38 Aborigines of the Nilghiris. [No. 1. 



The difference of the several dialects of the hill tribes consists 

 not exactly in the idiom of the languages but chiefly in their pro- 

 nunciation. Therefore, the same or nearly the same word in the 

 mouth of a Toda with his pectoral pronunciation can scarcely be 

 recognized as the same in the mouth of the Kotas with their dental 

 pronunciation. The Badaga and Kurumba dialects are midway 

 between the former two, with regard to pronunciation; only the 

 Badaga is a little more guttural than the Kurumba. There is a 

 little difference in the dialects of the several Badaga tribes, those 

 who came at a later period to the hills, for instance the Kangaru 

 " (Lingaites)," who emigrated from Targuru, speaking a purer 

 Canarese than the common Badagas. 



The Todas also have some slight difference in their pronunciation 

 according to the different districts they inhabit, for instance some 

 pronounce the s quite pure, others like the English th and others 

 like z. # The names of the Toda tribes are not quite correct in the 

 letter of Mr. Hodgson. Thy are the following five : Peikee, Kenna, 

 Pekkan, Kuttan, Tddi. The chief tribe is the Peikee, which pro- 

 nounces the s like th. 



* The th English is more especially Burmese ; the rest is generally true of the 

 northern tongues, which, even when they possess an ordinary sibilant series, prefer 

 the use of the equivalent z series, or z, zy (Ellis' zh) and dz, whereof the first is a 

 simple sound ; the second a sliding sound as in azure, pleasure, English, and = the 

 French j in jeu; the third is the harsh modification of the sound. Several conso- 

 nants besides z take the sliding sound represented by the blended y. This modi- 

 fication of the primitive sound of the precedent consonant may be seen in respect 

 to the consonant p in the English pure, and puling, which I write pyur and pyuling ; 

 and so of all consonants followed by y. Another almost universal trait of Tartaric 

 phonology is the exceeding commonness of the French eu, as heard in jeu aforesaid. 

 In the above paper, I have not thought it prudent to meddle with Mr. Metz's 

 orthography. 



