The History of the Bengali Language/Lecture 5
LECTURE V
The Influence of the Dravidian Speeches on Bengali
The Vedic or the Chāndasa speech was very much changed when the Brāhmaṇas were composed; the language of the Brāhmaṇas again differs widely in many essential particulars from what is called the classical Sanskrit, as well as from the speech which has unfortunately come to be designated by the name Pāli. That the later Prākṛtas and the provincial vernaculars, differ similarly from one another, as well as from the earlier speeches, is a well-known fact. Even the scholars who are mere linguists, and have only made a comparative study of all the speeches of N. India, without any reference to the characteristics of the speakers thereof, have not failed to notice, that the changes and deviations from the norm cannot be wholly explained by those laws, which the philologists have formulated, to account for all sorts of linguistic changes and modifications. The orthodox philologists have however been forced to admit, either directly or by implication, that the influence of some people other than the original speakers of the Aryan tongues, must have been at work in bringing about the aforesaid changes, though no particular non-Aryan people has been pointed out, from whom this influence emanated. Looking to the fact that cerebral sounds prevail very much in the Dravidian speeches, it has been vaguely asserted that some Dravidian people, as speakers of the Aryan speeches, induced dentals to be changed into cerebrals. Mr. Stenkonow's remarks on this point, as appear in the IVth volume of the Linguistic Survey of India, are very correct in my opinion. Since such a change of a dental into a cerebral is not wholly unknown in some Indo-European languages, Mr. Stenkonow considers quite possible, that the Indo-Aryan cerebrals developed quite independently, without there being any special inducing cause. Referring then to the phenomenon in the later Prākṛta speeches, that there is almost a wholesale change of dentals into cerebrals, the learned scholar offers a very reasonable suggestion which I quote in his own words:—
"The cerebral letters, however, form an essential feature of Dravidian phonology, and it therefore seems possible, that Dravidian influence has been at work, and at least given strength to a tendency which can, it is true, have taken its origin among the Aryans themselves."
It has not, however, been noticed by the philologists, that even though cerebral letters prevail very much in Dravidian speeches, these letters are never initials of genuine Dravidian words. No doubt, we observe this very peculiarity in the Vedic as well as in the earliest classical Sanskrit, but we notice that in later Sanskrit as well as in the Prākṛta speeches, there are many words, which though not onomatopoetic in origin, have cerebrals for initials. টঙ্ক (the top of the hill), ঠক্কুর or ঠাকুর (a word of respect), ডমরু (a musical instrument), and ঢুক (to signify entering into) are some examples. As India has been the home of diverse races of men, since remotest antiquity, it is difficult or rather unsafe to particularize definitely the influence of any special non-Aryan race, as the sole cause of any unusual linguistic change.
I must, however, notice in this connection, an important peculiarity of Bengali phonology, which has not to my knowledge, been noticed hitherto by any philologist. I have made it sufficiently clear in a previous lecture, that the people closely allied to the Dravidians, or rather who have to be presumed to be pure Dravidians, form the bulk of our Bengali-speaking population; yet it is to be noted as a fact, that the cerebral letters are not so much cerebral as they are dental in our speech. If we carefully notice our pronunciation of the letters of the 'ট' class, we will see that we articulate 'ট' and 'ড,' for example, almost like English T and D without turning up the tip of the tongue much away from the region of the teeth. We can detect this peculiarity very clearly, if we compare our sounds with those of the Mahrattas. As we articulate ড and ঢ more as dentals than cerebrals, we have been required to introduce two new consonants ড় and ঢ় to produce special cerebral sounds; that for the latter sounds the letters ড and ঢ quite do in other Indian speeches, is well known. This natural organic aversion to articulate cerebral letters with distinctness explains why the cerebral ণ is uttered wholly as dental ন, and why in some eastern districts ড় and ঢ় are wholly pronounced as র and হ্র; in Eastern Bengal the letters are not articulated by the learners of the Alphabet, but their physical appearance is described as ড–এ শূন্য and ঢ–এ শূন্য letters.
I am perhaps creating new difficulties without seeking to explain things by a Dravidian influence. To be able to face all difficulties properly, is better than offering a plausible solution.
The phenomenon I have spoken of, may be partly explained by postulating a Kirānti influence; but since when and to what extent this influence has been in existence, need be inquired into. The earliest reference to the Kirātas occurs in the Atharva Veda which discloses a good deal of knowledge of the eastern lands, from where the original form of our speech flowed into our country. We find in the Atharva Veda (X, 4. 14) that the Kirāta women were employed to dig out medicines for use as charms in the Himālayan region. That the Kirātas were mountaineers, is clear from some statements in the Vājasaneyi (XXX, 16, etc.) and in other later Saṁhitas. These hilly people have been mentioned however in Manu (X, 44) as Vrātya Kṣatriyas. We get in the Brāhmaṇa literature, in connection with the story of Asamāti, that the Kirāta priests, who knew charms came into prominence in the Aryan society. I cannot say if the dark yellow colour of skin ascribed to the Kṣatriyas in the Kāṭhaka (কাঠক) Saṁhitā, has anything to do with Kirāta (কিরাত) inter-mixture. The Kirāta cult of magical charms and mystic mantras being universal in Northern India, a special influence of the Kirātas in Bengal cannot be formulated.
It is true that in Eastern as well as in Northern Bengal, direct Mongolian influence can be formulated from some known facts of history. It is also true that the inability to articulate ড় and ঢ় occurs in some eastern districts only, but not in Northern Bengal. The consonants of চ class, however, are made very much palatal in Eastern Bengal, unlike what the Mongolians do, while these consonants are made semi-dentals or rather pronounced by almost closing the teeth, in Central Bengal. This question, however, will be discussed in a subsequent lecture.
It is really very curious, that some peculiarities which are doubtless due to Dravidian influence, have been sought to be explained by some eminent philologists by a cause other than the real one. Such an eminent scholar as Sir Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar considers such changes in the oldest known Prākṛta, as ধম্মো for ধর্ম, সঙ্কপ্পো for সঙ্কল্প, সিলোক for শ্লোক, etc., to be due to the natural vocal tendencies of the Aryan speakers themselves. Explanation for these changes was not sought anywhere outside the mouth of the speakers, as the influence of the Dravidians who now reside far away from the limits of Northern India, could not be thought of forty years ago, when the Wilson Philological lectures were delivered. The fact that the Dravidians could once be the neighbours of the Aryans in the Northern country, did not suggest to the scholars. I have mentioned before, that according to the Dravidian traditions, all the dominant tribes of S. India migrated from Northern provinces to Peninsular India. It is a distinct and a definite characteristic of essential nature, in the Tamil language, that an initial of a word can never be formed of double consonants, and compound letters formed of consonants different Varga can occur nowhere in a word. If we refer the changes under consideration to the essential peculiarities of the Tamil speech, our problem will be solved. Compounding of র with ম as in ধর্ম and ল with প as in সঙ্কল্প cannot be tolerated according to this rule, and to maintain the long sounds of the compound letters in question, the very letters have to be doubled. This is how at first in Prākṛta, the consonants joined unto র were doubled by dropping the র or ´(রেফ), and then in giving Sanskritic form to the changed words additional ´(রেফ) was added, and the new rule was formulated that a consonant may be optionally doubled if it is joined unto a র in the shape of a ´(রেফ). If we compare the early Prākṛta forms or the so-called early Pāli forms with the later Prākṛta forms, we can see that as time went on, the Dravidian influence went on increasing; the early forms such as ব্রাহ্মণ, স্নেহ, etc., as have been considered to have been exceptions by Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, were reduced to বরাম্মন or বেরাম্মন and to সিনেহ or নেহ, etc., at a later time.
When, by about 1865, Bishop Caldwell suggested that the Tamil কু as a dative-denoting suffix was identical with Oriya কু, Bengali কে, and Hindi কো, denoting exactly the dative case, a host of critics rose up to throw away the right suggestion of the Bishop. Sir R. G. Bhandarkar clearly saw the mistake of Trumpp and Beams, but could not accept the suggestion of Caldwell, as he thought that a Dravidian language could not possibly influence the Aryan speeches in that manner. Trumpp suggested that কে of Bengali came from কৃতে and Beams rightly rejected the derivation, as কৃতে could not signify the sense conveyed by কে. Beams himself, however was wrong, when he sought to derive the suffix denoting the dative from old Hindi কহঁ. Sir R. G. Bhandarkar showed that as in no Prākṛta, either কৃতে or কহঁ (derived from কক্ষ according to Mr. Beams) signified any dative sense, the proposed derivation could not be accepted. Sir R. G. Bhandarkar is right that for many case-denoting suffixes we have to look to pronouns and pronominal roots, but his imaginary case that কেহিঁ as well as তেহিঁ might have been in use to signify instrumentality, and কেহিঁ might have been subsequently used to denote a dative case cannot be accepted, or rather may be easily rejected, by using the very argument with which the learned scholar himself has rejected the theory of Mr. Beams. Sir R. G. Bhandarkar's suggestion that কহঁ in a phrase as রাম কহঁ might mean at first "Rama's somewhere," and thence the sense "to give to Rama," might have originated, is very faulty as the old time forms do not warrant such transformation. The derivation would not have been sought in such a roundabout manner, if the cause of such changes as ধম্ম, সঙ্কপ্প and সিলোকো could then be rightly detected.
How the Dravidian people could influence the speakers of the Aryan speeches in dim past, should be a subject of special research. Many ethnological problems, relating to the Dravidians, have not yet been solved. The ethnologists of our time agree in the main, that the Dravidians have been autochthonous in India; even though this proposition is not free from doubts and difficulties, the situation of the Dravidians in India as neighbours of the Aryans, since the earliest time of Aryan activities, cannot be denied. Again, adverting to a list of the races of man, made out either by the ethnologists or by the linguists, we can see that the representatives of all races in greater or smaller number came to live in India, and did not find the country an uncongenial home. How the jetsam and flotsam of the floating races of the world were absorbed in the main body of the Indian population, is impossible now to ascertain. I cannot discuss all these questions here; but one fact relating to the range of influence of the Dravidians during the days of early migrations of peoples will be noticed here to draw the attention of scholars to some hither-to-neglected facts of great importance.
The ethnologists agree to some extent in holding that the old inhabitants of Etruria in Italy proceeded to the latter country from some parts of Asia-Minor. It is also very reasonably supposed that the language of the Etrurians did not belong to the family of speech which is generally known by the name Indo-European. Mr. Stenkonow has shown in his essay on "Etruscans and Dravidian" (J. R. A. S., 1912) that there are many interesting points in which the language of the Etruscan follows the same principles as that of the Draviḍas. It is interesting to note, that the plural-forming suxffixes 'gal' and 'ar' of the Dravidians are in existence in Italy, the Etrurian verbs like those of Malayalam do not change for number, and words in genitive case are freely used in Etrurian as adjectives. We shall see that all these Dravidian and Etruscan characteristics, are distinctly noticeable in Bengali language. If the Dravidians have been autochthonous in India, their migration to western countries indicates a state of their early social condition, which has not been hitherto considered. The influence of this people upon the proud Soma-pressers and their successors cannot make us wonder. I am concerned, as my subject indicates, with the Dravidian influence on the Bengali language; as such I give a few examples only to show that our early speeches were not also free from the Dravidian influence. Patanjali's Mahābhāṣya proves that much was done to maintain the purity of the classical Sanskrit; yet borrowing of words from Dravidian sources could not be altogether stopped. (1) In genuine colloquial Tamil (which is called Kudam) the word মালা signifies flower; this word to indicate a garland, does not occur in the Vedic speech and we first meet with মালা or মাল্য in the Upanishads, which were written in the land of the Kosalas and Videhas. (2) গুররা—মু properly গুররা of Telegu speech became ঘোড়া as a deśi word; this ঘোড়া was no doubt Sanskritised into ঘোটক for such a synonym of অশ্ব is unknown not only in the Vedic, but also in old Sanskrit. In the district of Barisal the Telegu pronunciation of the word as গুর্রা is maintained. (3) মলৈ signifies a mountain in the Tamil as well as in the Malayalam language; very likely in the 3rd century B.C., when the Aryans after some acquaintance with the people of the south, confounded the general name for a mountain, with the name of a particular mountain, a মলয় গিরি (tautology) was made the seat of the spring breeze flowing from south. (4) মীন as a word to signify 'fish' was unknown not only in the Vedic speech but also in very old classical Sanskrit, but this মীন or fish which was on the ensign of the Pandyas and was the name of the Dravidian tribe Minavar, became a synonym for মৎস্য and fish-god as well, very likely when the Pandyas established some relation with the northerners. 'Mina' of Tamil is also Min in the Kui dialect of the Kands, and Minu in the Canarese tongue. We meet also with many Dravidian words in Pāli; I cite only two examples here: আ—ম indicates 'assent'; this is exactly the meaning of the Tamil word আম, ইঙখ signifies 'come here' in the imperative mood. Compare Tamil ইঙ্কে, Mahrati ইংক্ড়ে and Telegu ইক্ড়া indicating the same meaning. But occasional word-borrowing does not signify much. I proceed to notice now such Dravidian words as are in use in Bengali, as imply a very close and intimate relationship, between the Dravidians and the so-called Aryans of Bengal. Those words which may be borrowed in consequence of the existence of a trade, or on account of some occasional social touch, will not be included in the list; for example we have got ঝিঙ্গা (S. জ্যোৎস্নী, Oriya জহ্নি) and বঁইটি (kitchen knife) of Mundari which can be explained by occasional touch in market places. Some words, common to Bengali and Dravidian, however, which are extremely indecent, and which cannot be traced to any classical origin, and which one people can learn from another if both of them happen to be close neighbours, are of importance; but they cannot certainly find a mention here. I think the list of words I append below, will go a great way to establish the social influence of the Dravidians upon us, in a past time.
N.B.—In the following list T. stands for Telegu, Tm. for Tamil and B. for Bengali.
(1) আকালি (Tm. and T.) hunger, Gondi আকাল (famine), B. আকাল (famine); that it is not from Sanskrit অ + কাল will be presently discussed. (2) কল্ Tm. stone is also pronounced as খল্; it is গল্ in Ceylon; there is only one letter in Tm. for ক খ গ and ঘ; our খল্ (a mortar) was originally of stone only and hence the name. This word occurs in Sanskrit as an inseparable portion of the word উদুখল. (3) কাই (Tm.) vegetable in general, as in কাই—কারি (from কারি comes B. তরকারী and Anglo-Indian curry); or as in পুলি—কাই (tamarind); we can see that from পুলি—কাই came the simple obsolete Bengali word কাঁই to signify tamarind; কাঁই বিচি still signifies tamarind seed. (4) কুদ্ (Tm.) to leap; this word is of general use in northern India. (5) কোকা and কোকি son and daughter as in কোকাই—হাদু, কুক্কি—হাদু, B. খোকা and খুকি are derived from them. The E. B. equivalents are exactly কোকা and কুকি. The Mundari কোডা and কুডি are perhaps in existence in Eastern Bengal in the form of কোদা and কুদি. (6) খাড়াল sea in Tm.; it is very significant that our বঙ্গ উপসাগর is called খাড়ি. The very word খাড়াল is in use in some parts of Bengal to indicate the stagnant portion of a river which may fitly be called a pool. (7) খুট্টা (Tm.) to pick up or gather = খোঁটা to pick up in B. (8) খাট্টা Tm. to bind, the upper edge of our lower garment when tightened around the waist and a portion is tucked in to fasten the tie is called খোঁট্. (9) খাট্টাই (Tm.) a piece of wood or fuel; compare B. খোঁটা a peg and E.B. খাটুয়া (pronounced in Jessore as খাট্ উ অ) a log. Compare E.B. খড়ি fuel or fire wood; there is also another word খাড়ু in Tm. to signify forest. (10) গান্দ্রা গোল T. a tumult or noise = B. গণ্ডগোল. (11) গোন্দু (Tm.) Gum = B. গঁদ. (12) গোড়া T. wall, hence basis or foundation. B. গোড়া indicates beginning or lower or base portion of a thing. (13) চাপা (T.) a mat (is pronounced as scāpā; there is only one letter for চ and শ in Tm. = শপ of B. as শপ চাটাই. (14) চক্কণি T. beautiful = চিকন of B. as in 'চিকন কালা' or চেকনাই (15) চিণ্ণা T. and Tm. = small. The old use of this word may be noticed in চিনাজোঁক or চিনেজোঁক a tiny leech. In certain parts of Bengal the form has been wrongly reduced to ছিনেজোঁক. The Oria form of the word is সা—ন and in Nepalese also the word is in use in that sense and form. In the district of Sambalpur the third brother who is next below মাঝিয়া (lit. middle) or the second brother is called সান মাঝিয়া and sometimes in the contracted form সান—জিয়া or সাঁজিয়া which corresponds exactly with সেজো of B. as in সেজ দা, both in form and meaning, and so the word সান্ is imbedded in the word সেজো. (16) চোল্লাম (Tm.) maize, in T. common name for grain of gram class; ছোলা of B. comes from it, the Sanskrit name for which is চণক. (18) তা—লা T. and তালৈ Tm. head, we get in such a phrase as মাথার তেলো, Sanskrit তালু bears another meaning and has no connection with it. (19) তাল্লি T., and তায় Tm. signifies mother or one of the rank of a mother. It is interesting to note that the word আম্মা is also used to signify the same meaning. We have the words তালই or তাওয়ই in masculine and আমৈ or মাঐ in feminine to indicate respectable persons who are of the rank of father and mother. (20) নিজ্জম্ (T.) true, compare নিজ্জস্ of B. (21) পালু (T.) or পাল্ Tm. milk, in the word 'পালান্' signifying 'udder' of a cow, this word is retained in B. (22) পট্টু T. and Tm. silk and silk cloth. Cf. পাট, পট্ট বস্ত্র (23) পিল্লই Tm. or পিল্লা (T.) a child; occurs in some compound words in B. as in ছেলে পিলে, in E. B. পোলা is in use. (24) পিল্লি (T.) cat = বিলেই Oria and Kui = E. B. বিলাই (even in old Sanskrit বিড়াল is unknown, the word was মার্জ্জার; বিলার or বিলাল or বিরাল of Pāli comes from Dravidian; in B. বিড়াল and বেড়াল are in use). (25) বা—ন (T.) rain = B. বান flood. (26) বা—না Tm. flag, same in Oria and same in old B. as in Chandidāsa. (28) মো—ট (T.) (pronounced, as it should be as মোটা, মোটই Tm.), a heavy bundle of luggage, same in B., in the district of Sambalpur it is pronounced as মোটা following Dravidian pronunciation. (29) তাণ্ডু as in ওয়ালে—তাণ্ডু the central stem like solid portion of banana plant. B. থোড় seems to be derived from 'তাণ্ডু.' It is curious that banana flower and this তাণ্ডু or থোড় are used as vegetable food in Bengal and in the Madras Presidency only.
Those who try to trace all our words to some Sanskrit origin, may on reference to the foregoing list suggest some Sanskrit words for the Dravidian words depending upon very remote sound similarity; for instance the word আকালি may be rejected, as the Sanskrit word কাল may anyhow be made to be a component of আকাল. With a view to point out the right method that has to be pursued in such an enquiry, let me show that the suggestion of the Sanskritists on the point will be wrong. We do not get any word, either in Sanskrit or in the old Prākṛtas, which has 'কাল' for stem to signify the idea conveyed by দুর্ভিক্ষ (famine). What led our ancestors then, to coin a new word in Bengali agreeing with Tamil and Gondi, to express an old and familiar idea, is difficult to imagine. It is curious that the word which was current in Prākṛta was given up and an unidiomatic expression was introduced in a slovenly way by joining আ and কাল together. If আকাল be said to be a corruption of অকাল the argument will not be stronger, for no Sanskrit or Prākṛta lexicon will give us the word অকাল to signify famine. A word may anyhow be made to look like a Sanskrit form, but it is to be seen whether such a form or its prototype was at all in common use in old time. In their zeal to derive all Bengali words from Sanskrit roots and stems, such old and obsolete words are at times drawn out of the Sanskrit Dictionary as were not even in use in Sanskrit for centuries previous to our time. We cannot avoid looking to the people and their antecedents in our inquiry relating to language. Let me also cite an example of contrary character to illustrate the right method of getting a derivative. The word সাঁকো (bridge) looks like a deśi word and is treated as such, for it is difficult to see the word comes from সং + কৃত. With our knowledge of Oria we can see that সঙ্খ is the Oria word for a bridge which is in a less decayed or অপভ্রংশ form. One who knows Pāli cannot fail to notice that the Pāli word সংখত derived from সং + কৃত is the adjective form from which সঙ্খ as noun came out; সংখত in Pāli signifies 'put together' 'constructed,' 'prepared.' That we are not to follow sound alone, but have to look to many other facts in this sort of research, is what I want to impress upon you all.
I have spoken of some essential grammatical peculiarities of the Dravidian language as have been detected in the Etruscan speech of Italy; that these very peculiarities are noticeable in Bengali, is a highly interesting fact to take note of. As to this phenomenon that as in Dravidian and in Etruscan, the Bengali verbs do not distinguish between singular and plural, nothing beyond a mention of the fact seems necessary; as to the use of genitive forms as adjectives such idiomatic expressions as এক—এর নম্বর জুয়াচোর (first-rate cheat), তিন—এর ভাগ (third part) সুখের খপর (happy news) গোলের কথা (a complicated affair) ঝালের মাছ (a dish of fish hot in preparation), etc., may be referred to. The use in Bengali of the Dravidian plural forming suffixes 'gal' and 'ar,' must however be explained carefully. That গুলি or its variant গুলা (in use in Beng. and Oriya only) comes from গল্ will be evident from the following facts: (1) In the Jataka stories composed in old Māgadhi Prākṛta or Pāli, we get পুপ্প—গল্ (lit. many flowers) to signify a nosegay; (2) in the Prākṛta works of later days, we notice such expressions as মত্ত—গল মাত্রা সমূহ বিষ—গল ম-অ গল etc., as plural forms; (3) গুলি or গুলা of Beng. and Oriya signifies plurality exactly as গল্ does in Tamil and as it did in old Prākṛta as noted above. We notice that গুলা has assumed the form গিলা or গিলাক্ in that Bengali-speaking tract which is quite close to Assam; Mr. Laxmi Narayan Bejbarua has suggested to me that the Assamese বিলাক্ is very likely a variant of গিলাক্, since that Assamese form cannot be traced to any Mongolian source.
That our plural-forming suffix রা originates from Tamil অর্ need be discussed next. We have to notice first that the plural form with রা is peculiarly Bengali as distinguished from Māgadhi, Oriya and Assamese. We have next to notice that neither any Prākṛita form, nor any provincial idiomatic use can be cited in support of the view that the possessive case-ending 'র' became the plural-forming suffix 'রা.' That this suffix was adopted in Bengali on the soil of Bengal, is quite evident; being a new suffix of vulgar or popular origin it was not much used in the literary language of olden days; the Editor of Sree Kṛṣnakīrtan has noted only three instances of its use in the whole book. One early use of the suffix exactly in the form of অর্ may be noticed in the formation of the word পয়ার (পদ = পয় + অর্) which signifies a couplet or verse of two lines. We will see that 'আ' became once a plural-denoting suffix in প্রাকৃত; that this 'আ' could naturally be compounded with অর্ to give rise to the suffix 'রা' can be easily formulated, since such compounding of different suffixes in the formation of one new suffix is noticeable in other cases: for example, 'ক' of অম্হাকম্ (অস্মাকম্), তুম্হাকম্, etc. was joined with honorific দ্বীয় of মদীয়, তদীয় etc., and the whole portion (i.e., দ্বীয় + ক) was compounded with possessive-denoting 'র' to form the suffix দিগের. I shall have to discuss this question, over again, later on.
The position of negative-indicating particle না in a sentence in Bengali seems also to be due to Dravidian influence; in Chāndasa, in Sanskrit, in Pali and in later Prākṛitas, the negative-indicating ন has its place before the verb, and this idiomatic use is current in Hindi, while in the Sanskritic Vernaculars of the tracts bordering on the lands of the Dravidians, this particle has its place after the verb; that Assamese is naturally expected to agree with Bengali and Oriya in this respect as well as in many other points of significance, will be explained in a subsequent lecture.
I have made out a list of hundred words which may be called দেশী and which cannot be traced either to any Sanskritic origin or to any other non-Aryan origin. On reference to this list as appears in the form of an appendix to this lecture, you will notice that in their physical appearance they do not look either like Dravidian words or like the Kirānti words. As many tribes have lost their original speeches and speak one form or another of the Aryan speech, it is difficult to get to the origin of these words. It is not the place where I can discuss the ethnological problems but I can say on the strength of some known facts of Southern India, that the word Dravidian does not cover the whole ground, when we take even those tribes into consideration, who speak uniformly one Dravidian speech. I purposely avoid here the question of fusion of races in Bengal. I notice here a very familiar saying of the Tamil country, that an Akallan became a Maravan, the Maravan became an Agambadiyan and an Agambadiyan became a Vellalan. That the tribes who are quite mixed up now spoke once different speeches, may be detected from such a phenomenon that, in the Tamil language there are 34 synonyms for the word 'wind,' 50 for 'water,' 35 for 'cloud,' 62 for 'earth' and 60 for 'mountain.'
We cannot dissolve a thoroughly mixed-up people into their original elements, but we can push on our research to see if the words of unknown origin and the terms of expressions not in agreement with the idioms of Aryan speeches or the idioms of the known Dravidian speeches, can be traced to some other origin or origins. I shall consider the influence of the Dravidian accent system in my next lecture when a comparative study of all the accent systems, Aryan as well as non-Aryan, will be specially dealt with.
Appendix to Lecture V
The following words of uncertain origin are given in two lists as owing to their nasal sound, the words on the first list (left hand side) seem to be different from those on the second list (to the right hand side), in the matter of origin.
| List I. | List II. |
| (1) আঁচড় (a scratch), (2) আঁটকুড়িয়া, (in Bengal and Sambalpur, a man not blessed with progeny), (3) আঁট, tight আটা (gum) seems to be connected, since আঁটা (to stick or to paste) is the verb form. (4) আড়ং, a market (আড়ৎ seems connected as it signifies a farm), (5) ইঁচড় or এঁচড়, a green or unripe jack fruit, (6) উর্চুঙ্গ (in eastern parts of Jessore and in some parts of E.B. it indicates a cockroach), (7) ওঁৎ (as in ওঁৎ পাতা—said of an animal, addressing itself to swoop upon the object of prey), (8) কঞ্চি=branch of a bamboo, (9) কাঁড়া (the form is কাড়ন্ত in Hemchandra's দেশী নামমালা)=husking or | (1) অজ্ (veritable as অজ্-পাড়াগেঁয়ে), (2) আলি, in Bengali and Oriya, a female friend of a female, (3) উই, white ant, (4) উলু, thatching grass, (5) কিল, a blow, (6) কুটা, a straw, (7) কুড়ি, twenty (is it connected with কপর্দ্দ কড়ি in its counting to the number making up a score unit?), (8) কুলা, winnowing fan, (9) কোট্ (জিদ্) perverse or strong determination, (10) কোটি (used in Sanskrit but not in use in Vedic; it is to be noted that কোটি in vernacular form used as Crore, though normally a word made up of compound consonants is reduced to simpler form and not viceversầ), (11) খালুই |
| polishing, (10) কেঁচো, earthworm, (11) খাঁচা (a cage), (12) খেংরা, a broom, (13) গুঁড়া (a variant of গুণ্ডা)=dust-like particles, (14) গেঁড়, the stump or rather the hard upper portion of root. (15) চেংড়া (bearing almost the sense of a flippant); in E. B., a young boy, (16) চাঙ্গাড়ি (a basket, চাঙ্গোড়ি in Pāli), (17) চোঙ্গা, a pipe, (18) চোঁচ, a thin bamboo slip with sharp cutting edge, (19) চোঁতা (worthless), (20) জঙ্গল in Sans. also, (21) ঝাঁক, a multitude as in a flight of birds, (22) ঝাঁটা (a broom), (23) ঝাঁপ, a screen, and a sudden falling in water; (Oriya ঝাস্ in the latter sense and ঝম্প in pseudo-Sanskrit); Is ঝম্প an intensive variant of কম্প? (24) টেংরা as in হেঁটা (হেঁট=down) টেংরা (টেঙ্গর indicates high mound in Assamese; compare also টং, or টুঙ্গি, or টোঙ্গ a raised bamboo platform), (eel to | keep fish), (12) গড়ান, (to roll), (13) গাছ (গচ্ছ or গছ and গুচ্ছ or গোছা in Prākṛta and in vernacular equally of non-Sanskritic origin), (14) গাদা, a heap and also the dorsal portion of a fish, (15) গুটি or গুঁটি or ঘুঁটি (in Assamese and in Nepalese গুটি means a fruit, a fruit in its early stage is so called in Bengali; a small piece of hard clay or stone is also called a ঘুঁটি), (16) গোদা, a head or a leader as in পালের গোদা, (17) ঘুম (sleep) in Bengali and in old Oriya) may be from to dose which is Dhama S.; compare নিঝুন্ গেলা (he has slept) in Marathi, (18) ঘাড়, shoulders or neck. (19) চাল, a roof, (20) চাড় (compare Oriya চাণ্ড quickly) eagerness as in এ কাজে চাড় নেই, (21) চারা (young plant), (22) চুবড়ী (basket), (23) ছোট (may be a variant of খাট,—from খুদ্র we get খুল্ল as well as চুল্ল in old Prākṛt, from খুল্ল |
| (25) ঠেঙ্গ, a leg, Hindi টাং, (26) ঠোঙ্গা, a cup made of leaves or of paper, (27) ডাঙ্গা, land as opposed to water (may be connected with either টেঙ্গর of Assamese or ডুঙ্গরি, a hillock of Gondi), (28) ডিঙ্গা or ডোঙ্গা, a boat (ডিগ্ is to leap as ডিঙ্গান or in ডিগ্বাজী), (29) ঢং, a fashion or a queer mode, (30) ঢেঁকি, husking machine, (31) ঢোঁড়া, (hollow) hence inoffensive as ঢোঁড়া সাপ, (32) নোংরা, unclean, (33) নাবন্তা (used in E. B. only = sham kindness), (34) পাঁটা, a goat (in Oriya the feminine form পেঁটি is in use), (35) পোঁটা (entrails of an animal), (36) ফড়িং, a grasshopper, (37) ফেচাং (a disturbing obstruction), (38) বেঁওৎ, also in Sambalpur, a careful handling, (39) বোঁচা, snub-nosed (40) বাঁকারি, a bamboo slip used, say for the thatch of a house, (41) বোঁচ্কা, a bundle, (42) ভড়ং, a show of | we may get খুট্ট or খাট and so from চুল্ল, ছোট্ট and then ছোট, (24) ছড়া a verse and sprinkling of water, (25) ছিপ্ (a fishing rod), (26) জড়, root, (27) ঝাড়, forest, (28) টাক, baldness, (29) টোপ, a bait, (30) টোল a school, (31) ঠাকুর (pseudo Sans. ঠক্কুর, a term of respect), (32) ঠাট্টা, jeering (Oriya খট্টা), (33) ঠার, a gesture, (34) ডেক্রা, a shameless bold fellow, (35) ঢাকা, a cover, (36) ঢোকা, to enter (ঢুক্ also in pseudo-Sanskrit), (37) তড়্কা, a fit in a fever, (38) তাড়া, a bundle, (39) তুলসী, (a plant in general in পালি; Hem Chandra simply mentions as a দেশী word; now a special aromatic plant), (40) থাবা, the paw of an animal, and one handful. (41) দোপ, used in E.B. only to signify 'down.' (42) ধামা, a basket, (43) ধুক্ড়ী (beggar's bag), (44) নুলা, a paw, or one having the arm paralysed, |
| vanity, (43) ভেংচান, to imitate one by gestures, to irritate that one (may be from ভঙ্গ), (44) ভুচুং, as in ভুচুং দেখান, to hold out a false hope, (45) ভোঁতা, dull-edged, (46) রাঁড়, widow (রাণ্ডী, a bad woman in Hindi), (47) হেঁয়ালি, a riddle, (48) হেংলা, meanly craving for food. | (45) নেকা, a pretender or one who shams, (46) নেটা as a নেটা হাত, one who cannot use his right hand. [In E. B. the word ডেবরা is in use, which is also in use in Oriya and Nepalese.] (47) পেট (পোড় in Marathi), the belly; (48) পোকা, a worm, (49) পোড়া (burning), (50) ফোগ্লা (without teeth), (51) বোকা, a goat, or a silly fellow [বোক্কড় is the form in প্রাকৃত as noticed by Hem Chandra] (52) ভাটা, down stream, shallow water in Sambalpur, (53) ভিড়ান to bring to the shore as a boat, (54) ভিড়্, crowd, (55) ভূল, mistake, (56) মন (40 seers), (57) মাগি, a woman (মাউগি a wife in Behari), (58) মিহি (thin), (59) লোশা, to dose, as in ঝুরি লোশা, (60) লক্ষ, as the word কোটী, so is লক্ষ a non-Vedic term, (61) শাট্, secret signs, (62) শট্কান, to slip away unnoticed, (63) সাড়া, (alarm), (64) হাট্, market. |