fi38 Ox THE LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE 



Thus the word which is written shre, in both lan- 

 guages, is in Barma pronounced ^j/i, and in RukHng 

 hri. 



The specimens which Dr. Buchanan has exhibited 

 of the languages of the Karlkng or Karayn, as he 

 writes it, and of the Kiayn (which seems to be the 

 same word softened in the pronunciation,) the rude 

 tribe which denominates itself Kolun, certainly show 

 considerable analogy to exist between these dialects 

 and the Barma proper. Some Barma words seem, 

 likewise, to be discoverable, in the specimen he has 

 given of the language of the Moitay, or inhabitants 

 of Kassay, as mee, Jire,nga^ fislr, and more copious and 

 correct vocabularies, with a more exact orthography, 

 v/ould probably exhibit a more intimate connection; 

 but a certain degree of acquaintance with the gram- 

 matical principles of every language, and with its al- 

 phabet and orthography, if a written one, is abso- 

 lutely necessary to give any philological value to a 

 specimen of its woi'ds. The inhabitants of the Niko- 

 bar islands are sometimes represented by those who 

 have visited them, as speaking a language which is 

 radically Baima^ while, by others, it is reckoned 

 Malayu. If Foxtana's short vocabulary (Asiatick 

 Researches, Vol. III.) can be depended on, the Niko- 

 bar language seems to have very little connection 

 with either the one or the other; as it does not ap- 

 pear to contain above two or three words which can 

 with certainty be referred to either of them. 



The Banna language has been little cultivated by 

 Europeans, excepting the Catholic Missionaries. The 

 *' Alphabet um Barmanmn,'' digested by Caiipanius, 

 was published at jRowze in 1776'. Carpanius men- 

 tions, in his preliminary dissertation, that, at that 



