1856.] Aborigines of the Nilgiris. 503 



two with regard to pronunciation, only the Badaga is a little more 

 gutteral than the Kurumba. 



"There is some difference even in the speech of the several branches, 

 or remotely located groups, of any one tribe. For instance, those 

 of the Badaga tribe who, like the Kangaru or Lingaits, emigrated 

 from Targuru and came to the hills at a later period than the others, 

 speak a purer Canarese than the common Badagas. So also the 

 Todas among themselves have differences of pronunciation according 

 to the different districts they inhabit ; for instance, some pronounce 

 the s quite pure, others like z and others again like the English 

 th. And in like manner the Kurumbas round the slopes of the 

 hills have so many little variations in their speech according to the 

 situation of their villages (Motta) on the south, east, or west side 

 of the hills, that it is difficult to say what the real Kurumba tongue 

 is. In Malli, the chief Kurumba place on the south slope, the 

 language is much mixed with Tamil." 



I will now conclude with a few remarks on the grammatical traits 

 exhibited by the subjoined papers. 



Phonology. 



As much as is forthcoming on this head, has been expressed in 

 the vocabular part of this paper and the remarks appended to it. 

 It may be advisable, however, to repeat here that the presence of 

 the English th, and its frequent substitution for s and z, and the 

 equivalence of the two latter, are so far from being exclusively Toda, 

 asSchmid supposed, that they are common in Indo-China, Himalaya 

 and Tibet. Tibetan abounds in sibilants, having, besides the s, ch, 

 series, an equivalent z, zy, dz, series. The former is possibly bor- 

 rowed. At all events z, zy, dz, and ts, tch, are very much commoner 

 in use than the Arian s, ch, series. The second z, represented by 

 me by zy, and equal to the French j in jeu, is the same with the 

 Tamil zh of Ellis and Elliot. It is a very prevalent sound and 

 equally prevalent is the French u, or eu in jeu aforesaid. Neither 

 is ever heard from an Arian mouth ; but the Himalayans most 

 infected with Arian ways and habits are now gradually substituting 

 Arian j for their own z and Arian u for their own eu. D is also 

 taking the place of their hard and aspirated z, (dz and zh) and thus 



