148 Hoernle — Essays on the Gaurian Languages. [No. 2, 
that all Sanskritic elements (of the Gaurian) belong to that class of nouns 
which admit of no ohlique form, a class which is much more extensive than 
the other. But Sanslcritic elements do not account for the whole of the nouns 
belonging to that class. There are many nouns in this class which 1., ex- 
hibit all the phonetic peculiarities (enumerated above) of the Prakrit ; which 
2., have the form of the nominative sing, of the Prakrit ; and which 3., pre- 
serve this form unchanged in all cases (i. e., do not admit of an oblique 
form), indicating their inflexion by post-positions ; e. g., elephant is in Hindi 
it is identical with the Prakrit nominative singular (= Sanskrit 
nominative singular of the base vrmvf ), and is in Hindi the ( inflexion- 
al ) base of which the nominative is the gen. TIrit 357, &c. From 
this we conclude, 1., that all these nouns have been transferred to the 
Gaurian not from the Sanskrit, but from the Prakrit ; but 2., that they were 
so transferred not before the distinctive principles of the Gaurian had fully 
established themselves, i. e., after the Gaurian had finally and entirely- 
replaced the Prakrit as a separate and distinct language. These nouns, 
therefore, have an altogether different nature from those nouns which con- 
stitute the Prdkritic elements of the Gaurian. The latter are the earliest 
elements of the Gaurian which were transferred to it from the Prakrit at that 
early time when the principles of the Gaurian were not yet formed, but 
only in process of formation ; when as yet the Gaurian was only a much 
decayed dialect of the Prakrit. Hence the Prakritic elements have a mixed 
character, half Prakrit, half Gaurian ; Prakrit they are in showing traces of 
organic inflexion, vie., in the oblique form (as differing from the direct form 
of the nominative) ; Gaurian, in preserving their oblique form unchanged in 
all oblique cases alike, indicating the difference of the various oblique cases 
by post-positions. On the other hand the other Prakrit nouns entered the 
Gaurian when its principles were fully formed ; and, therefore, becoming sub- 
ject to the force of those principles, they were fully assimilated by the Gaurian. 
I shall therefore in future denominate all such nouns as the proper Gaurian 
elements of the Gaurian, to distinguish them from the Prakritic elements 
on the one hand, and from the Sanskritic elements on the other hand.* 
Thus we have seen that the whole of the Gaurian nouns are divided 
into three classes. z. The Prdkritic element containing all nouns, which 
admit an oblique form. 2. The proper Gaurian element containing one part 
* By tlie term te Gaurian element” only, I shall designate both the proper 
Ga/urian and the Sanskritic elements together. For all Gaupian nouns may be divided 
thus : — 
1. Prdkritic nouns, i. e. f admitting an oblique form. 
2. Gaurian nouns, i. e ., not admitting an oblique form, 
a. Gaurian proper. 
b. Sanslcritic. 
