2Ct A. F. Pudolf Hoernle— Essays on the Saurian Languages. [No. 1, 
feminines in like their corresponding masculines in %, or ^T, are derived 
from a particular Prakrit base in X^i, corresponding to the masculine 
and neuter formed by means of the affix ^f. 
I have already briefly adverted to the phonetic process, by which the 
Prakrit termination (or *3fT) has become modified or corrupted into 
the Gaurian termination Though the Gaurian is by no means adverse to 
the hiatus, when originated within its own sphere ; it is, as a rule , intolerant 
towards those cases of hiatus which originated in the Prakrit. There is a 
most obvious and natural reason for this tendency, without it the language 
would have destroyed itself. After the Prakrit had thrown out the 
consonants, the vowels by themselves could not have long retained existence. 
The only way of preserving the word from complete annihilation was, either 
to insert consonants for the vowels to lean upon and to be protected by, or 
to contract them (by sandhi) into consonants or diphthongs (resp. vowels) ; 
e. g., the Sanskrit {arrived) becomes in Prakrit ; the form 
contracts in Gaurian to ^T%, and this again might have been contracted into 
and thus altogether frittered away, if this process of corruption were not 
arrested by the Gaurian through the insertion of the connecting-consonant 
■q , by which the form is changed to W (in High-Hindi ^T??T). 
Similarly, the Sanskrit {sitting) becomes in Prakrit ; and 
to save this almost entire conglomeration of vowels from destruction, the 
Gaurian makes sandhi of the hiatus-vowels, and changes the form ^f^sT§T 
into (or High-Hindi). This Gaurian tendency comes into opera¬ 
tion on the Prakrit feminine termination s^T. Sometimes the Gaurian 
inserts the connecting-vowel ^ (thus T^Tf); in that case, the semivowel 
protects the two vowels x and ^T, especially the final ^|T, which would other¬ 
wise be reduced to (by the other Gaurian law of shortening finals). In 
this way originated those Gaurian feminines which end in ; and their man¬ 
ner of origination explains why in their case the Pr a /critic form of the word has 
been preserved (instead of th e proper Saurian form). Generally, however, 
the Gaurian has recourse to the other method, of making sandhi. First, the 
final Prakrit is reduced to ■% according to the Gaurian law ; next, the 
preceding T is contracted with the following ^ to x by sandhi. Accordingly, 
the Prakrit termination changes to ^ or (with insertion of euphonic 
^j) -^>q[ 5 and then to X’ F. g., Skr. challc becomes in Prakrit 
and in Gaurian either or (first finally) ; or again, Sanskrit 
done becomes in Prakrit fw ; in Gaurian first fe?P3j (fafsj), finally 7 tf\. 
That this is really the way in which the Gaurian feminine in ^ originated, 
is proved by the fact, that the intermediate form in ^ (for ^) is still very 
commonly found m the oldest Hindi poetry of Chand, as the following 
verses may serve to show ; 
'J 
