72 A. F. Rudolf Hoernle— Essays on the Gaurian Languages. [No. 1, 
as Bang. ^rf^«TT = Braj or ^Ppir. They are identical; for, as I 
shall show afterwards, the Bangali infinitive in «r^T is merely the oblique 
form ( = Prakrit genitive sing.) of an infinitive in ; it never 
occurs in the nominative (i. e. direct form) ; see Shama Chum Sircar’s 
Grammar p. 149, note 40. The Bangali infinitive in is also almost 
identical with the Prakrit form of the part, fut, pass, in as given 
in some MSS. which have, e. g., for the usual form. The 
form is, no doubt, the form of the later Prakrit, arisen from the 
older form ^fpnq^j by sandhi (or phonetic decay). The real origin of the 
infinitive (or gerund) in «T has become very much obscured in modern 
Bangali; though there are a few indications of it still remaining ; e. g., 
while the final short W of the infinitive of the 1st and Illrd classes of 
verbs is quiescent , that of the infinitive of the second class and the causal 
verbs is pronounced (as 5). Again while the infinitives of the former 
classes are declined according to the first declension, i. e., like such nouns 
as tiger, ^=r!Tvr child (with quiescent ; the infinitives of the Ilnd 
class are declined according to the Illrd declension, i. e., like such adjectives 
as great, small (with audible ^q), see Shama Churn Sircar’s Gram¬ 
mar, pp. 129, 149, note 40. For example to do (1st class) is pronounced 
karan, hut to walk (find class) is pronounced berano. Again, the 
genitive of is 3HVTT, but that of is I have shown 
already (in Essay III) that the Bangali nouns ending in an audible belong 
to the Erakritic element , that is, that their final audible ^ is a contraction 
of the original Prakrit ending (x^ or I^q). Accordingly, the 
final audible ^q of the infinitive also indicates that it must be the remnant 
of an original Prakrit ending <pq or ^^q (that is, that and stands for 
^vif^q or ^fiq'sq). Another indication of that real origin of the infinitive 
or gerund in is this, that they may optionally end in fir, instead of «T ; 
e. g., threading may be both and 3U^f«T (1st class); burning r«T 
and (Ilnd class), thatching and IjT^fir (Illrd class), see 
Shama Churn Sircar’s Grammar, p. 18(3. Now this form in f^T is also found 
in the Braj Bhasha, where it is a substitute for the form in ^ or ^ (i. e ., the 
oblique form of the infinitives in «rf and off); e. g., he began to speak is in 
the Br. Bh. for the high Hindi The termination 
^=qf«T is, evidently, in both languages alike, a corruption of the Prakrit 
termination «qvfi^[; and as it is found in the infinitives of all three classes 
of Bangali verbs, it indicates that the infinitives of all three classes are really 
the Prakrit Part. Fut. Pass, in sqvft^ (Skr. ^q«ft^t). Moreover these forms of 
the infinitive in X (as 3T^far), and the Naipali infinitive form in ^3 (as 
clearly show, how gradually the original ending ^fvri^q has become worn 
down to a simple ^q; for the final short X and become according to the 
Gaurian law quiescent and thus like ^q (see the explanation of this process 
