I860.] 



Is the Push to a Semitic Language ? 



330 



Pers. <**x« Pushto. ^ vIjjuo (spelane) rue ; metathesis un- 

 avoidable after the change. 

 „ z*y±- „ Jj^- (khol) helmet. 



jj **■*>£ jj lt^-> (welane) mint. 



It has already been intimated that the affinities of the language 

 to the Zend are great ; the only two languages that may he thought 

 able to dispute this claim, would be the Sanskrit on the one hand, 

 and the Persian on the other. An examination of the numerals and 

 a few other words may help to clear up this matter and put the 

 reader in a position to judge for himself. 



Sans, eka Pers 



. t-£> Zend aeva 



Pushto y„ (yau) — 



1. 





, dvi 



» 



^ 



dva 



u 



&j& (dwa) — 



2. 





, tri 



jj 



<su> „ 



thri 



>j 



LSJ* (dre)— 



3. 





, chatur 



JJ 



h* jj 



chathru 



jj 



jj*^ (tsalor)* — 



4. 





, panchan 



JJ 



ft " 



panchan 



u 



^^^ (pindza) — 



5. 





, shash 



JJ 



J^> „ 



csvas 



jj 



j±£ (shpa/)t — 



6. 





, saptan 



JJ 



4** „ 



haptan 



» 



Xj\ (uwa)J — 



7. 





, ashtan 



JJ 



0*"*A 5> 



astan 



j » 



&J| (ata) — 



.8. 





, navan 



JJ 



«* JJ 



navan 



jj 



&j (no) — 



9. 





, dacan 



JJ 



** ,j 



dacan 



jj 



,jJ (las)— 



10. 





, ekadaca 



J) 



**jk ,j 



aevandaca 



jj 



i)Jji (yulas)— 



11. 





, dvadaca 



JJ 



**)\j* „ 



dvada§a 



j? 



jjiJji (diilas) — 



12. 





, trayodaca 



JJ 



**j*» JJ 



thrida9a 



jj 



U^J^s? (dy arias) - 



-13. 





, chaturdac' 



*„ 



s^A^ j> 



chathrudaca 



U~bj*~ (ts warlas) - 



-14. 





, vincati 



JJ 



L - n - , "V. jj 



vxcaiti 



j> 



cU (shil)§— 



20. 



* The change of the dental into I as above ; the change of ch into ts is cha- 

 racteristic of the language ; it is really only a change of sh into s. 



t The change of v into p is exemplified in words like Sansksit acva = Zend 

 aspa ; Sanskrit sventa = Zend spenta ; Sanskrit vartaka = Greek TrepSi-K ; 

 though the opposite change also occurs, e. g. Latin sapere = French, savoir ; Latin 

 intrepido = Spanish atrevido ; Latin lupa = Spanish lova : Latin porta = 

 Russian vorota ; Latin caper = French chevre, etc. 



X This change looks severe, but it has been fully recognized by Pott (Quinare 

 und Vigesimale Zahlmethode, p. 270) ; it really implies nothing more thau the 

 change of p into v or w, just noticed, after dropping t; examples of the latter 

 are the second person plural of the verb in Spanish as compared with the Latin 

 teneis for tenetis, erais for eratis ; Sk. patni = Pol. pani, etc. 



§ This loses the first syllable (vij, drops the last vowel, and changes the dental 



2 Y 



