Page:On the Non-Aryan Languages of India.djvu/10

4 This distinction of gender, though it exists in most of the languages, is not always carried out to the extent that it is in Tamil. In Telugu, Gond, and Khond it is preserved in the plural, but in the singular the feminine rational is merged in the irrational gender. In Grond the gender is further marked by the noun in the genitive relation taking a different suffix, according to the number and gender of the noun on which it depends. In Oraon the feminine rational is entirely merged in the irrational gender, with the exception of the pronoun, which preserves the distinction between rationals and irrationals in the plural; as, as 'he,' referring to a god or a man; ád 'she,' or 'it,' referring to a woman or an irrational object; but ár 'they,' applies to both men and women; abrá 'they,' to irrationals only. The rational gender, besides human beings, includes the celestial and infernal deities; and it is further subdivided, in some of the languages, but in the singular only, into masculine and feminine. An instance of this subdivision in the Tamil verb was given above.

The grammatical relations in the Dravidian, as in most, but by no means in all, the non- Aryan languages, are generally expressed by suffixes. Many nouns have an oblique form, which is a remarkable characteristic of the Dravidian group; still, with the majority of nouns the postpositions are added directly to the nominative form. Other features of this group are the frequent use of formatives to specialize the meaning of the root; the absence of relative pronouns and the use instead of a relative participle, which is usually formed from the ordinary participle by the same suffix as that which Dr. Caldwell considers as the oldest sign of the genitive relation; the adjective preceding the substantive; of two substantives the determining preceding the determined; and the verb being the last member of the sentence. There is no true dual in the Dravidian languages, and the instance quoted by Caldwell of 'nām in Oraon as meaning 'we two,' does not seem correct, as, according to Flex's grammar, it is the inclusive plural of the pronoun. In the Dravidian languages there are two forms