JOURNAL 



OF THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY 



No. II. 1858. 



Notes of the Karen Language. — By Francis Mason. 

 The Karens. 



Karen is aBurmese word applying to the mountaineers of Pegu and 

 Southern Burmah. It has been derived from ay en, foundation, and 

 ha a form of particle ; thus signifying aboriginal ; and I find some 

 of the Bghai tribes call themselves Jcayay, and this may be the 

 origin of the Burmese word. It is, however, manifest that the 

 Karens are not the aboriginal inhabitants of the countries where 

 they now dwell. 



In my early travels, the Karens pointed out to me the precise 

 spots where they took refuge in the days of Alompra, and where 

 they had come down and avenged themselves on their enemies ; but 

 when I asked them, " Who built this city ?" — as' we stood together 

 on the forest-clad battlements of a dilapidated fortification, — -they 

 replied, "These cities of our jungles were in ruins when we came 

 here. This country is not our own. "We came from the north, 

 where we were independent of the Burmese, the Siamese and the 

 Talings, who now rule over us. There we had a city and country of 

 our own near Ava, called Toungoo. All the Karens of Siam, Burmah 

 and Pegu came originally from that region." When I asked for 

 the time of their dispersion, they were silent. The fact was clearly 

 before them, but the retrospect was too obscure to determine the 

 distance. Yet they saw far beyond Toungoo. On the edge of the 

 misty horizon was " The river of running sand," which their an- 



INo. XCIII.— New Series, Vol. XXVII. s 



