Polyglot List of Birds — Turki, Manchu and Chinese. 

 By Dr. E. Dknison Ross. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The present contribution to the "Memoirs" of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 

 owes its inception to a desire on my part to discover what sources, not hitherto 

 utilised, there might be for the Lexicography of that variety of Turkish which is 

 known as Chaghatai or Turki. 



While I was examining the resources of the British Museum, during my leave 

 in England in 1907, my friend, Mr. A. G. Ellis, called my attention to a unique 

 work in manuscript, which contained the whole vocabulary of the Manchu-Chinese 

 "Mirror" in five languages, namely, Manchu, Mongolian, Tibetan, Turki, and 

 Chinese. 



I must here explain that the Manchu-Chinese "Mirror," the full Manchu title 

 of which is Han i araha nonggime toktobuha manju gisun i buleku bithe, is an exhaustive 

 vocabulary of the Manchu language published in 177 1. 1 



This vocabulary is arranged according to a number of main headings which 

 practically include all the words to be found in the most complete alphabetical 

 dictionary. Klaproth, in his well-known " Verzeichniss der chinesichen und man- 

 schuischen Bucher und Handschriften der koniglichen Bibliothek zu Berlin ' ' (1822), 

 has given a list of the main headings included in the Manchu-Chinese "Mirror." This 

 list, in spite of its apparent fulness, does not convey to the general reader a correct 

 impression of the exhaustive character of this famous dictionary. 



In the bi-lingual " Mirror " each Manchu word has its Chinese equivalent. The 

 Manchu is transcribed into Chinese (according to the three-character system invented 

 by K'ien Lung), while the Chinese characters are transcribed phonetically in Manchu 

 character. Thereafter follows the full definition in Manchu of each word. The 

 pentaglot version of the " Mirror " differs in two respects from the Manchu-Chinese 

 original : (i) the Manchu and the Chinese are not transcribed ; (ii) the definitions are 



l The principal native Manchu Dictionaries will be found enumerated in Mollendorf 's " Essay on Manchu litera- 

 ture " in the Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. xxiv, pp. 1-45. 



