1837. J Comparison of Indo-Chinese Languages. 1023 



III. — Comparison of Indo-Chinese Languages, by the Rev. N. Brown, 



American Missionary stationed at Sadiyd at the north-eastern extremity 



of Ass dm. 



Considerable time has elapsed since a proposal was made through the 

 Christian Observer for collecting short vocabularies of all the languages be- 

 tween India and China. In pursuance of the plan then proposed, have been 

 received, through the kindness of several literary gentlemen, vocabularies 

 of twenty-seven languages, specimens of which are prepared for insertion in 

 the periodical above named ; but as the subject is equally interesting to the 

 general student and philologist as to the missionary, I have thought a copy 

 of the paper would not prove unacceptable to your pages*. For twelve of 

 these vocabularies, viz. the Manipuri, Songpu, Kapwi, Koreng, Murom, 

 Champhung, I.uhuppa, Northern, Central and Southern Tdngkhul. Khoibii, 

 and Muring, I am indebted to the indefatigable exertions of Capt. Gor- 

 don, Political Agent at Manipur, author of the Manipuri Dictionary; to the 

 Rev. C. Gutzlaff for vocabularies of the Anamese, Japanese and Corean ; to 

 the Rev. J. I. Jones, Bankok, for that of the Siamese ; for the Gdro, to Mr. 

 J. Strong, Sub-Assistant to the Governor General's Agent for A'sam, and 

 to Rev. J. Rae, of Gowahati, for the A'kd. Most of the remaining lan- 

 guages given in the table have been written down from the pronunciation 

 of natives residing in the neighbourhood of Sadiya. 



Although I have as yet received vocabularies of but a small portion of 

 the languages originally contemplated, I have thought it advisable to 

 give specimens of such as have been obtained, hoping that others may be 

 induced to extend the comparison by publishing specimens of other lan- 

 guagesf. The names selected are those of the most common objects, and 

 may therefore be regarded as the earliest terms in every language, and 

 such as were least liable to be supplanted by foreign words. 



The words given in the table are written according to the Romanizing 

 g ystem; and although there may be some slight variations in the sounds of 

 particular letters, in consequence of the vocabularies having been made ou^ 

 by different persons, yet it is believed they will be found sufficiently uni- 

 form for all the purposes of general comparison. 



I now proceed to give such remarks upon the several languages con- 

 tained in the table, as have been furnished by the individuals engaged in 

 compiling the vocabularies. 



* We need not assure the author, to whose studies we have already been more 

 than once indebted, how acceptable the comparison he has undertaken is to our own 

 ^ages ; but it may encourage his inquiries and stimulate his zeal to hear that every 

 »etter from Paris, where philology seems to have now the most successful culti- 

 vation, presses this very object upon our notice. — Ed. 



f Mr. Trevelyan has kindly favoured us with copies of the printed vocabulary, 

 which we shall lose no time in forwarding to those interested in this train of re- 

 search, especially to obtain lists of the hill dialects of all parts of India.— Ed. 



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