1870.] Contributions towards Vernacular Lexicography, 141 



Prakrit or ^ in Bengali has taken the place of o9. Thus ii}<Pt^ — 

 ^K^^ — tiic^fl — ^cfl— 'SJT^I. The study of these forms is to Phi- 

 lology what the science of Embryology is to Natural History. The 

 classification into genera is greatly assisted by the embryonic forms 

 which the animals undergo, and it is then only that their resemblance 

 to the allied genera or species is most vividly exhibited. The 

 other day, some small seedlings of Artocarpus mclicus, the Jack- 

 fruit, in my garden threw out leaves so perfectly serrated in the 

 manner of those of the bread-fruit, that I was at once struck with 

 the similarity, and on exhibiting it to a friend of mine, he observed, 

 that though not himself a scientific man to appreciate the close re- 

 lation which existed between the two dissimilar leaves, it had always 

 been a puzzle to him. Returning to ^rT3» from <43», this form can be 

 explained as in Sanscrit Sandhi ; for "3" is formed in the place of v*i and 

 there is a rule in Mugdhavodha, stating that the consonants formed 

 in places of vowels can again be transformed into those vowels. 

 For ^ we get ^r - for $,^ -for |l, $, for ^, cT as also conversely for 

 St.— ^, for 3" — i§. It is interesting to note that ^-H^^?! is pronounced 

 as ya and \§ + ^ = ^ va. From this it may be observed that the 

 sound of <r is not /, but ya, and that the Bengali custom of pro- 

 nouncing it as/ is to be traced to the Prakrit where ^nr*f is ^^C3i1 ; 

 and though in Yajurveda the <T is always pronounced as/. May we 

 hazard a suggestion that since the aboriginal brahmans of Bengal 

 were wholly Yajurvedic, they have given to the Bengali the j sound 

 of <r ? A learned brahman being asked why j[ in Sanscrit became 

 1? in Prakrita, very coolly replied, " It is because the women were so 

 much addicted to pan-chewing." Thus again ^IWJ — ^i^f~^Tt®f, — 



It has been noted above that the Sanscrit f%$t?"5j is Ift^s in 

 Prakrit. Instances of such breaking up of the particles of a word 

 are not rare. They are in conformity with Prakrit rules. Thus 

 the Sanscrit Tpfsfs? is in Prakrit ^ ^f%f£rd>1, and 2fT«i is *f?TT«i in 

 Bengali and £ftf% is f*f<ftf3, *pf«f srft is *f <r^srR also *rc3"3T *fH?T, 

 C2f<T7rT is f*f <TT1? and C^^ is •STC^C^I. Similarly ^ is ET^?1 

 in Prakrit and 5T*rv5l in Bengali. cWt^, is ^ft^T, *rT«^ is ^t^"^, 

 9 $Je'% is *J1?5T, ^?B, ^Tt?" is ^ei^H^T and ^"^ is ^?JI>, <$?[?{ from $fT*J 

 and f^?1 from Prakrit f^foi'S and Sanscrit ^"Ff<]"SJ. 



