242 journal b. a, s, (oeylon). [Vol. VII., Pt. III. 



Telugu. — ( contd.) Tamil..— ( contd.) 



50 ... ydbai ... ... aimpadu. 



60 ... - 



TO ... — 



80 ... — 



90 ... — 



100 ... mfcrw 



These, it is obvious, have no relationship to the Sinhalese 

 numerals. 



Following the Prakrit the modern Aryan vernaculars of 

 India have avoided the "nexus" or the combination of two or 

 more consonants without an intervening vowel, which is seen in 

 the Sinhalese too. 



The Prakrit ©, ch, is changed in Sinhalese mostly to », s, 

 and sometimes to as, £, and also to d. 



The corruption has gone so far as to change the C3, *, to 

 G&, h, and sometimes the h is dropped. 



From the Sanskrit cac0253, " bed," Prakrit ^CSdbB 



we get Sinhalese enda. By reducing the £3, s, into 



C5>, A, and dropping it altogether, the ddb, jj/ff, is reduced 

 to «5, rfcr, and to compensate for the loss of the conjunct con- 

 sonant, the vowel e, is substituted. This is more apparent 



when we compare the Sinhalese tfi^, enda, with the old Hindi 

 sajyd — the modern Hindi, Panjabi, and Sindhi being spj. 



In Prakrit, which, as Professor Max Miiller says, is the 

 basis of all the Aryan vernaculars of India, consonants are 

 dropped in the middle of words ; as visai for vinsati, twenty. In 

 Sinhalese the hiatus is always avoided by the coalition of the 

 letters or by the insertion of the semivowels CO, ya, or S), va, 

 and sometimes d, ra ; dS3^, ratana, "cubit," Sinhalese Sc0553, 

 riyana ; 2^6o3^, kathayati, "he says," Sinhalese eScsS, kiyayi. 

 We could never have such a combination of letters as the Prakrit 

 janavad, for the Sanskrit c5^Cc^, janapada, "community:" the 

 Sinhalese word is c^s£)€)S, danavva. 



These are the main features of the language. Now com- 

 pare the Sinhalese names for the members of the body with 

 those of the Aryan vernaculars of India. 



