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354
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(DECEMBER, 1907.
The consonants do not require much explanation, but the following may be noticed : ENGLISH. CENTRAL. ENGLISH.
CENTRAL ch chain chakå (face)
ng springiest iñigol (nearly ripe) hw what (Scotch) benhwêra (asbes)
rest (Eng. r) karu (large) i gagner (Fr.) enkdiña (man) sh the
shohõng (south-west ng singer yangtare (follow)
monsoon)
d. - Stress. . Stress is on the root or stem, or on what is now thought by the Nicobarese to be so. These can to a great extent be separated out from the affixes by the stress. In stems of two syllables the stress is on the second syllable, unless the first contains a long vowel.
V. - COMPARISON OF DIALECTS.
8. - Men's Enquiries. Mr. Man gives a long list of words in the dialects, and when considering the currency of the people in Appendix A the comparative terms for the namerals and words connected with enumeration have also been given. From these last the deduction seemed to be clear, that the six dialects of the Nicobarese are variants of the same fandamental tongue. The same inference seems inevitable from the following examination of a selection of words from Mr. Man's Dictionary.
b. - Comparison of Words. . Roots will be separated out of the words by placing the affixes in italics. This separation of the roots is of course, at present, tentative, as roots can only be ascertained beyond doubt by A comparison with other connected languages in the Far East. The present attempt will, however, be useful to stadents.
The following abbreviations will be used in the accompanying tables :O. N. = Car Nicobar
Ch. = Chowra T. = Teressa
Q. = Central S. = Southern
S. P.= Shom Pen Words in the Six Dialects Compared. ENGLIBH. C.N. OR. T.
O.
S. bachelor idmok mail maiyoh ilū . ใน
hakkost
holiandēla maiden Idmók
penhonlámok
1 (wihla) (wihla) child nia ken-yum ken-yum ken-yum pin-ien akau female kikâna en kana enkēäna enkâna
oyüha
арди male kikoña mohēo
maior
enkòiña otäha akoit taa man
paiyah pôh
akoit tâòin J
8. P.
tarik
C
paer
pai
din s
ok
ok
ok wa
back (the) blood breast ear finger bair hand
ok mâm täh nâng kunti küya elti
påheoit vå tòh toh ning anang kenushnòi mohti hēòk bēòk nòi
mäkti
toah ning kanetai yok kanetai
tomnổit wa toâh ning kewēt yok kewēt
hokoa döb toa nang nositi jūo, joa noai-ti
