1864.] On the Qrigin of the Hindvi Language. 497 



This explanation, ingenious as it is, is not satisfactory. Krita is a 

 participle from the root hri " to do," and the dative or accusative signi- 

 fication attributed to it is altogether a forced one. The indeclinable 

 particle hrite is often used in Sanskrita in lieu of, or to imply, some forms 

 of the dative ; but its contraction does not yield ho. We must look else- 

 where, therefore, for the origin of this puzzling particle, nor are we at 

 all at a loss on the subject. Professor Max Miiller derives the Bengali 

 dative he from the Sanskrita suffix ha, which is largely used in modern 

 Sanskrita as an expletive, and I think we may trace in it the germ of the 

 Hind vi ho. As a simple means of reducing nouns of different terminations 

 to one standard, the syllable ha is a valuable adjunct, and scalds and im~ 

 provisatores use it frequently to obviate the necessity of a multiplicity 

 of declensions. Now, if we bear in mind that in the Gatha, the ordinary 

 method of indicating the elision of a case-mark is by the addition of to 

 as in the words jayu iorjayam, hritu for hrifam, halu for hdlam, &c, 

 (vide my edition of the Lalita Vistara,) we find the missing components 

 of hu which was the architype of ho, and which is still largely used in 

 colloquial Hindvi for both the dative and the accusative. We believe 

 the ha at first took the ordinary accusative affix m after it. But 

 gradually it wore down to a nasal n and the inflexion became han. This 

 transition is by no means uncommon in Aryan languages. In Greek 

 the Sanskrit accusative affix m passed into n at a very early period, and 

 in Bengali it is invariably sounded as n. Now if we apply the expletive 

 u to this han it becomes fern, and in this form we meet with it in 

 the Uriah, which has preserved its similitude to the Sanskrit with 

 more care than any other Indian dialect. It also occurs in the Dec- 

 can Hindvi, and in the Braja Bhasha. The prolongation of the u yields 

 km, and this variously pronounced forms in Northern India hon, haun, 

 ho, and the rest. 



The dative of the Sanskrit in the first person singular is e which 

 added to ha makes, by the elision of a, the Bengali dative he. It is 

 true that according to the rules of Panini, the e of the dative after 

 themes ending in a should change into aya, but as corruption is the 

 result of a fanciful analogy on the part of the illiterate masses, it is not 

 remarkable that the universal affix e should replace the especial ay a. 

 In the Gatha the reverse of this often occurs and the especial ena, the 

 instrumental ending of themes in a, is frequently used after themes 

 ending in consonants instead of the more legitimate and general affix 



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