1837.] Comparison of Indo-Chinese Languages. 1027 



words, which follow each other in close succession and serve to render 

 many terms definite which would otherwise be ambiguous. Pali words are 

 generally followed by their synonyms in the vulgar tongue. Thus the 

 usual expression for earth is pathawi myegyi ; myegyi (great earth) being 

 the vulgar term, and pathawi the Pali or Sanskrit. 



The order of arrangement in Barmese is almost directly the reverse of 

 the English. As an example of this, take the following sentence: He said, 

 I am the voice of one crying, make straight in the wilderness the way of the 

 Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. The verse in Barman stands thus: The 

 prophet Esaias said as, The-Lord of the-way the-wildemess in straight make, 

 crying one of the-voice lam, he said. 



In Barmese, the affixes to nouns, verbs and numerals, are very abun- 

 dant, many of them merely euphonic. Great attention has been paid to 

 euphony in the formation and cultivation of this language. This is par- 

 ticularly seen in the change of the hard consonants, k, p, s, t, to the 

 corresponding soft letters, g, b, z, and d. Thus E'rawati (the river) is 

 invariably pronounced E'rdwadi, though written with at; Gotama 

 (their deity) is pronounced Godama, &c. All the affixes, whether of 

 verbs, nouns, or numerals, beginning with a sharp consonant, universally 

 exchange it for a soft one, except where the verb or noun itself ends in a 

 sharp consonant, in which case euphony requires that the affix should 

 begin with a sharp, as the enunciation of a flat and sharp together is 

 peculiarly harsh and difficult. We also trace this principle in the Mani- 

 puri language, where the verbal affix is ha, unless the verb ends in one of 

 the sharp consonants k, t, or p } when the affix is invariably pa. Capt. 

 Gordon does not inform us whether this principle extends to the other 

 affixes in Manipuri, but, from the similarity of the two languages, it seems 

 not improbable that such may be the case. 



VI. — Karen. I have been disappointed in the hope of obtaining a perfect 

 vocabulary of this language. The few words inserted in the table will, how- 

 ever, give some idea of its affinities. It most resembles the Barmese and 

 Manipurean dialects, though it is essentially different from either. Its 

 tones are five ; the same in number with those of the Tai. Several of 

 them, however, appear to be different from those of any other tribe. No 

 final consonants are allowed in Karen. 



VII. — Singpho and Jili. The Singpho possesses many words in common 

 with the Abor, the Barmese, and the Manipurean dialects. It is the lan- 

 guage of extensive tribes, occupying the northern portions of the Barman 

 empire. The intonations are similar to the Barmese, and its grammatical 

 construction is almost precisely the same. It is peculiar for its combina- 

 tions of consonants, many of which would at first sight appear quite un- 

 pronounceable to a European. It doubtless belongs to the monosyllabic 

 stock of languages. 



The Jilis are a small tribe who formerly occupied the highlands in the 

 northern part of Barmah, but have been driven from their country by the 

 Singphos. The tribe is now nearly extinct. Their language appears to 



