1866.] 



Hie Arabic Element in Official Hindustani. 



11 



jangal, maidan, durust, and a long list besides. Any one of these 

 words may be beard from the mouth of the most ignorant ryot in the 

 most secluded parts of the country, as any one who has travelled 

 much in India knows. This large class of foreign words has almost, 

 if not entirely, displaced the corresponding Hindi terms. If any one 

 doubts this, let him read the following list, and judge for himself which 

 of the two he is most familiar with in the mouths of the people — these 

 Hindi words or their foreign equivalents : — 



Foreign. Hindi. 



ma'luin. parkash. 



matlab. parojan. 



tabdil. pher. 



ziyada. adkik (aur.) 



roshan. pargat, 



badma'ash. gunda, lucha. 



surat. rup. 



tajviz. (no equivalent.) 



zarur. uchit (more common in Bea- 



gali than in Hindi.) 



tamam. sara, sab. 



nih<iyat. bahut, 



mal. dhan. 



mawashi. goru. 



tarah. prakar, (Bengali.) 



waste. liye. 



muafik, sa (as an affix.) 



jawab. uttar. 



jangal. ban (very inadequate.) 



maidan. badh. 



&c. &c. 



A few of these words express adequately the meaning of the corre- 

 sponding Persian word, but how many of them are known to educated 

 people ? I do not here speak of the English official, who may be 

 expected only to know the simple surface words which meet him in 

 his every day work ; but I would ask any educated native how many 

 Hindi words he uses in his ordinary conversation with men of his own 

 and other classes, 



