Page:A Grammar of the Urdū Or Hindūstānī Language in Its Romanized Character.djvu/5



compilation of this Grammar was first commenced by me in connection with my 'Anglo-Urdū Medical Manual,' my object being to give such an Epitome of the Urdū (or Hindūstānī) Grammar as would probably be sufficient to enable students of the Manual—without much further instruction—to make intelligent and practical use of it. But the work grew insensibly in my hands, and I soon found myself involved in a much fuller exposition of the language than I had contemplated.

The fact is, it is more difficult—though not, perhaps, so laborious—to write a really serviceable and satisfactory Epitome of a foreign Grammar than an exhaustive one. The very things you omit to