26 



On the Language, Manners, and Rites, of the 



[July 



of kindred origin. The term for river would seem to be only a dialec- 

 tic variation of the Tamil nat/ii, {vulgo nuddee, and nullah) a 



word which, coming from the Sanscrit, is found in all Hindu languages, 

 The words for tank, stone, man, seem to come from the Hindustani, or 

 possibly from the Udiya language of the province of Orissa. The 

 word for mother is a slight variation from a Tamil word of like 

 meaning, though now not much used. Abba, for father is found in 

 Hebrew, Syriac, Telugu, Tamil, and in some of the dialects of the islands 

 in the eastern archipelago ; and is perhaps one of the most 

 remarkable of all words. Booddee for daughter is the Sanscrit putri, 

 slightly corrupted. Aupoe for son, is perhaps none other than the 

 familiar domestic term of endearment ^ t_j i_. rr <ay oppava, only used in 



addressing a male-child. So^otf coodoova is the Telugu word r^oo 

 codalu, a daughter-in-law. The word for son-in-law seems merely a 

 corruption of the Sanscrit jamaln, having the same meaning. 

 Bekah is also a mere dialectic variation from the Sanscrit 

 vivaha marriage. The word for male-child is the same as the above 

 for son, and the word for female-child may be a corruption of the 

 Sanscrit dtmaja, a daughter. Fessay for how many, is, I think, 

 originally the same with the Tamil & ® & oJfar yettani, of the 



same meaning ; ^ and £ or t and s, are frequently interchangeable in 

 Tamil as in Q Ljl fl jp 9 Q U S\* £ reat > 



QjpjSr small, in which case s is the more rude, and t the more refined. 

 Tlavoo, seems also to be originally the same word with the Tamil word 

 £6100 h ea< *« The word for eyes is Tamil, with a slight difference 



in the plural termination, as before noticed. The word for ear in 

 Sanscrit is srava, in Telugu, sevata, in Tamil sevi, in the Todar dialect 

 of the Neilgherries kevi, in the Khoond dialect, crivu, in Tamil the 

 word hearing is Q&® l( £! kelvi, shewing that 5 is changeable into k, 



as is indeed the case with some other words. The natural conclu- 

 sion is, that the whole of these words are dialectic variations from 

 the Sanscrit srava f or conversely that the Sanscrit word was adopted 

 from a common root j but I would not assert either conclusion. The 

 word for nose is in Tamil g^jL^ muccu, or Telugu sScoSb^- muccu. 



For teeth the Tamil word is u ft&£ f parcal, differing very little from 

 the Khoond word. The Todars of the Neilgherries I am informed 

 use the sound l _ J a(rO'- V arc ^ l > *° r t00tu ' The word for throat, docka. 

 is used in Tamil to signify any hollow of a tube or pipe. The first of 

 ihe two words for shoulder is the Sanscrit scand'ha having the 



