that part of Afia between the Indus and the Ganges ftill preferves the whole language pure and inviolate; Mtill offers a thoufand books to the perufal of the curious, many of which have been religioufly banded down from the earliett: periods of human exifiance, ‘The Jefait Dapont bas midzd many fubfequent writers, by his fabulous account of the wonderful ftructure of this dialects According to him, it owes the molt éxtenfive and copious hars velt of words to a very inadequate number of primitive roots, and thefe he chufes to call the caput mortuun of the language 5 as not being words of themfelves, but certain founds bearing a relation to certain ideas. The elements to which he alludes, and of which he has mifquoted an inftance, fall far thort of thofe comprehenfive faculties which he has beftowed on them. They are fimply the Roots of Verbs, an] are even fo denomimted in the very title of the book from whence he muft have borrowed his inaccurate examples. Their number is about feven bun- dred; and i mutt be granted that to them, as to the verbs of moft other langnages, a very plentiful Rock of verbil nouns owes its origins but | by no means believe that they exceed thofe of the Greek either in guantity or variety. ThePREFACE. vii ‘The fundamental part of the Shan(crit language is divided in ‘to three claffes: Dhaat or roots of verbs, (Dupont’s primitive ele- ments) Shubd or original nouns, and Evya ot particles. Thele Jatter are ever indeclinable as_in other idioms: but the words comprehended in the two former claffes muft be prepared by cere sain additions and inflexions to fit them for a place in compofiz tion. And here it is that the art of the Grammarian bas found room to expand itfelf, and to employ all the powers of refine ment. Nota {yllable, not letter can be added or altered but by regimen ; not the moft trifling variation of the fenfe in the mi- nuteft fubdivifion of declenfion or conjugation can be effected without the application of {evcral rules: and all the different forms for every change of gender, number, cafe, perfon, tente, mood or dégree are methodically arranged for the affiftance of the memorys refembling (though on a {eale infinitely more exe tenfive) the compilations of propria quae maribus and asin prefenti. Had Dupont txen lefs bigotted to his fyftem of a caput mor- tuum, be mutt have reflected that a verb anda noun are equally neceffary to the conftruétion of a fentence, and to the very ins telligibility of fpeechs and had he gained a proper infight into the’ Shanferit, he would have been fully convinced, that its elemen=! tary parts are made up of thefe two genera with the addition of particles. a b Tovith PREFACE To this triple fource 1 corccive that every word of truly Indian original in every provincial and fubordinate diale& of all Hindoftan may ftill be traced by a laborious and critical analy fis 5 and all fuch terms as are thoroughly proved to bear no relati~ on to any one of the Shanfcrit roots, 1 would confider as the produdtion of foe remote and foreign idiom, fubfequently ins grafted upon the main ftock. A judicious inveftigation of this principle would probably throw a new light upon the firft ins vention of many arts and {ciences, and open a frefh mine of philological diftoveries. Exclufive of the Shanfcrit, there are three different dialeéts applied (tho’ not with equal currency ) in the kingdom of Bengal: Viz. the Perfizn, the Hindoftanic and the proper Ben= galefe; each of which has its own peculiar department in the bufinets of the country, and confequently neither of them can b: univerfally adopted to the exclufion of the others. ‘The Perfian entered Bengal with the Mogul conquerors, and being the language of the court naturally gained a footing ia the law and in the revenues; it has alfo for fome centuries been the common medinm of negotiation between the feveral ftates of Hindoftan, and from thence became an almoft indifpenfable qualification for thofe who were to manage the extenfive affairs of thePREFACE, ix the Eaft India Company: fo that the accurate and elegant gram- mar compofed by Mr. Jones does equal honour to the caufe of Jearning, and fervice to his countrymen in Afia, This lan- guage is Mill ufed by all the Mogul officers of government, in their feveral departments of accounts and correfpondence; as being the dialeé of the former ruling power, of which the En- glith have in fome degree taken the place, and whofe fyftem they have not yet laid afide. From hence arifes one capital impe+ diment to the uniformity of political arrangements in Bengal; for while the fummary of all public bufinefs is kept in one idiom, the detail is invariably confined to anothcr, as 1 fhall prefently. demonftrate. ‘The Hindoftanic, or Indien language, appears to have been generally {poken for many ages through all proper Hindoftan, Ie is indubitably derived from the Shanferit, with which it has exadtly the fame connexion, as the modern diale€ts of France and Italy with pure Latin, For while the fame founds are al moft conftantly applied in both languages to reprefent the fame ideas, the inflexions by which they are affeéted and the modes of grammatical regimen are widely different. ‘The Shan- ferit has a dual number both to verbs and nouns, the Hindo- ftanic to neither. Verbs in Shanfcrit have the fame form for bothx PREFACE both the mafculine and feminine genders ; Hindoftanic verbs are diflinguithed by different terminations for the different fexes, like, thofe of the Arabic. Thefe are their capital outlines of diffimi-, arity; but in the original appropriation of particular words to, particular fenfes, in the idiomatic turns of expreffion and come, plexion of fpeech we may obferve the ftrongeft family likenefs. | The Charaéters alfo peculiar to the Hindoftanic are exa@ly the fame with thofe of the Shanferit, but of a ruder thape + yet fiill exhibiting a more accurate refemblance than is found in ma-, ny of the Greek letters upon infcriptions of different Aras, _ This primitive Hindottanic tongue has by no means preferved, its purity, or its univerfality to the prefent age: for the modera Inhabitants of India vary almoft as much in language as in Re- Figion, It is well known in what an obftinate and inviolable obfcurity the Jentoos conceal as well the Myfteries of their Faith, as the Books in which they are contained : and under what fevere prohibitions their moft approved Legiflators have confi- ned the ftudy of the Shanfcrit to their own principal tribes on- ly. An explanation of it to perfons not qualified for this feience by their rank, fubjeéted both the teacher and the pupil to very tremendous penalties ; but to fully its purity by imparting the flighteft knowledge of it to ftrangers was ever cautioufly aovided as the moft inexpiable crime, The Pundit who imparted a fmall portionPREFACE Xi sportion of his language to me, has by no means efcaped the cen- fare of his countrymen : and while he readily difplayed the prin= ciples of his grammar, he has invariably refufed to develope a fin- glearticle of his religion, Thus we may fuppofe that when the Mahometan Invaders firft fettled in India, and from the neceffi- ty of having fone medium of communication with their new fubjeéts, applied themfelves to the ftudy of the Hindoftanic dia- Je&, the impenetrable referve of the Jentoos would quickly ren= der its abftrufer Shanfcrit terms unintelligible ; and the Fo- + xeigners, unpraéticed in the idiom, would frequently recur to their own native expreffions. New adventurers continually ar- tiving kept up a conftant influx of exotic words, and the he- terogencous mafs gradually increafed its ftock, as conquett or policy extended the boundaries of its circulation. But thefe alter- ations affe&ted words only. The grammatical principles of the original Hindoftanic, and the ancient forms of conjugation and inflexion remained the fame; and whilft the primitive fubftan- tives were excluded or exchanged, the verbs maintained both their inflexions and their regimen. ‘They ftill fubfift in their priftine fate; and at prefent thofe perfons are thought to {peak this compound idiom with the moft elegance, who mix with pure Indian verbs the greateft number of Perfian and Arabic nouns. Such of the Hindoos as have been conneéted with the Muffel- manxii PREFACE man corrts, or admitted to any offices under that government have generally complimented their mafters by a compliance with thefe literary innovations. But the Bramins and all other well- educated Jentoos, whofe ambition has not overpowered their principles, ftill adhere with a certain confcientious tenacity to their primeval tongue, and have many antient books written iz its pureft ftyle ; among which were probably the celebrated Fa- bles of Pilpay (now not to be found.) ‘They continue to apply: it to the purpofes of commerce in Surat, Guzarat and other pla~ ces on the weftern Coaft ; and their correfpondence circulates through all Hindoftan, quite to the interior parts of Bengal 5 where feveral Bankers of this Religion, who have at different times emigrated from the higher countries, carry on a very ex tenfive traffic. The Charaéters in which it is written, though all derived from the Shanfcrit, deviateas much from their origi- nal exemplar, as our running-hand and italian differ from round+ hand. It is faid that there are {even different forts of Indian hands all comprized under the general term Naagoree, which may be interpreted (Writing ; and the elegant Shanfcrit is ftyled Daeb Naagoree or the Writing of the Immortals; which may not im- probably be a refinement from the more fimple and unpolith- ed Naagoree of the earlier ages. The word Taugoree is fome- timesPREFACE, siti times ufed to fignify 2 loofe or inaccurate charaéter of the Naa- goree, but F never could difcover that any precife diftinstion Was implied by it. The Bengal letters, fuch as difplayed in the following fhects, are another branch of the fame ftock; lef beautiful than the refined Shanfcrit, but refembling it no Iefs than the Naagoree. They are ufed in Affam as well as in Ben- gal, and may be probably one of the moft antient modes of wri- ting in the world. The Bengalefe Bramins have all their Shan- {crit books copied in this national alphabet, and tranfpofe into it all the Daeb Naagoree manufcripts for their own perufal. The dialeé called by us the Moors is that mixed fpecies of Hindoftanic, which I have above defcribed to owe its exiftance to the Mahometan Conquefts.. In this idiom feveral clegant poems and tales have been compofed by learned Perfian and Mogul authors, and are fiill extant in the libraries of the evrious, Thefe are always written in the Perfian hand, which is by no means calculated for exprefling the found either of the Hindo- ftanic vowels or nafal confonants. The Mahometans of the low=- er rank have a few books on Religious fubjeéts in this lans guage, and in the Naagoree charagters ; which are alfo ufed by fome of them in their petty accounts. Europeans on their ar- rival in India, reduced to aneceflary intercourfe with Mahome- tanxiv PREFACE, tan fervants, or Sepoys, habitually acquire from them this idi~ om in that imperfeét_and-confined ftate which is the confequence of the menial condition of their inftru@ors: yet this curious fy tem of ftudy hath produced more than one attempt to a Gram- mar and Vocabulary. ‘The jargon however, {uch asit is, proves utterly unintelligible to the villagers and peafants both in Hindoftan and Bengal, nor is ufed any where, but in large towns frequented by Mahometans and Strangers. On this dia~ Je& an ingenious Miffionary long fince publithed a laborious treatife in Latin. He is the earlieft and may be deemed the only writer on the fubje@t, for the latter compofitions do not deferve a name. . What the pure Hindoftanic is to upper India, the language which I have here endeavoured to explain is to Bengal, intimate~ Jy related to the Shanfcrit both in expreffions, conftru@ion and chara&ter. It is the fole channel of perfonal and epiftolary com= munication among the Hindoos of every occupation and tribe, All their bufinefs is tranfaéted, and all their accounts are kept in it; and as their fyftem of education is in general very confined, there are few among them who can write or read any other idi- om : the uneducated, or eight parts in ten of the whole nation, are neceflarily confined to the ufage of their mother tongue. ThePREFACE. xv "The Board cf Commerce at Calcutta, and the feveral Chiefs of the fubordinite Faétories cannot properly condud the India Company's mercantile corsetpondence and negotiations, wi our the intermediate agency of Bengal Interpreters: for the whole feftem of the Inveftment, in every ftiye of its prepara- tion and provifion, is monaged in the language of the country 5 in which all the accounts of the Aurungs, (or manufacturing towns) thofe of the Company’s Export Warehoute, all propor fils and letters from agents, merchants, contraéors, weavers, winders, bleachers &e, are conftantly prefented ; and into which all orders to Gomaftahs, Aumecns and other officers for the purchafz and procuration of goods muft be tranfluted. Important as this language muft confequently appear to the Commercial line, its adoption would be no lets beneficial tothe Revenue department, For although the Contraas, fes and other obligations, executed between Government and its imme= diate depend ints and tenants, continue to be drawn out in the Perfian disdeét, yet the under Leafs and engagements, which thefe in their turn grant to the pe fants and cultivators of the ground, and all thofe copyhold tenures called Pottahs are cons fantly written in Bengalefe, And it may even be doubted whether more than one third of all Jentoo Zomindars, Farmers and oth.r Leffees of the fite can read a fingle word of their c ownxvi PREFACE. own accounts and reprefentations, as delivered in their Moon- fhee's Perfian tranflation, The internal policy of the kingdom demands an equal fhare of attention ; and the many impofitions to which the poorer clafs of people are expofed, in a country ftill flu@uating between the relics of former defpotic dominion, and the liberal fpirit of its prefent legiflature, have long cried out for a remedy. ‘This has lately been propofed in the appointment of gentlemen of mature experience in the manners and cufioms of the natives to the fe~ veral divifions and diftriéts of Bengal, to aé as jufticiary arbi- trators between the head farmer and his under tenants: with whom the indigent villager might find immediate and effe@ual redrefs from the exaétions of an imperious Landlord or grafp- ing Colleétor, freed from the neceffiry delays of an ordinary court of juftice, and the expence and inconvenience of a regular fuit, Such a meafure, by holding out to each induftrious indivi- dual a near profpest of property in his earnings and fecurity in his pofleffions, promifes, in the moft effectual manner, to enfi-re ftability to our conquefts and popularity to our adminiftration 5 and will probably fet open the Britifh territories as an afylum for the difcouraged hulbandman, the neglected artift, and op- preffed labourer from every quarter of Hindoftan. But this important commiffiun will be more immediately, and more exten-PREFACE, xvii extenfively beneficial, in proport’on as it is conferred on thofe only whom a competent knowledge of the Bengalele has previoufly qualified for a perfonal inveftization of every unwar- rantable exxvi Th CONTENTS. 20020090000 HOOK CHAP. 1. Page. Of the Elements. — — —_ 1 CHAP. IL. Cl Noite ee 46 : CHAP._UL. Of Pronouns, 94.499" 75 CHAP. IV. Of Verbs, _ _ _ 100 . CHAP. _V, Of Attributes and Relations. _ — 143 CHAP. VL ss — -— 159 CHAP. VIL Of Syntax, 00° "77 CHAP. VIII. Of Orthoepy and Verfification, = —— _ 190 i _pevre — a 207 ERRATA,ERRATA, SANS xxvii Many of the errors which are here pointed out, have been revifed in the prefs, before the whole impreffion was worked off. Such of them as may yer remain, the reader is defired to correét, Page iv line << xxi xxii — 19 — 28 — 30 33 ~ the fhort 00, 36 — 39 ~ Errata in the Preface. read Cafhmeer. 9 for Cathmeere lat — arrifing 9 — fuperceded it — illuftraed 21 — excited Errata in the Grammar. 9 — anamalous 7 — Chaamroo 12 — indifferetly 15 — Ghaalecaa 4 — thowinyo 19 — BAe 9 — ASTM arifing. fuperfeded, illuftrated, attradted, anomalous. Chaamroo. indifferently. {,haaleeyaa. fovinyo, Tas 20. the figure Jp reo ftanding for q or r, with 2. is omitted by miftake. 14 — Thucydides +> CT Pherecydes. er Pagexxviii Page 48 line 17 for SPE read SFA} 6- 8 -— apy - 78 — 12813 mutt be tranfpofed for lines 11 & 2, as the example relates to the ufage of the 6th cafe of the Shanf- crit pronoun S[3p my or mine, 84 — 12 after other infert rule. 88—~ 1 for third read fecond, fog to BATA HATTA the pol [feflive cafe of AB 93 — 1 SACS HP” Sac Ra 143-4 — Masha — Mchaa. 1446 14 7 = “7-9 Inftead of the word there ufed, fupply ARG Anging man, ARR 4 fnging woman. Erafe the lines 11, 12, 13 & 14, Theexample there- in quoted isinferted by miftake: it relates to another article and is applied elfewhere. line 16 for affurne read afiame. 18 = and the [fame in two places in the 2oth line. PagePage 148 line6 for ITS read STS 177 71 = Put — But. 192 —6 — third — fecond. As the letters tho Bye 3 & | 30 First Series. domrreemK aq] a Ze ye $ 00 a ree a ree Rlee Qa pi ov qe ung = wy ob Szconp Serres. nt ksho S| ge Eh _g ngono Bho Fie ahhe a gree Bho Bde. & Aho qe anno A tho | do Jdho 7 no Ph gb Gbho zm aq y tho io qw ——— Ho Rho a khy-oBENGAL LANGUAGE, 5 Tis wfual with the Natives, whofe example I (hall partly fol- tow, to defer all explanation of the Grft fixteen letters of the al- phabet, until they have thoroughly inflruéted their pupils in the nature and ufe of the fubfequent confonants.. The reafon of which is evident: for as every confonant is made to include in itfelf the thort vowel necefiary to its enunciation, the firft thing requifite, is to account for this circumftance, and to fhew how the charaéter which fhould denote this (hort vowel may be omit- ted without prejudice to perfpicuity and orthography, The firft clements of every feience muft be plain, fimple and eafy of perception: but more particularly thofe of letters; which, as they are generally taught in the early period of life, thould be divefted of every faperfluity that may diftraé the attention, or clog the memory. ‘This confideration {ems to have been alto- gether overlooked in the elements of our own language, where we call the figure C, je: and yetfor the found fa, we write CA. In.the fame manner G is pronounced foft like J in our alphabets although the hard found of Gamma prevails in more than the pro- inate aitchs portion of feurto five in its pplication. H, we den which does not figgeQ the moft ditant idea of an alpirate. To the letter Y we have affixed a name, which denotes neither the6 A GRAMMAR OF THE vowel, nor the confonant: W is defined from its form only, not from its ules and Z, sad, of izard is an appellation equally ufe- lefs and unintelligible. The confequences of this perplexed fy- ftem are doubt, crror and delay. In the languages of India thefe difficulties are greatly avoided, by giving to each feparate confo~ nant the fame precife pronunciation in the alphabet, which it ever bears in compofition; and by annexing to it the imperfe& vocal found which every attempt at utterance mutt neceffarily produce. It is to be obferved, that in the Bengal alphabet, ail the names of the confonants commence wiih the refpective confonants which they denote; as ho, go, jo, &c. Whereas in Englith, fe~ ven of them are preceded by a vowel: ef, eb, em, en, ar, efi, & ex. It follows from hence, that the fhort vowel of the Bengalefe is invariably {ubjoined to the confonant with which it is uttered, and never precedes: as 3B and $Y always ftand for ko, and go and in no cafe for ok, or og. Mott of the Oriental languages are conftruéted upon the fame principle, with refpeét to the omiffion of the fhort vowel. The Hebrew bal no fign to exprefs it before the inventioa of the Maforetic points, In Arabicit is rarely inferted, unle(s upon very folemn occafions, as in the Koran, In the modern Perfi ar'it is univerBENGAL LANGUAGE. 7 univerfally omitted: fo to all the confonants in the Shanfcrit language this fhort vowel is an invariable appendage, and is ne- ver fignified by any diacritical mark: but where the conftrudtion requires that the vowel fhould be dropped, a particular ftroke is fet under the letter, to regulate the pronunciation; a nicety, to which the inaccuracy of the Bengalefe has not yet given place. This infeparable (hort vowel is differently uttered in different languages, according to the genius of each; and perhaps in fome degree to the organs of {peech in the various nations by which it is ufed, In the Shanfcrit it is called Soor, (or utterance) and throughout Hindoftan has the found of the fhort ¢ of the French. In Arabic it is denominated Tuttah, (or open) becaufe the con- fonant to which it is added, ftands open to the fucceeding letters and is Gignified by a fhort line over the confonant. This futtah, or fatha, is yenerally expreffed in European languages by the thort a; but in utterance much more refembles our x in butter. The Perfians call this vowel Zeder, (or above) on account of its pofi- tion, which is the fame as in the Arabic; and with them it has the found of ¢ in yes; but in Bengal, where a very guttural accent prevails, it has a more open and broad tone, like the fecond 0 in the word chocolate; as 2 ko, $| go &c. The8 A GRAMMAR OF THE ‘The arrangement of confonants in this alphabet has. particu larity, which I do not remember to have met with in any lan- guages, but thofe proper to India: namely, that it is compofed with akind of regularity approaching to metrical exaétnefs, which renders it peculiarly eafy to the memory. Thus in the feries of confonants beginning with the letter 3 ko, an evident rythm is formed by the alternate fucceffion of the fimple and afpirated Ict- ters; and a cadence is introduced after each fourth, by the inter= vening nafal. In the latter part of the feries this nafal is omit- ted after the letter wor but in recital, a reft or paufe is obferved, to make up for the deficiency. I muft here inform the reader, that the vowels as ufed in compofition, when joined with confonants, have a very differerit figure from thofe, which he will have obferved in the firit feries of the alphabet. Not to anticipate a general account of the pre- cife found, and nature of them, I fhall here infert a table of the forms of vowels in compofition, corretponding to thofe which are initial or fingle; that the learner may not be at a lofs to read fuch examples as immediately geeur,BENGAL LANGUAGE 9 A TAsce ofthe correfponding Vowels, PHO S.02 022029202001 102003000 2000801008 qo %B ko, (the included vowel) qa Sy kaa Qa ce ka Bee fe kee Pi Eki orko-i R ee. : sl kee 30 Cl ko So ad koo J ou (Bl kow 3 ZB koo wy? ung BP? kung meh BE koh Be ke has the found of 4; as @qaq koren to do. AQ k,ho, the fame A alpirated: as SOOT maak,hon butter. S| ge is pronounced like g hard; as S}yy= gomon to go. grho, the fame g followed by an alpirate, diftin@ly uttered. We have no found in Englith that refembles it, but in {eparate words; one.ending with g, the next commencing with 4, as in twg-hard, In this manner is pronounced BE grbora houle. 3Ip A-GRAMMAR OF THE 3S 790020 Thisletter, when. pronounced in the alphabet, hasa ftrong nafal found like nd in the french word. guand. It is never found but in words of Shanfcrit origin, and then is con- ftantly compounded with fome other letter; and has the found of um,’ or ung, as in & unke ,compofed of & ngoo-oand ZB-ko in the word 37q fhynkor a proper name, v cho, the foft cb in ebarge: as BING chaamroo 4 proper name. It,alfo frequently bears the found of f ftrongly uttered; as in Bera. pronounced indifferetly cholen or folon to go, R ch,ho, is the fame letter afpirated; but in common difcourfe it is univerfally pronounced like 2 in the word dif-hearten; as BATFE fhaaleeaa a fon. GF Ja» pronounced indiscriminately Tike j or 2; as THY Ajaabo I will go; BTS haazaar a thoufand. jbo i irated;. 5 i Aj ho’ is the former letter afpirated;. as Tat bee}, hon to -underftand, % gneeo, the fecond nafal letter, never ufed but.in Shanferit.. words, and in a compound form; when it bears a found approach». ing to m preceded by a nafal g; as Pita peegnijeeraa a birdcage.BENGAL LANGUAGE, tr Et the letter ¢, with a clofe, thick or obtufe found, produced by turning the tip of the tongue upwards to the roof of the mouth; as GYgsj_taakaa a Rupee. % tyho, the fame letter followed by a diftingt afpirate like the thin fweet-heart;as Stgsq__ tshaakoor properly, a Deity, but ufed as _a term of refpeét “and adoration. 0, with the tongue inverted upwards, as in the preced~ ing letters; as va dor fear. Dey daakon to call for. This Jetter has frequently the found of r, and fhould then havea fmall ftroke under it, thus 35 as QB boro large. But in the hurry Of writing the diacritical mark is commonly omitted. Gdsho, the fame d with a feparate afpirates as {Zp dyhaakaa written and pronounced: Dacca, by Europeans, the nameof a City. «| aano, the third nafal of the feries, with a found like #, as in I zane, the name of the letter, Its ufe is confiied to the Shan(crit; and it is never diftinguithed from 7 no by the Ben- galefe; which it is made to refemble both in form and found as12 A GRAMMAR OF THE a FT thentoth joy, pleafure. BS the common ¢, as Sh toomee you. Qt ho, the fame letter, with a feparate alpirate, as arf ary t,haakon to be, to remain. qK do, the letter d; as Ar dak,hon to fee. & dhe, d with an afpirate; as aie bod.h knowledge. "F gne or no, the fourth in the order of nafals; as ata oa ree a woman, Pf pe, the common p; as Hey {a pelaano to run away. JE Poh. In repeating the alphabet here explained, the af- pirate of this letter is uttered diftin@ly, and.fabfequent to the p, like p-h inthe word /Lip-head: But in common difcourfe it is ufually pronounced like phin Philips as yeey Phol fruit, yey phool a.flower. A be, has the found Bs as GPA borecthon to rain. | GB byho, the preceding letter with an afpi b,haaloBENGAL LANGUAGE, 3 ‘byhaale godd. 3 gma, or mo, the fifth nafals but has the found of m in common difcourfe; as wrqal maanoofh a man. Y je, has the found of j; as wis jeogel a proper name. The fame charaéter with a ftroke under it thus J becomes the confonant 98as Fe thoyen accumbency, Pig geeyaa hae ving gone. When 3 yo follows a vowel or an open confo- mant at the end of a word, it drops its own included vowel, and forms a kind of diphthong with the preceding vowel; as in the Englith word boy: thus DA bshoy fear, a jaay he goes &c. | LA 1 is diftinguithed from Z| bocither by a ftroke acrofs or dot beneath it; as Sa raak,hon to place. BT GF Jo, two forms of J, as Zaz bol ftrength. This letter in the common corrupted writing of modern Rengalefe is ufu+ ally confounded with F ve in thape; and not unfrequently in example of which may be feen in the explanation of xt letter, q wa, in the Shanferit language is always ufed with the foxndSd A GRAMMAR OF THE found of w; but in the Bengalefe it is never idiftinguithed from q bo either in form or utterance. The word nabeb, ftriGtly {peaking, is novaab or nowaab. In Perfian it is written Hs) nsvaub with a cau, and in Bengalefe wayq the Second letter in the word being a wo; ‘but by. the Natives it is indifferently pronounced nobaab, novaab, and lovaab; as they je- nerally confound a ne and o lo, @ bo and | wo. a wa, when fubjoined to another confonant, is by the Bengalefe impro- perly pronounced oo; as | doo, 2 poo, >t fhoo, &c. com» pounded of ff de and J wo, Pf poand J wo, >| tho and we, %{ tho, y the, and 3 % The compilers of Shanferit grammars have been no Iefs ftudious, than were the ancient Grecks in analyzing the elementary found of their feveral let- ters, and in diftributing them agreeably to the feveral organs by which they are uttered. Thus they have a clafs of ungtee or gutturals, of taaloopee or palatials, of duntee or dentals, of ecfotaanee or labials, and of naafkaa or nafals. They have even gone further, and allotted certain founds to the region of the brain; of thefe there are four: 4 tees & to, J 10, and my thos which are called msordhence or cerebrals. nyBENGAL LANGUAGE, ty Dbelieve no other language ever contained. a fubdivifion of the fimple found expreffed by /B, but by the writers of Shanfcrit of tho is ranked under the cerebrals, @ tho belongs to the pa- Tate, and F fo is a dental, Thefe letters are by no means in- terchangeable in the original dialet; but each has its own office, and peculiar ufage. The modern Bengalefe, equally care~ ef and ignorant of all arts but thofé of gain, indiferiminately give the found of ff to each of the three charaéters, and apply them indifferently, as chance or caprice direéts; fo that there is no poffible difference to be obferved in their pronunciation of =f tho and q fho, in the word facta beefhath increafe; nor int that of 37, foand y thoin Spypy aafhwaath reliance: they would indifferently write T or fheonen, to hears and fo in other words: uh they generally confine to the middle or end of a word, and feldom ufe it is as an initial.” The rules which the Indian’ grammarians have laid down for the meer orthography of the Shantcrit language would fill a vo~ Iume; but as few or none of thefe are obferved in the Bengal dia 1eA, I have only taken notice of fuch as have fome fingularity to render them curious, or which aze peculiarly chara&teriftic of this ancient idiom, zg16 A GRAMMAR OF THE a ho, a ftrong afpirate; as sees haahaakaar lamen- tation, BR khyo, isa compound charaéter added to the fett meerly to make the number of letters even, and the rythm of the al- phabet compact; as there are but forty nine charaéters truly fimple and elementary. Ris derived from a junétion of the two letters @ ko, and gy tho; which having a very harfh found in combination, are foftened into B, khyo ‘This letter when tranfpofed into the Perfian charaéter, is frequently rendered by & che, which is a collateral proof of its origin: Thus for Khyotree (one of the four primary Hindoo tribes) the Perfians fubftitute chetree, ag Iokhymee a proper name, they’ write kchmee: And if we were to give to a khyo, its original found of £/h, there would be but little difference between lechmee and lekfomee. ‘This letter is not much ufed by the modern Benga- Jefe, and is confined to Shanfcrit words; as YAP) percekhyaa trial by ordeal. Thave already mentioned, that by the original firuéture of this language every confonant inherently pofiefles the thort vowel on which its utterance depends; it is plain therefore on thisBENGAL LANGUAGE 17 this principle, that no two confonants could have been joined together, and fucceffively pronounced in the fame fyllable; but that a vowel ma% neceffirily have intervened, As an expedi- ent to remedy this inconvenience, a fet of diftin& charaéters were invented, called Twat P,bolaa, or adjunéts. © ‘They are certai Cubordinate and fublidary figures, thac may be attached toeach of the confonants in the a’ abet refpectively, to provide againft the too frequent recurrénée of the internal vowel. Thefe Pyholaa, ave prefented ina difting feries or alphabet, confifting of cleven-fubfervient marks or figns, for d'fferent let~ ters; which are‘here jdined to z= ko, the firit of the 'fingle con- in the fame manner, be applied to all fonants, and which -may, the other letters. The twelfth word of the feries, (which feems to be added by the Bengalcfe meerly to fill up the rythm) relates to another fub- je@, which will be cxplained in 2 fubfequent remark, The reader mir remember, that’ the letter a™ in its prow per character, is never joined to atiy other letter or adjun@; but its figure is entirely changed by a conseétion with other confo- nants, a3 will be (ver in the following feries. c The18 A GRAMMAR OF THE The twelve PhnoL AAs. SOIREE Figure Name Power DB ky-o ky-o ca koro kro 3 kono kno 7 kolo klo koo-0 kwo, or; z | fometimes | koo. = komo kmo = kirree kree = killee Klee & arko rko g ungko ungko x athko thko Tate theedd, bee |" TheBENGAL LANGUAGE, 19 Thefe P,tolaas may be comprehended bythe following expla- nation: a kyo, is the letter J yo added to 2 ko, or any other confonant; as @fayj baakyo a word, ay thowinyo an army. kro, is ro fubjoined to a ko, or any other confonant; as ela krod,h anger, FA prot,hom firft. kno, in this figure a no is joined to any other letters as faz beeg,hno a calamity. f Eee, as FAA cendor the name of a Deity, ae dooee a FH ee the correfpondent long vowel. SS %, as Sia oopor above, as baa-oo the ait. & 00, the correfpondent long vowels as Say cP rod,h compliment. Gl ree, asin lez reen a loan. a ree, its correfpondent long vowel; which never octurs in Bengalefe. lee, is never found but in Shanferit words, and in a com- “pound ftate; as = kleepto appointed. x & lee, is & lee doubled and pronounced long. Qa as AE ave this. EP i, asin the Shan{erit word “PETA iraabet an elephant, 328 A GRAMMAR OF THE Bo asin YZ] AF jaaon to go. J ou, asin 3 oufhed,h medicine. qe ung, is of a compound {pecies. In the Shanferit language q oo it is called wyd onofwor, and is there ufed as a fub- ftitute for the letter yma; but without its inherent vow- el. The mixture of the vowel and confonant is here eafi- ly difcoverable;. as the fhort 2 ¢ is added only to mark that it begins the fyllable, When a confonant has the firtt place, the dot only is retained of ung; while the inhe- rent vowel fupplies the place of QI 0; as att bung- thee a flute. oh, the laft figure of this clafs, is called FARSTL weer forg, and is muked by two dots, one at the top and one at the bott:-m of the line, In the Shanferit language it is a fubftitute for the letters ro and Tz fo, which are ufed in the terminat'ons of particular forms of declenfion &c. found or utterance; but gives a certain forcible pronoun: iati: n(almoft 1 which is immediatly befire its as apg mere man, BTS Tt has no pect 1 afpirate)to the vowel nereb a man, in the numinative cafe. TheBENGAL LANGUAGE. 29 This figure, as ufed in the Bengal language, has quite loft its original property, and is applied indifcriminatcly to any vowel at’ the end of a word, without even altering the tone or force of utterances but fometimes feems to ferve for a mark to dee note that the inherent vowel of the final confonant is not to be droppe’s as TTA jaabo 1 will go, might by miftake be pro- nounced jab, as it is now written; but when weeforg is added thus, wes jaaboh, the Jatter vowel is marked beyond the poflibility of omiffion, The conneéted vowels are given in the following Series, by the Bengalefe called @faytey baanaan, and in Shanfcrit ™py*T ary 8 dwaadotho maatraah the twelve marks, or figns. NAME FIGUREX POWER NAME Maar * [zB ke By kaa aakaar hiofweekaar fap kee Sy kee deerg,heekaar hiofookaar z koo x koo deerg,hookaar akaar & ka é ki orkoi] ikaar okaar ci ko wa kou oukaar onofwaar Se kung Bs koh weelorgye The30 A’ GRAMMAR OF THE The plain ftroke to the left of the fieft @ ko is here. put as the mark of the fhort vowel inherent in the confonants. bus this is never ufed on any other occafion. The ftudent will ob ferve, that altho” feveral of thefe fhort vowels precede in pofi- tion the confonants to which they belong, yet in utterance they are fubfequent, and hold the fecond place in the fyllable. The word hrofwo fignifies fhort, and wtet deergh,e means long. The fyllable @afq kaar is always ufed todenott> the names of vowels. Thus ckaar means the vowel o liref- wecekaar the fhort vowel ee 8c. To avoid the hiatus which would be occafioned by two vow- els coming together without an intervening confonant, a confox nant homogeneous to the preceding vowel is tobe inferted be~ tween them, (asin the golden canons of the Arabic ) or one of the vowels is changed into its correfponding confonant, = TI. y2 is homogeneous to 9) a, F ee, and pi @ wo is homogencous to SS 9% 3,0, and =P ou. Thus they write fopyq] geeyaa for PF PRP] gee-aa having gone; for yu deo-ceteeyaa fecond muft be written fASty} dweetecyaa. ButBENGAL LANGUAGE 31 But # ce may follew every other vowel without the infertion y y of a confonant; as Re jaa-ee I go, not Tha jaayee; ee doo-ee two, not fF dwee or ura doowee, ne a-ee this, not of ayee, 3 o-ce that, and not Bfz ower. So Be or By} -aa may precede every vowel, except | a, without the intervention of a confonant; as ais baa-o0 the air; FReNS leek,heclaa-o I wrote, a corrupt form of tenfe, &c. But when 7 a follows 3 0 or BI] aa, itis always changed into ‘JJ yo without its inherent vowel; as in TY Py is not, for FAQ ma, contracted from qe no-ha; Safty jaay he goes, for 27}. jaa-a. When the vowel ‘P i is. conneéted with any confonant, thus, we that confonant does not drop its own included vow- tl; as Casey is to be pronounced ke-ilo he did, Cay bo-ilo he fpoke; where each vowel retains its own power diftin& , which thus nearly give the found of guilo, bwilo. In fome cafes $ ce has the found and properties of