1860.] 



Is the Pashto a Semitie Language ? 



339 



Pers. «^m» Puslito. cf^^ 4 X s P e ^ ane ) rue 5 metathesis un- 



avoidable after the change. 

 „ d}*> „ «Jj^ (khol) helmet. 



?> **¿j* jj ís^}.J (welane) mint. 



It has already been intimated that the affinities of the language 

 to the Zend are great ; the only two languages that may be thought 

 able to dispute this claim, would be the Sansknt on the one hand, 

 and the Persian on the other. An examination of the numeráis and 

 a few other words may help to clear up this matter and put the 

 reader in a position to judge for himself. 



Sans 



. eka Pers 



i. u£j Zend aéva 



Pushto ^ (yau) — 



1. 



?> 



dvi 



55 



J¿ 



dva 



55 



*j¿ (dwa) — 



2. 



» 



tri 



55 



*~* 55 



thri 



55 



iSj* (dre)— 



3. 



» 



chatur 



55 



: A* » 



chathru 



55 



jjJ-^ (tsalor)* — 



4. 



55 



panchan 



55 



t\ " 



panchan 



55 



A ^v (pindza) — 



5. 



55 



shash 



55 



(-A* 55 



es vas 



55 



jx& (shpa/)f— 



6. 



55 



saptan 



55 



CU¿A „ 



haptan 



55 



8jl (uwa)J— 



7. 



55 



ashtan 



55 



«¿a-¿*A J? 



astan 



55 



*3| (ata) — 



8. 



55 



navan 



55 



tí 5, 



navan 



55 



Ai (no) — 



9. 



55 



dacan 



55 



** 5, 



da9an 



55 



^jJ (las)— 



10. 



55 



ekáda9a 



55 



**]k „ 



aevanda9a 



55 



U"¿rt (yúlas)— 



11. 



55 



dváda9a 



55 



s¿3lj¿ „ 



dvada9a 



55 



<j**Jj¿ (dulas) — 



12. 



55 



trayoda9a 



55 



*<£** 55 



thrida9a 



55 



(j~¿>L|¿ (dy arlas) - 



-13. 



55 



chatur da9a „ 



**M 5, 



chathruda9a 



U^jj^ (tswarlas) - 



-14. 



55 



vin9ati 



55 



<¿*~£ „ 



vÍ9aiti 



55 



<Jl¿ (shil)§— 



20. 



* The change of the dental into l as above ; the change of ch into ts is cha- 

 racteristic of the language ; it is really only a change of sh into s. 



f The change of v into p is exemplified in words like Sansksit aeva = Zend 

 aspa ; Sanskrit sventa = Zend spenta ; Sanskrit vartaka == Greek irépüi-K ; 

 though the opposite change also oceurs, e. g.Latin sapere = French, savoir ; Latin 

 intrépido = Spanish atrevido ; Latin lupa = Spanish lova : Latin porta = 

 Russian vorota ; Latin caper = French chévre, etc. 



X This change looks severe, but it has been fully recognized by Pott (Quinare 

 und Vigesimale Záhlmethode, p. 270) ; it really imphes nothing more than the 

 change of p into v or w, just noticed, after dropping t; examples of the latter 

 are the second person plural of the verb in Spanish as compared with the Latin 

 tenéis for tenetis, erais for eratis ; Sk. patni = Pol. pañi, etc. 



§ This loses the first syllable (vi), drops the last vowel, and changes the dental 



2 Y 



