﻿230 ON THE SANSCRIT 



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they have certainly retained some traces oftlielan- 

 o-uage and writing- which their ancestors had heen 

 taught to employ. 



Without passing' the limits o^ Hindustan, it M^ould 

 be easy to collect a copious list ofdifierent dialects in 

 the various provinces, which are inhahited by the ten 

 principal Hindu nations. The extensive region Mhich 

 is nearly defined by the banks of the Saraszrati and 

 Gangd on the north, and which is strictly limited by 

 the shores of the eastern and western seas towards the 

 south, contains fifty-seven provinces according to 

 some lists, and eighty-four according to others. 

 Each of tjicse provinces has its peculiar dialect, which 

 appears, however, in most instances, to be a variety 

 only of some one among the ten principal idioms. 

 Thus Hindustani, which seems to be the lineal de- 

 scendant of the Cdnijacubja, comprises numerous dia- 

 lects from the Ordiizeban, or language of the royal 

 camp and court, to the baibarous jargon Mhich re- 

 ciprocal mistakes have introduced among European 

 gentlemen and their native servants. The same 

 tongue, under its more appropriate denomination of 

 Hindi, comprehends many dialects strictly local and 

 provincial. They dift'er in the proportion of Arabick, 

 Persian and Sanscrit, either pure or slightly corrupt- 

 ed, which they contain; and some shades of differ- 

 ence may be also found in the pronunciation, and 

 even m the basis of each dialect. 



Not being sufficiently conversant with all these 

 idioms, I shall only mention two, \vhich are well 

 known, because lyrick poets have employed them in 

 songs, that are still the delight of natives of all ranks. 

 I allude to the Penjahi and to the Brij-bhdkhd. The 

 iirst is the language of Panchanada, -or Penjdb, a pro- 

 vince watered by the five celebrated rivers which fall 

 into the Sind'hu. The songs entitled Khedls and 

 Teppas, which are no doubt familiar to all as ho have 

 a t<aste for the vocal music of India, are composed 



almost 



