Page:The Indian Antiquary Vol 2.djvu/162

 144 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [Mat, 1873. I. GREEK NAMES AND WORDS AMONG HINDUS. First of all I mention the names of the Graeco- Bactrian kings contained in the above-mentioned coin-legends deciphered by Prinsep, Las¬ sen, Raoul Rochette, Wilson, Tho¬ mas, Cunningham, Dowson, Raj en- dralalaMitra and others, in connection with whatever else may here be available bearing on historical personages, &c., from contemporaneous documents, i.e. the inscriptions of P i y a d a s i and those from the period of the Indo-Skythian kings.* Here it is to be kej5t in mind that the language of the documents in question is a kind of Pali, or rather Pr&kyit, and that therefore its words aro influenced by tho peculiar phonetic laws of this stage of the language, which, among other things, does not admit of at, au, and, as a rule, of no group of consonants which does not consist of homogeneous consonants. Also the terminations of the names, mostly standing in tho genitive form, were obliged to conform to the Indian de¬ clension, whereby they underwent many changes and degradations. Initial a usually remains unchanged, thus :— Alikasunari (? AXe£Jk>8pos), Antikona and Antiyoha in tho inscriptions of Piyadasi, Akhabiyasa— Apxcfliov, Agathuklayasa—Ayadoxheovs, Ayasa— Afovf, Ayilishasa—AfiXto-ouf, Atimakhasa—Avrt- pax°v, Atimiddraea—Apriptbcopov, Antialikidasa— AvTiaKKibov, Apaladatasa—AttoXXoSowou, Amitasa— A/avvtov, artamisiyasa (of the month dprepio-ios), apiraesa ( ? of ancWatos). In the same manner a medial a remains so, as, besides in the above, also in Afaga in the in¬ scriptions of Piyadasi, in Epndrasa—Enavbpov, Eukratidasa—Evtcpanbov, Hipastratasa—'Imroarpa- tov, Kkliyapaya—KoXKiotttjs, Menadrasa, Minan- dasa—Mfi/avbpov, P&talavatasa—navTaAfowor, Spa- lirisasa—2iraipiiAo£€i/ov, Teliphasa,—Tee(f>ov;—as a in Agathuklayasa, Akhabiyasa, artamisiyasa. tis always represented by i, thus Ajilishasa, months, for the discovery whereof upon them we are indebt¬ ed to Cunningham and Dowson. In the inscription of Takht i Bahi lately discovered by Dr. Loitner, the reckoning is, according to Dowson’s decipherment, in Indian months. See Triibner’s Amer. and Oriental Record, Juno 18/1, p. 188. t As a Skythian name this strictly belongs further on, to p. 148. X Accordingly, in this portion of India at least, the In¬ dian a itself had an obscured pronunciation nearly allied to o. With this circumstance it agrees that P An ini, who was precisely of this district, actually mentions a double pronunciation of a, one open and the otheT close, in conse- Digitized by Gck -gle Antikona, Antiyoha, Dianisiyasa — Aiowtriov, J)i- yamedasa—AiopriBov, Johilasa — Zuikov, Heliyahle- yasa, Hipastratasa, Kaliyapaya, Nddasa—Nixiov, daisisasa (P of the month Baurios.) o appears as o in Antiyoha, Antikona;—as u in Turamaya — paios in the inscriptions of Piyadasi; Agathuklayasa;—in the rule above as aj, thus Apaladatasa, Dianisiyasa, Diyamedasa, Hipa- stratasa, Hiliyahleyasa, Kaliyapaya, Pilashinasa. v is rendered by i, as Lisiasa—Avaiov,Amitasa, Dianisi yasa. t) appears throughout as e, as in Heliykaleyaia§, Diyamedasa, Teliphasa, stratega. (j is transcribed by o in Johilasa,—by d in Ati- mid&rasa. at appears as at (P) in daisisasa (facsimile want¬ ed); aio as ay a in Turamaya, Hermayasa, as ae in apiraesa (? facsimile wanted). ao appears as o in Yo7td|| of Piyadasi,— to as ava in Patalavatasa. av is represented by a or rather o in lfaa*a or Moasa (and even as Mogasa)—Mavov,—ev by e-u in E-uhratidasa. With reference to the consonants, there is to be noted the representation of— ( by j in Johilasa, by y in Ayasa, Ayilisasa, £ by sh in Pilaahinasa, by ts (P) in tsattiha, 6 by th in Agathuklayasa, <f) by p in Pilishinasa, by ph in Teliphasa, X by k in Antiyoka, by hh in Akhabiyasa, Ati- makhasa,—the groups xA, xp, orp, err, air, are preserved in Heliyakleyasa, Agathuklayasa, Eukratidasa, Stra&wa, strata, artamisiya, Spalirisasa;—Ax is represented by lih in Antia- liktdasa;—via now and then omitted (probably only graphically, by omission of the hook over it) be¬ fore r, B, as Atimakhosa, Menadrasa;—of the initial rrr only the r remains in Turamaya;—Bi was pronounced as di, thus Dianisiyasa, Diyame- dasa. Hardening is perceptible in Antikona, Maha (nearly Maga),—substitution of r for l in Tura¬ maya, apiraesa. Let us now turn to the words which may be pointed out in Hindu Literature. Of the names adduced above, the only one that can certainly be shown in it is that of Menander, but in the form M i 1 i n d a,—namely in the P & 1 i • texts of quence whereof he sets up u, and not a, as the standard for the (quantitative relations of the) other vowels. See Ind. Stud. IV. 119, V. 92. In other parts of India the matter probably stood differently: see below, pp.148, 149. § Although the Greek legend itself appears once on a coin as IA to-: (see Thomas, Catalogue of Bactrian Coins, London, 1855, p. 14;) the same has no Indian legend. wras however known to the Hindus at any rate before the time of Alexander, i.e. during the earlier Persian wars, in which also Indians took part as auxiliaries against the Greeks; on the name itself see my remark in Kund’s fest¬ schrift, V. 221.
 * To these especially pertain the Macedonian names of
 * The name Yon a, or rather Yavana, for laover,