1864.] 



On the Language of the Si-dh-posh Kafirs. 



271 



not with Persian £ 



air?, not *Jrr 



be Afghan \ ^^s }** The word for woman should be with Afghan ^, 

 and with fat ha' h (*) not with kasrdh (J — 



The pronunciation according to the Doctor's ac- 

 count would be shidzah, whilst the Afghan pronunciation is, fc'h&dzsbh. 

 by the Eastern, and s'Aadfea'h by the Western tribes, the peculiar 

 Afghan letter i j, being widely different from Persian * 



He considers the Kafir language to be " & pure Prakrit dialect ;" 

 yet, a few pages further on, he says : — " Note. — I have not been able 

 to come to any conclusion in regard to the gender of nouns. I doubt 

 greatly if any gender be distinguished, as I have not been able to find 

 out any trace of it. So much is clear, that adjectives are not subject 

 to any change, either in regard to gender or case" If such be the 

 fact, how can the Kafir language possibly be a "pure Prakrit dialect ? " 



With reference to the Pashai and Barakai words which follow, I 

 may mention, that the Pashai language is spoken by the people of 

 that name, who inhabit some of the small districts of the hilly country 

 bordering Kafiristan on the south-west, and on the left, or northern 

 bank of the Kabul river, between Jellalabad and Kabul. The Pash- 

 ais are counted among the aboriginal people of the country, which the 

 Afghans are not. 



The Barakais, who are not Afghans, are included among the people 

 termed Tajiks (supposed to be of Arab descent,) dwell at, and round 

 about Kanigoram, as we generally find it written in English, but 

 properly, Kani-gram, and about Barak in the province of Loghar, and 

 But-Khak on the route between Jellalabad and Kabul, south of the 

 river of that name. 



I shall say nothing here about comparison of the words which fol- 

 low, although I recognize a great many. It would be unfair towards 

 that class of philosophers called " Comparative Philologists/' who, if 

 they set to work, may discover something wonderful among them, 

 which none but themselves can understand. 



It is necessary to say a few words respecting the orthography. The 

 system is the same as used in my Pus'hto works ; viz. that known as 

 Sir William Jones's. The only difference is for the peculiar sounds 

 similar to the Afghan letters, viz ; dd for ^ rr for \ and s-'h and Jc'h 



for 



L* 



2 * 



