19G 
REPORT- 1847. 
Certain prefixes have a singular, others a plural power. 
The system of prefixes is nearly the same, even in detail, for both tk 
Caffre anti Sechuana. 
B. The Euphonicor Alliterational Concord. —Several of th6 syntactic rdi- 
tions between two words in Caftre ure expressetl in tlie following remarbble 
manner. The word governed chaiiges its initial letter into eUker theoM 
letter of the wqrd that governs, or one allied to it. Thus if the English sj aia 
was the same as tlie Cuifre, we should say instead of 
sun’s beam.&un beam. 
father’s daughter .father^ughter. 
man’s dog .roan tnog. 
people’s leader .people peader. 
and so on. In this case, the initial of one word would determine the initialil 
another. 
Such is the rule of the Caffre euphonic concord; with this addition, 
that the prefix is part of the word ; so that it is the prefix ratlierthaatk 
word itself which influences the alliteration. 
1. The prefixes u and urn. determine that the words in a certain synlai**' 
relation to them, shall change their natural initial into w,— twlizwi*^* 
man of the country. 
2. The prefixes i and ill determine that the word in a certain syntaiw 
relation to them, shall change their natural initial into ?,--i’hashe feulw- 
horse of the captain. 
3. The prefixes in and im dotennino that words in a certain syntaw^ 
relation to them, shall change their natural initials intoy,—frtkosi yabantU' 
captain of the peojtle. 
So on throughout. The letter which the prefix of the governing wortl^ 
quires to be the initial of the word in construction with it is called ibeup ^ 
nic letter; so that to is the euphonic letter of u and um, I of i and di, y ® ' 
and w», &c. 
Now if languages were, like crystals, determined by their external 
and without any respect to descent or affiliation, the phcenoniena w 
systeni of prefixes, and of the euphonic concord, would becbaracter^O‘^_ 
value in separating any language in wliicli they occurred from any T ^ 
uiey did not. At present it is sufficient to say that they do not occw 
Caffre languages only. 
A tliird point in the Caffre language is suggested by certain 
table. In the Suaheli, the Wmiika, and the WakauiM> ^ 
plural form=»i<?7i is simpler than the singular form=»«rn.— m!!* 
mutu, muttdv .; plural toaiu, atu andu. Now, not only is it a prion ^ 
that, in certain instances, the expression for individualizing particular 0*9^ 
may be subsequent to the expression for a collection dealt with as 
m two languages, the Welsh and Arabic, the actual pheenumenon of 
lonned from a plural has been recognised; just as, in English, tw 
wizard derived from roitch is a particular instance of a masculine fot® 
domed from a feminine one. . .n-. 
XIII. The Ilottonlot Language —The course of the Orange ^ 
trates the area over which the Hottentot languages are spoken. ^ . 
south thc*y are conterminous with tiie Dutch and English of the W' ,- 
which their more extreme dialects have been displaced. On 
north-east they are bounded by Bechuana and Cati're dialects of the 
ll*e Namacqua, whicli is a Hottentot language, is spoken on the shore u' 
