Professor Rasx’s Remarks on the Zend Language. 537 
town; Pahlavi shatun, Persian », which is, however, another root. It 
would be to no purport to quote more instances, especially as the Zend is 
still so unknown as to throw little light on the real meaning of those names, 
nor can it be at all necessary ; as it must certainly have been observed long 
ago that scarcely any of the names of beings, implements, ceremonies, &Xc. 
belonging to the Parsi religion (such as Ohnover, Ferverdin, Isfend-crmed, 
Aniran, Ized, Barsom, Pendm, Kosti, Sadre, &c. &c.) can be explained by, 
or even retraced to any other language than Zend, which is enough to 
show that this religion must have been originally founded or instituted in 
that language. Nor would it else have been preferred to the Pahlavi and 
Parsi in all religious prelections and public and private prayers by every 
one who adores the name of Ormuzp, of what sect and country soever. 
It will easily be seen how strongly this remark confirms the opinion that 
Zend was the ancient vernacular language of Media; for if it be the original 
language wherein the Pérsi religion was first promulgated, it most certainly 
cannot be any foreign dialect at all; or else, how should it be connected 
with that religion ? Is the Parsé religion to have been introduced into Persia 
from India? or did the Persian prophet go to that country, in order to study 
the Indian language and philosophy? And, in either case, why has not the 
sacred language of India been introduced as it was? How could it enter 
the mind of that legislator, or of any body, to change almost every word, 
every declension, and every conjugation of a foreign language, sufficiently 
obscure as it was? For, in fact, I scarcely recollect ever meeting with a 
single word in Zend agreeing altogether with Sanscrit. Further, why did 
he introduce a vast number of letters and words never used in any proper 
Indian dialect, some of which appear even in Greek, German, Icelandic, 
&c.; for instance, the preposition math, with (Latin cum), Icelandic med, 
German met, Greek yzrx. It is worthy of remark even, that the Zend 
math, as well as the Icelandic med, and German mef, govern the dative ; 
whereas, the Greek zr requires the genitive in this sense. In short, I 
do not see why Zoroaster should adopt a foreign language; or, if he had 
adopted it, how he should have succeeded in converting any body; nor 
how, though he, through worldly power, might have introduced his form 
of worship, that adopted foreign language should ever have penetrated 
to the commonpeople. Never did any great sage or legislator of antiquity 
adopt a language foreign to his people. Conrucius wrote in Chinese, 
