170 T. Bom(ord^Graimnar of the Language spoken mfJieW. Panjab. [Nov. 



The Secretary reported that the election of the Rev. J. L. Peach had 

 been cancelled at the request of that gentleman who intimated that he 

 would be shortly leaving India, and did not expect to return. 



The Secretary read a circular from the Royal Society of New 

 South Wales, enumerating prizes to be given for original researches on 

 certain subjects connected with Australia. This can be seen in the 

 Society's office. 



Mr. C. Little moved that the Society should be registered under 

 Act XXI of I860. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. Rough notes on the Grammar of the Language spoken in the Western 

 Fdnjdh. — By Trevor Bomford, C.M.S., Multan. 



Communicated by the Philological Secretary. 



(Abstract. ) 



In laying them on the table, the Honorary Philological Secretary, 

 said, I wish to draw special attention to these notes, as one of the most 

 important contributions to our knowledge of the Indo-Aryan Vernaculars, 

 which has appeared during tlie past decade. Its importance lies not only 

 ill the value of the grammar, as illustrating an imperfectly known 

 language, but as supplying a missing link which completes a chain of 

 evidence materially affecting the hitherto accepted theories regarding 

 the classification of the modern Indo-Aryan languages. 



The points of similarity which exists between the Kacmiri and 

 Sindhi languages has been noted incidentally by Dr. Biihler, and by 

 the present speaker, but it has not been easy to explain satisfactorily 

 the evident relationship which exists between them, for till Mr. 

 Bomford's Rough Notes were received, the territories in which these two 

 languages were spoken were believed to be separated by many hundred 

 miles of country, inhabited by a population speaking a totally different 

 language — Panjabl. There was no historical or territorial connexion 

 between these two widely separated, but closely connected, languages. 



Mr. Bomford's Rough Notes have changed all this. We have hitherto 

 known a so-called dialect of Panjabl called Multani, which has been well 

 illustrated by the late Mr. O'Brien's Multani Vocabulary. This has 

 liitherto been localized in the south of the Paiijab, round Multan, in 

 tlie districts bordering on Sindh, and, as it bore many close points of 

 resemblance to Sindhi, it was assumed, on the information then avail- 

 able, to bo a sort of border dialect, through which Sindhi merged into 



