OF LANGUAGES. 



49 



munrdvaduannan (third elder brother), the fourth Giruannan, 

 and so forth. 52 



The senior brother and sister being considered the more 

 important and influential members of the family and of 

 society at large, the terms which express seniority are pre- 

 served more carefully than those which are assigned to 

 juniors. Thus it happens that words which define the position 

 of the latter are often dropped in concrete languages 

 when they have come into contact with abstract dialects, 

 and the terms used in the latter replace the primitive con- 

 crete expressions, e.g., the Parvatiya of Nepal preserves for 

 elder brother and elder sister the original expressions 

 Dajyu and Didi, but when it speaks of younger brother 

 and younger sister it substitutes words derived from Sans- 

 krit, BKl ' ^nd Bahini. The same process may be observed 

 in such Sanskritized languages as Bengali and Conkani, 

 where the ancient idiom is retained for seniors and omitted 

 when juniors are concerned. 53 



(52) Compare with this mode of calling that practised among the Kamilaroi 

 in Australia. " Brothers and sisters speak of one another by titles that 

 indicate relative age; that is, their words for brother and sister always 

 involve the distinction of elder or younger. In Kamilaroi " daiadi" is elder 

 brother ; " gullami " younger brother; "boadl" is elder sister, "burl'* 

 younger sister. So that in a family of seven brothers the eldest has no 

 daiadi, but he has six gullami ; the youngest has no gullami, but six daiadi ; 

 the third has two daiadi and four gullami, and so on. Of seven sisters the 

 eldest has no boadl, but six burl ; the youngest has no burl, but six boadl 

 the fourth has three boadl and three burl." 



In another Australian tribe " Of four brothers the first is ' thulguiana,' 

 the second ' guluizindai,' the third 'mindulai,' the fourth 4 thabutu.' " 

 (See Rev. William Ridley, m.a., " Report on Australian Languages and 

 Traditions " in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute, Vol. II, pages 

 266 and 283.) 



(53) In Bengali ' ' elder brother " is Dadd and " elder sister" Dldl or 

 Mvmi, "younger brother" on the contrary is Chota brata (Anuja) and " younger 

 sister" Chota Bhagini. The same forms of kinship are respectively expressed 

 in Conkani by Anna, A/cka, Sanu Bhuwic and Sani Bahini. Such terms 

 are remnants of the original concrete character of these languages. The 

 use of postpositions in declension {e.g. in Hindustani), and other idiomatic 

 formations and expressions manifest the same tendency towards concreteness. 



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