1856.] Aborigines of the Nilgiris. 505 



Article. 

 Mr. Metz says, there is none whatever, but I feel pretty sure 

 that the usual equivalents are recognized ; viz. the numeral one, or 

 the indefinite pronoun, some, any, in lieu of the indefinite article » 

 and the demonstratives in lieu of the definite, as also the segrega- 

 tives van, val, and du for the three genders, or al and pe for the 

 major and minor of gender, used as suffixes and widely applicable to 

 nouns (qualitives) — less widely and uniformly to verbs. We 

 should always remember that the so-called segregatives or generic 

 signs are esseutially articles, definite or indefinite according to the 

 context. 



Adjective. 



All qualitives, which seem to embrace, as usual, the nominal 

 (genitive), pronominal, participial, numeral and adjectival, appear 

 to be used both substantially and adjectivally, and, when employed 

 in the former way, to add to their crude, as a suffix, the appropriate 

 generic sign, which in the case of the participle, gives it a relative 

 sense or an agentive, just as in English, the or a striker, or the or a 

 striking person (or thing) , and the or a hard thing, are equivalent 

 respectively to the person who strikes and the thing which is hard. 

 But the latter form of speech is quite Anti-Turanian. 



Qualitives are always prefixed when not used affirmatively or 

 substantially. If placed after the noun they become affirmative 

 including in their sense the substantive verb. Man (is) mortal. 

 That (is) mine. This the striker = this is the person who strikes.* 

 He (is) loving one or lover, = one who loves. That one (is) the 

 Hack = that is the black one. Give me the black = the blade being 

 or thing — a difference which must be expressed and with the sign 

 of gender too (an al) in the former event. This person two person 

 = this one is the second person (rend-al),t &c. Gender is fully 

 marked in qualitives by the use of the suffixes van, val, du = hie, 



* In Newari it would be, u-htna daya-hma, which is in every particular of 

 idiom Dravirian, lima being the van or al suffix of the above tongues and its 

 affixing to the verbal form rendering that a relative participle. 



t Here final al is not the contracted sign of the feminine suffix aval, but is tho 

 name for man, used as a suffix. 



3 u 



