Appendix D. 225 



APPENDIX D. 



Kashmiree Vocabulary and Grammatical Forms. 



In consequence of recent discussions in the Society, Mr. L. Bowring, 

 Commissioner of Mysore, was kind enough to let me know that he had 

 many years ago compiled and sent to the Society a Kashmiree Voca- 

 bulary. The result has been the discovery of a paper as valuable as 

 the hereditary reputation of the author would lead us to expect, which 

 the Society now loses no time in publishing, and which it has been 

 thought well to put in this.place in connection with our Ethnological in- 

 quiries. Mr. Bowring's paper gives us a far fuller and better knowledge 

 of the Kashmiree language than anything that we have yet had. The 

 Vocabularies are very full, exact, and well arranged, and the grammati- 

 cal forms of the verb especially are very fully set forth. It is only neces- 

 sary (treating the matter ethnologically) to observe that since Persian 

 has been for several hundred years the language of G-overnment, 

 religion and literature in Kashmir, and there has also been a long 

 connection with Hindustan and the Punjab, a vast number of Persian 

 words and phrases, and some Hindustanee and Punjabee expressions 

 have necessarily incorporated themselves in the modern Kashmiree, 

 especially as spoken by the better classes. In fact, that wonderful 

 language Persian infuses itself wherever it comes in contact, and it 

 abounds in Kashmiree just as in the upper class Hindustanee and in fact 

 in Turkish also. Hence a faithful specimen of the Kashmiree of the 

 present day will be found to contain many foreign words. But they 

 are easily distinguishable, still wearing their foreign dress and little 

 adapted to the native forms ; and for the most part such words need 

 not be confounded with original native words in such a way as to 

 mislead us regarding the radical affinities of the language. 



I have taken the liberty of omitting from Mr. Bowring's vocabularies 

 a few evidently Persian words of a literary, and for the most part com- 

 pound character, as I thought that these would not serve our present 

 purpose. Some remain as now part of the ordinary vulgar tongue, 

 but looking both to the vocables and to the grammar, I think it will 

 be found that Kashmiree is certainly allied to the Indian languages 

 rather than to the Persian. 



