INTRODUCTION. 



In submitting the following somewhat full Grammar of the Maithili 

 dialect to the Society, I wish to explain the soui'ces of my information. 



They may be divided into two classes. 



Is^. — Forms obtained by translating into Maithili. 



2ncl. — Forms obtained by translating from Maithili. 



The first I obtained as follows. I printed paradigms of all the forms in 

 Hindi and Samskrit Grammar and circulated them as widely as possible 

 amongst the Pandits, Village School Masters and educated Native Gentlemen 

 of Northern Mithih'i, with directions to give the exact translation of each of 

 these forms in their own native language. 



I was enabled in this way, to collect some fifty most useful books of 

 forms, supplied by representatives of all classes of society, from the village 

 ffuru, who knew little more than the herd-boys he taught, to the most 

 learned Pandits of Mithila. I am glad to say that the utmost interest was 

 taken in my design, for the people are proud of their language and were 

 pleased at the idea of its being made a polite one, by obtaining the honour 

 of print. I shall have more to say on this point bye and bye. These books 

 of paradigms formed the basis of this Grammar. They were compared with 

 each other ; and where one was found wanting, another supplied the deficiency. 

 At the same time, it must not be imagined that they showed many mutual 

 discrepancies : on the contrary, considering the many varied som'ces from 

 which they were derived, their unanimity was wonderful and justifies me in 

 hoping that what I here publish will be found fairly accui-ate. 



With regard to the forms obtained by translating from Maitliili, they 

 were obtained in various ways. In cutcherry I collected myself a large 

 number of words from the mouths of the witnesses who came in from a 

 distance. These I found very useful in checking the books of forms above 

 referred to. I also collected a number of country songs, which afforded in- 

 valuable materials when properly sifted. 



From these two som-ces, aided by the practical knowledge possessed by 

 myself and one or two native friends, the following grammar has been 

 compiled. I wish I could beheve that it is thoroughly accurate ; all I 

 can say is that we have done oui* best to make it as accurate as possible. 



Om* greatest difficulty has been experienced fi-om the luxmiance of the 

 language. The verb, especially, much tried ovu- patience. IMaitliili is a 

 loU in the literal sense of the word. Beyond a History of Kiishi.ui and 



