THE SINHALESE LANGUAGE. 



.57 



in the Dative Case. The only Sinhalese dative termination, ta 

 presents the most unequivocal testimony of its none-relation to the 

 Dra vidian ; and in this ta may be recognized the Murathi la, the 

 absence of which in her sisters is probably owing to Dravidian 

 influences. Turning our attention to the Syntax of this case we 

 find that words expressing * cause or purpose ' take a dative in 

 the Sinhalese as in Sanskrit and Latin. * Connected , with 

 this application of the dative case' says Professor H. H. Wilson* 

 ' is its optional substitution [in the Sanskrit] for the infinitive after 

 averb.' So clearly is this the case in the Sinhalese infinitive, e. g., 

 lia (w) ta as in the English 'fo-write,' that the sign of the dative 

 case is found bodily transferred to the infinitive. It would be idle 

 to allude to various other syntactical laws which are identical in 

 the formation of the dative in these languages, and which an ordi- 

 nary acquaintance with them cannot fail to exhibit. I shall there- 

 fore pass on to 



vii. The Genitive Case,— The signs of this in the Tamil are 

 in, an, and ni, the first being the most frequent. Here again Dr» 

 Stevenson says the letter n is a general characteristic of the 

 genitive singular. Now, although it may be found in the Tamil 

 in, the Telegu ni, and in the English mine, it nevertheless is defi- 

 cient in the Sinhalese, and in the North- Indian vernaculars, 'of all 

 which/ as stated by Caldwell, 'the Gujarathi is the only one which 

 contains a form of the genitive resembling that which we have been 

 examining .f I need scarcely add that the Sinhalese take ge besides 

 the dative ta ; and that although a simple n is also given with an, in 

 the Sidatsangara, yet the use of them is so very rare that the author 

 seems to have had some difficulty in finding out examples of their 

 use ; and even in those which the Translator has supplied, there 



* Introduction to Sanskrit Grammar, p. 388 

 f Caldwell's Dravidian Grammar, p, 237. 



