282 ON THE LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE 



as Tamuly Telinga^ and Canara vocables occasionally 

 occur, in the later Sanscrit compositions of the Dek- 

 hin. The Bali, while it retains almost the whole ex- 

 tent of Sanscrit flections, both in nouns and verbs, 

 nevertheless employs this variety rather sparingly in 

 composition, and affects the frequent introduction of 

 the preterite participle, and the use of impersonal 

 verbs. It also uses the cases of nouns in a more in- 

 determinate manner than the Sanscrit, and often 

 confounds the active, neuter, and passive tenses of 

 verbs. Like other derivative dialects, it occasionally 

 uses Sanscrit nouns and particles in an oblique sense ; 

 but notwithstanding all these circumstances, it ap- 

 proaches much nearer the pure Sanscrit, than any 

 other dialect, and exhibits a close affinity to the Prd- 

 krity and the Zend. 



These three dialects, the Prakrit, the Ball, and 

 the Zend, are probably the most ancient derivatives 

 from the Sanscrit. The great mass of vocables in 

 all the three, and even the forms of flection, both in 

 vei bs and nouns, are derived from the Sanscrit, ac- 

 cording to regular laws of elision, contraction, and 

 permutation of letters. Sometimes, in pursuing these 

 analogies, they nearly coincide, sometimes they dif- 

 fer considerably, sometimes one, and sometimes ano- 

 ther of them approaches nearest to the original Sans- 

 crit. Their connection with this parent language was 

 perceived, and pointed out by Sir W. Jones, and has 

 also been been alluded to by P. Paulinus, who de- 

 rives his information, concerning the Bali, from 

 Carpanius and Mantegatius. The fate of these 

 three languages is also, in some degree, similar. The 

 Prakrit is the language which contains the greater 

 part of the sacred books of the' Jainas; the Bali is 

 equally revered among the followers of Budd'ha ; 



