NOTES ON ANCIENT SIMHALESE INSCRIPTIONS. 



25 



the meaning of our form. Verbal nouns like senim are the 

 following ; scengim, modern hsengima " hiding" from hsen- 

 genawa, and siwim. The last is not explained, "but I would, 

 though with some hesitation^ propose to emendate sitim 

 (ti would be very nearly the same on the stone as wi), which 

 is the verbal noun of sitinawa " to stand, to be" (comp. 

 aSauraseni : cittkadi, dram. Mag. cictadi or cistadi — ancient 

 Simhalese, citati = tishtati.) 



13) Isd used as Preposition or Conjunction, "for, until," 

 The most probable derivation seems to me from an ancient 

 Subjunctive of Vas " to be." There is an old form asati 

 in several inscriptions belonging to the earlier centuries of 

 our era which, if I understand them correctly, is used in 

 exactly the same sense, and from which isd might easily be 

 derived, scengim isd then would mean originally ; " there be 

 hiding" etc. I have found this word isd frequently enough 

 in inscriptions of this period as far down as the 11th century. 

 Later it met with a sa d fate. The Pandits intent upon 

 enucleating the Samskrt and Pali originals for Sinhalese 

 words, and at a loss to identify this one, forced it to be 

 derived from Pali nissdya " on account of," wherewith of 

 course it had nothing to do whatever. This point being 

 settled, nisd, it was thought, would be more correct ; accord- 

 ingly between the 11th and 12th centuries the word isd 

 altogether had to make its disappearance from the language, 

 and nisd already rules supreme in the inscriptions of Parak- 

 ramabahu I. and Mggalika Malla. 



14) Nawa turce " of the nine stars or planets,'' Genitive. 

 The plural of inanimates formerly was not distinguished by 

 a particular suffix, when the meaning was clear from the 

 context. Where however greater accuracy was required a 

 word war (the modern wal) began to be used in this period, 

 which is possibly derived from a form *wada, *w?eda = 

 waedi (Skt. vrddhi) "increase, plurality," comp. wad% 



