156 AN ESSAY ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SINHALESE LANGUAGE. 



militate against this opinion, for he says: 6 The Hindi which con- 

 tains the most (i. e. Brahminical words) is estimated by Mr. 

 Colebrook to have nine-tenths of its vocables of Sanskrit origin, 

 and the Marathi which contains the fewest has at least four-fifths 

 of its words derived from the same source. In the Southern family 

 again Sanskrit words are of rare occurrence, and enter less into the 

 common language of the people, except in the Sinhalese which 

 from the influence of the Pali chiefly derived from the Sanskrit and 

 the language of the Buddhist literature has nearly as many words 

 originally derived from the Sanskrit as the Hindi itself. 



Before however I proceed to adduce the promised proof to esta- 

 blish the non-Dravidian origin of the Sinhalese, and which I purpose 

 to lay before this Society at a future opportunity upon several 

 distinct heads, I may conclude my introductory remarks by quoting 

 the expressed opinion of two of the most eminent linguists of the 

 day, viz., Caldwell and Max Muiler, names which, as you know, 

 must be deemed to impart confidence to those who have the honor 

 to labour in the beaten path in which they have travelled. The 

 author of the invaluable Dravidian Grammar says, ' There is no 

 relation, however, between the Sinhalese language — the language 

 of the Sinhalese properly so-called, who were Buddhists and Co- 

 lonists from Magadha or Behar — and the language of the Tamilians, 

 nor is there any reason for supposing that the natural course of 

 migration (viz., from the mainland to the Island) was ever inverted 

 to such a degree as to justify the supposition that the whole mass 

 of the Dravidians entered India from Ceylon.' p. 73. 



And although there is a slight difference of opinion between 

 Professor Max Muller and myself as to the relationship which exists 

 between the Sanskrit and the Singhalese ; yet it will be observed 

 that that difference is one which does not affect the main question 

 in hand. He says: — 'The Sanskrit now lives only in its offspring, 

 the numerous spoken dialects of India — Hindustani, Maharatti 

 Bengali, Guzerate, Sinhalese etc, all preserving in the system of 

 their grammar, the living traces of their common parent J— Survey 

 of Languages, p. 31. 



