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Just, 1899.]
BOOK-NOTICES.
165
new departure. The instinct of continuity -- of present of Mr. Portman's last book, congratulatevolution - is generally too strong in them to ing him on producing for scholars on the whole admit of a complete break with the past, and so so fine an example of patient and intelligent Mr. Portman, while accepting my theory and study, combined with straightforward honest using my terms in his laborious and remarkable presentation. pages, really does violence to both by adhering to
R. C. TEMPLE. the time-honoured plan of putting accidence before syntax, in addition to the indiscriminate
MONUMENTAL REMAINS OY TAX DUTCH EAST INDIA employment of the old terms side by side of my
COMPANY IN THX PRESIDENCY OF MADRAS. By
ALEXR. REA Madras : 1897. novel ones, in a confused and puzzling, but from the point of view of the evolutionist, a most
To Prof. Kiolhorn of Göttingen University I interestingly naïve style. I am also, I regret to suy,
owe my acquaintance with this splendid volume,
No. 25 of the New Imperial Series of the Reotherwise far froin feeling assured that he has understood aright either the theory or the terms,
ports of the Archaeological Survey of India. which by the way does not look well for my The interest I take in matters connected both exposition ! E.,, he says that one of the functions with India and with Holland induced me to exaof the prefixes in Andamanese is to indicate mine the work with some care, and I now venture the genders of the roots. But I purposely and to offer a few remarks on a portion of it, vis.. on expressly left'gender' out of the Theory, because the copies of the inscriptions and some of the it is merely a clumsy mode of explaining a certain accompanying translations, as well as on the kind of inflexion. Again, while informing us that Plates reproduced at the end of the book. the prefixes are used to modify the meanings
The work consists of three Parts, together with of the roots, he says, “in short the prefixes are
an Index and the Plates just inentioned. Part I., qualitative affixes," a terın I employed to signify
Historical Memoir," pp. 1-3, gives an accorint that class of affix which is used to denote the
of the development of the Dutch power in inherent qualities of a word. E. g., to use the
India, and of the gradual transference of their familiar terminology, audire, verb; audirene,
settlements to the English. Of this section it part.; audi.tor, noun: - laughter, noun; laugh
will suffice to say that the author's statements are ing, part. ; laughing-ly, adv. This sort of affix is
supported by numerous authorities quoted at the quite a different thing from what I called a radi.
foot of the pages. cal affix, used for modifying the meaning of the root into that of the stem deriving from the Part II., pp. 44-64, deals with the Monumental root, defining a stem to be root plus a modifying Remains. It is from this section that the work attis. This can be seen from the last word takes its title, and the inscriptions inay therefore analyzed, laughingly,' where ly classifies the be considered to form the most important part of word, laugh is the root (in pedantic strictness the book. To these we will now turn our attena stom, because it is an amplification of a simpler tion. Of the first inscription the author gives root), and laugh-ing the stem, i. e., the root "a copy and interlined translation" on page 17. modified by the affix ing. So in willingness and None of the copies on pp. 47-54 ure represented willingly, ress and ly would be qualitative affixes among the Plates, so that the book affords no and ing a radical affic, as defined in the Theory. means of comparing the transcripts with the origi.
nals. In translated copies, however, one would Indeed, Mr. Portman's treatment of the Theory
expect some indication of a proper division of is throughout such a compromise between the
the letters into words, as well as a complete system under which he was brought up and that
trunslation. The first inscription is deficient in I proposed - is such "fine confused feeding"
both respects. Only three lines out of the seven in fact that I cannot attempt to follow it
are translated, while some of the words cannot be further in a brief notice of his book, and in order
correctly given; e.g., "iufer" should read" iuffer;" to see how far the Theory is applicable to its
"ceniuny" must mean the month of June with purpose, vix, the adequato explanation of a
the day indicated by the three letters "cen," which novel savage tongue, I will, in a future issue of
cannot be explained without a trustworthy facsi. this Journal, put it to the test in my own way,
mile; for "mandenen" we should read " maanden using for the purpose Mr. Portman's sixth
en;" "jydagen" may stand for "IX dagen." chapter on the Andaman Fire Legend, which
The last four lines of the inscription may then be he gives in all the five languages of the South
translated : book-keeper in the service of the Andamanese.
honourable (P) company; died the —th of June, With these remarks, I will take leave for the Anno 1703, (at the age of) 21 years, 2 months
