BEN 



verbs refpec^ivel)'. The Bena;alefe verbs may be didrihnted 

 into three claffes, which are diftiiiguillicJ by their pemiltimate 

 idler. The fiinple and moil common form has an open con- 

 finant im iiediately preceding the final letter uf the infinitive. 

 The fecond is compofed of thofe word.i whofe final letter h 

 preceded by another vou-el or open confonant going before 

 it. The third confills entirely of caufals, derived from verbs 

 of the firil; and fecond con'f'.igation. The Greek verbs in fxt 

 are formed cxaftly upon t!ie fame principle with tiic Shanfcrit 

 conjugations, even in the minutcft particular ; of which in- 

 ftances occur in many verbs, which foi'm from a root a new 

 verb by adding the fyllable mi, and doubling the firft confo- 

 rant. In forming the pad tenfe, the Shanfcrit applies a 

 fyllabic augm.ent, like the Greek ; and the future is charac- 

 terikd by a letter analogous to that of the fame teufe in the 

 Greek, omitting the reduplicatio : of the firll confonant. 

 Nor, indeed, is the reduplication of the firft confonant always 

 applied to tiie prefent tehfcsof the Shanfcrit, any more than 

 to thofe of the Greek. It is obferved, that the natural fim- 

 plicity and elegance of many of the Afiatic languages are 

 very much debated and conupted by the continual abufe of 

 auxiliary verbs ; and this inconvenience has evidently affefted 

 the Pcrfian, the Hindoftan, and the Bengal idioms. The 

 infinitives of verbs, in the Shanfcrit and Bengalcfe, are al- 

 ways ufed as fubftantive nouns ; and a iimilar mode of fig- 

 nification often occurs in the Greek In the Shanfcrit lan- 

 guage, as well as in the Greek, certain forms of infinitives 

 and of participles comprehend time ; and there are alfo other 

 branches of the verb that feem to refemble the gerunds and 

 fupines of the Latin. All the terms which ferve to qualify, 

 to dillinguifh, or to augment, either " fubftance" or "adion," 

 are clatftd by the Shanfcrit grammarians under one head ; 

 and the word ufed to cxprtfs it literally fignifies increafe or 

 addition. According to their arrangement, a fimple fentence 

 conflfts of three members, viz. the agent, the aftion, and the 

 fubjeft : which, in a grammatical fenfe, are reduced to two, 

 viz. the noun and the verb. They ufe a particular word for 

 fpecifying fuch terms as amplify the noun, which imports 

 quahty, and correfponds to our adjeftives or epithets. Such 

 as arc applied to denote relation or connexion, are expreffed 

 by another term, which may be tranflated " prepofition." 

 The fimple adjeftives in Bengalefe have no variation of gender, 

 cafe, or number; neither is the adjeftive fubjecl to infleftion, 

 but the fign of the cafe is confined to the fubftantive, with 

 which it agrees ; and its form is confined to the Angular 

 number, even when joined to a plural noun. But thofe de- 

 rivativeattributes, which are alternately adjeftivfs and concrete 

 nouns, generally preferve the diftindlions of gender, which 

 they all poffefs in the Shanfcrit. Prepofitions are fubftitutcs 

 for cafes, which could not have been extended to the number 

 neceflary for expreffing all the feveral relations and predica- 

 ments in which a noun may be found, without oecafioning 

 too much embarraffment in the form of a declenfion ; thefe 

 in the Greek language are too few, and hence refults great 

 inconvenience. The Latin, which is lefs polilhed than the 

 Greek, bears a nearer refembiance to the Shanfcrit, in words, 

 inflcftions, and terminations. 



The Bengalefe method of computation, among the mer- 

 chants, for the largeft fums is by " fours ;" derived pro- 

 bably from the original mode of numbering by the fingers. 



To this day the Bengalefe reckon by the joints of their 

 fingers, beginning with the lower joint of the little finger, 

 and proceeding to the thumb, the value of which is alfo in- 

 cluded as a joint; and thus the whole hand contains 15. 

 From this method of performing numeration on the joints, 

 arifes that well known cuilom among the Indian merchants 

 of fettling all' matters of purcbafe and fale by joining their 



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hands beneatTi a cloth, and then touching the different joint's, 

 as they would increafe or diminish their demand. See Ba- 

 nians. 



It is a peculiarity in the Bengalefe computation, that the 

 ninth numeral of every ferits of ten is not fpecified bv the 

 term of nine, in the ccmmoa order of progrefiiun, but takes 

 its appellation from the feries immediately above it , as 

 twenty-nine is not expreffed in our manner, or by what we 

 fliould conceive to be its proper denomination, but by a term 

 denoting one lefs tiian thirty. 



The Shanfcrit language, befides other advantages, has a 

 great variety in the m de of arrangement ; and the words 

 are fo compafted together, that every fentence appears like 

 one complete word. When two or more words com^ toge- 

 ther " in regimine," the lail of them only hr\s tlie termination 

 of a cafe ; the others are known by their pufition ; and the 

 whole fentence, fo connedled, forms but one compound word, 

 wlilcli is called a " foot." 



For further particulars relating to the language of 

 Bengal, its grammatical conftrudlion, and the method of 

 acquiring it, we muft refer to Rallied, ubi fupra. 



The verfts of the Bengalefe are regulated by accent, and 

 by the number of lyllables in a line ; no regard whatever 

 being paid to quantity, but as it coincides with accent. 

 Their poems, like thofe of the Arabians and Perfians, are in 

 rhyme ; and the Bengal poets have many rules for contradt- 

 ing fuch words as are too Long, and for extending thofe that are 

 too {hort, for their metre. The Bengal meafures are alto- 

 gether borrowed from the Shanfcrit, and may be divided 

 into three fpecies ; viz. heroic, lyric, and elegiac. 



In mufic, the Bengalefe always ufe the minor key, and their 

 gamut proceeds by the very fmalleil intervals of the chromatic 

 fcale. They have no idea of counterpoint, and always play 

 or fing in unifon or oftaves. 



The natives of Bengal write with a flender and tough 

 reed, very common in all the eaft, which they (hape almoft 

 like an European pen. They write with the hand clofed, in 

 which they hold the pen as the Chinefe do their writing-pen- 

 cil, prefling it againll the ball of the thumb with the tip of 

 the middle finger. The nib or point of the pen is turned 

 downwards towards the wrift ; while the thumb pointing up- 

 wards, and lying- on the pen with its whole length, keeps it 

 firm againfl the middle joint of the fore-finger. As they 

 have neither chairs nor tables, they fit upon their heels, or 

 fometimes on their hams, whilft they are writing ; and their 

 left hand, held open, ferves as a de(l< on which to lay the paper 

 on which they write, which is kept in its place by the thumb. 



BENGALENSIS, in Conchology, a fpecies of Venus, de- 

 fcribedby Lifter. The ftiell is orbicular, fomewhat equila- 

 teral, with thick perpendicular ftrias ; and the beaks turned 

 back. Inhabits Bengal. 



Bengalemsis, in Ornithology, a fpecies of Vultur, 

 found in Bengal. It is of a brown colour, with the head and 

 fore part of the neck bare of feathers, and pale chefnut; bill 

 lead colour, black at the tip. Latham. Gmelin. 



Bengalensis, a fpecies of Otis, called by G.£dwards 

 the Indian Bujlard. The colour is black ; fpace round the 

 eyes brown ; back, rump, and tail, fhining brown. Gmelin. 

 Inhabits Bengal, and is ^out twenty-three inches in length. 

 Brifon calls this Pluviahs Benghaltnfis major; and Buffbn, 

 Churge on outarde m.oyenne des Indes. The beak and legs 

 are whitilh, tail ftreaked, and fpotted with black. Edwarda 

 copied this bird from a drawing, and it does not appear that 

 a fpecimen of it is known in any cabinet. 



Bengalens.'s, a fpecies of Rallus, of a white colour^ 

 with the head and neck black ; wings and back greenifli, 

 primary quill feathers fpotted with red. Gmelic, This is 



the 



