1883.] 
G. A. Grierson —Essays on Bihari Declension. 
151 
We thus find that with the exception of a doubtful form in Bhagul¬ 
pur, and the extreme Western case of Banaras-Bhojpuri, an oblique form 
of verbal nouns in ^ and ending in and ^jt obtains more or less 
currency. 
In South Bhagulpur this ^tt is weakened to which it is important 
to note, as it gives the clue to the derivation of another set of oblique 
forms to be now noted. 
In the Maithili of South Bliagulpur nouns ending in a silent conso¬ 
nant (that is to say weak forms in ^f), vocalize that consonant in the 
oblique cases. Thus ‘ a house,’ Acc. The same dialect has 
a feminine genitive affix the masculine of which is %'C 5 ', which 
leads one to presume that as in the same district is a weakened form 
of so also is a weakened form of 
In Mdgadhi such nouns ending in a silent consonant (that is to say 
weak forms in ^l) have an oblique form in tf : thus, Obi. 
Magadln immediately adjoins the Maithili of Bhagulpur, and hence it is 
evident that this oblique form is weakened from mj. The weakening of 
^JT to tf is borne out by tbe old Maithili accusative postposition ^»f, which 
has become in modern Maithili and the close connection between tf and 
^ is shown by the indeclinable participle of the root ‘ to do,’ which 
is either ^"(Mth. Gr. § 172) or ^ (Vid. 66, 5). 
This concludes the discussion concerning the different varieties of 
oblique forms in Bihari which end in ^fT. To sum up, we may reduce what 
we have observed to tbe following. 
In Bhojpuri the affix of the genitive has an oblique form in ^T, thus 
oblique 3>T; and in all Bihari dialects the pronouns have an oblique 
genitive in ^r, thus tf 3 »?;t. This oblique genitive is also used as a 
general oblique declensional base. 
In Magadhi, and a cognate sub-dialect, all nouns in the weak form 
have an oblique form in TF or % thus, oblique or gyo. 
This oblique tf or ^ is either a weakened form of or a form closely 
connected with the above oblique form in ^T. 
In the majority of Bihari dialects, verbal nouns in ^ and ^r, have 
oblique forms in ^[T or ^jf, and so also there are cases of other and even 
foreign nouns in y;, ^l, «r, and which have similar oblique forms; also a 
few cases of nouns ending in and 
[Note on some apparently irregular forms in the song of Salhes. 
It must be remembered that this song is printed exactly as it was 
taken down from the mouth of a Dom. These Dorns are great wanderers, 
and hence besides the theth or vulgar forms (such as for &c.) 
which abound in it, there are one or two forms which must be referred to 
other dialects, viz. 
