182 
Appendix I. 
the frequent omission of a final r.* The Kafirs count by twenties, 
as is the case in all the languages of the Pamirs and Hindu Kush, 
Thus they have a common non* Aryan base. 
The Kafir language and Chitrali, compared with the Prakrit litera¬ 
ture of Central India, have conserved some of the most ancient forms of 
the Aryan epoch. 
Trumpp, Revd. E., D.Phil. — On the language oj the so-called Kafirs 
of the Indian Caucasus. Journal Royal Asiatic Society , Vol. XIX, 
1862 .—-His opportunities for conversing with three Kafirs, (which dialect 
is not stated,) “ extended to a few days or rather hours.” The 
words collected and the grammar, (notably the pronouns, some numerals, 
and the peculiarity of the future tense of the verb,) differ a good deal 
from my collection. Burnes, Raverty, and Trumpp are at considerable 
variance. About 36 per cent, of Dr. Trumpp’s words agree with the 
Waiguli of Lumsden and Burnes. 
Dr. Trumpp remarks, “ The Kafir tongue being a pure Prakrit 
dialect, separated from its sister dialects since the irruption of Moham¬ 
medan power, in the tenth century of our era, is of the greatest 
importance to Indian philology, as we have a very imperfect knowledge of 
the common dialects then in use in India. We may fairly infer that 
the dialect of the Kafirs has been preserved to us pure or very little altered 
in the course of time, as the Kafirs were quite cut off from all connexion 
with the other Indians, and hemmed in on all sides by impassable moun¬ 
tains, which enabled the fugitive race to defend their independence against 
all assaults on the part of the savage Pushto tribes which were settling 
down in their ancient seats.” 
Dr. Trumpp thinks the words collected by Sir A. Burnes are not Kafir 
words but Kohistani. He observes that, whereas in the Prakrit dialects of 
India, the adjective agrees with the substantive in gender and case, the 
Kafir seems to incline rather to the Iranian than to the Prakrit of India. 
He doubts if nouns have any gender-; adjectives are not subject to change 
for gender and case. 
He remarks on the rarity of aspirates, showing an affinity to Iranian 
and Pushto, 
He says the instrumental case is used. In the singular it is the same 
as the Nominative. In the plural it is formed by adding 
* See Grammar, paras. 22, 23. 
