THE SINHALESE LANGUAGE. 



31 





Pali. 



SinJiala. 



Tamil, 



With and 



saha 



ha 



um 



Assimilate 



sansanda 



sasadas 



oppakku 



Labourer 



kammi 



kemi 



priyasi 



Slave 



dasa 



das 



adime 



An affix 



yutta 



vutu 





Receive 



labha 



laba 



vangu 



Give 



da 



da 



kodu 



Explain 



viyakarana 



vivaruna* 



vilakku 



One 



eka 



ek 



oru 



In the above list which contains sixty-four words, fifty seven, or 

 nine- tenths are clearly deduced from the Pali; and of the seven 

 words, for which I find no direct equivalents in the latter tongue, 

 it may be remarked, five are allied to the Pali, that is to say; e 

 4 that ' may be from eta 4 this ;' biso 4 anointed queen ' is from 

 Abhiseka the name of the ceremony of regal anointment; vap is 

 clearly derived from the Pali vapa 4 to sow/ and thence used for 



* Sep-Oct,' a period of cultivation amongst the Sinhalese; nisi, which 

 here bears the secondary meaning of 4 proper/ probably comes from 

 the Pali niche ha 4 sure,' 4 certain/ 4 with judgment ' — thence 'pro- 

 per ' in the Sinhalese ; and vivara is most likely derived from the 

 Pali vohara 4 custom ' or 4 rules of justice' — thence voharika *a 

 magistrate.' Of the remaining two words, one (yutu) is a native 

 affix, and the other (isa) a native particle. 



A comparison of the language of the original rock Inscription, 

 with that of the modern version (both which I have given in .my 

 Sidath-Sangara, p. xxxvi) also establishes the fact, which has been 

 noticed by philologers in reference to Prakrit dialects, viz., that 



* two-fold forms of the same Sanskrit words are found '* in the 

 Sinhalese — one more Sanskrit, the°other more Pali — the latter being 

 decidedly anterior to the former. The Rev. B. Clough has given 

 both these forms in his Sinhalese Dictionary, sometimes omitting 



* Professor Lassen's Inst. Prakriticse. 



See Introduction p. vi, 



