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Contributions towards Vernacular Lexicography. [No. 2, 



cffvSl, as stated before, is a corruption of the Sanscrit ^>^, a 

 water-snake. It is now used to indicate the innocuous water-snake 

 as well as a powerless man. <&]*i\5 comes from 3»T*fT*T, cotton, and 

 here the material has given name to the cloth made from it. Its 

 present signification, however, is more extensive. It is in Bengali 

 a generic term for cloth. $f3t means that which is washed, and as 

 the piece of cloth round the waist of a Bengali is the only part of his 

 dress which he has to change about four times or oftener in a 

 day, that piece of cloth is by par excellence called ^f\. ^"31 comes 

 from *£5 a thread. It is now used exclusively to represent cotton 

 thread, and cloth made of cotton is *jret?T 3>T*T ?, as distinguished 

 from C?T"CT?r <$t*fv5. 



^[31 is C®T\51 in Hindi, and appears to be part of the Sanscrit 

 word Trfft *TTTf3?1, a pair of shoes. 



"^fa1 means cassien of milk, separated by boiling it with an acid. 

 It is derived from f%% to break up, to tear asunder, and the com- 

 pound dt)5l w% supports this derivation. 



fl>C^?T ^Tiffa" (Chinese almond), tt^TTt% ^jsnpl (English gourd), 

 £"WT>t ^tt% (Guzrat elephant), appear to be misnomers. The first 

 is no more an almond than it is Chinese. Its more rustic name 

 is 3TtT>*T?tsr or srTl> ^ft" (field almond, or field lentils), which ex- 

 presses its nature better than the other term. The 13©Tlf5 <5F*T$1 

 is called t^tf^, because crews of vessels store them up before they 

 leave the port for the sea, as it can be preserved as long as the 

 potatoe without getting rotten. The name, however, may mislead, 

 were we to consider it as an introduced fruit, as also the word f^cTt1% 

 «d> (Indiarubber tree). The Hindi word *T*pf?r ^"Sq^l (traveller's 

 gourd) is a clue to its origin. The people of obscure villages have 

 preserved its real name fsrc^^nsl, sweet-gourd. 



C^vSl and C5<|r1, as stated above, are both derived from the Sanscrit 

 f^rw, but CW5\ in Bengali is ' to tear,' and C5?T1 is to divide lon- 

 gitudinally. Thus the slit of a pen is its ft<jT. tpfi>1, ^ft c*pTT>1j 

 TpTj-^wtT^ are derivatives of the Sanscrit *$$$. *pTt>1 to crack, 

 C*FIT>1 to boil, as also to break by frying, as in lpl>^f^, a kind 

 of lentil that cracks when fried. Tpff is a cucumber which bursts 

 when ripe. 



