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 332 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [November, 1873. has hitherto taken the trouble to make a collec¬ tion of phrases; this has now been done, and it will appear that this so-called language is a mere gibberish, the chief component of which is Persian uttered in a peculiar way. As Deri is spoken only by Zoroastrians, it may reasonably be presumed that it very often serves to pre¬ vent Muhammadan Persians from understand¬ ing them, just as in some parts of Europe some Jews still use a peculiar German gibberish intel¬ ligible to themselves alone, which may have been more useful in old times of persecution, but now serves only to disguise paltry com¬ mercial transactions. After all, however, the Deri is not an arti¬ ficial language. All the words are taken in their natural sense, not as in the Argot or thief- language of Paris, where they obtain different meanings; and the change of certain Persian consonants and vowels takes place, as philo¬ logists will observe, according to well-fixed phonetic laws. The orthography here followed is that recom¬ mended by the Asiatic Society of Bengal, i.e the letters have always the same value, c.g. g — jf, i = f, &c. The total absence of the letter /, as in some Indian languages, may also be noticed. Nouns. The servant of a merchant, Nulceri tojcr. An hour too soon, Ga sat khaili zi. I am tho man, Me odeme. The son of the king. 1 Pore A son of a king, J A horse and an ass, Asp o her. A husband and wife, Mira tea zuna. The child and the father, Wat did upezer. Possessive Case of Nouns. My brother’s book, Daftari hzuzerem. His father’s horse, Aspi pezerosli. The light of the sun, Rushnohi horshir. One of the gentleman’s daughters, YaJci dote merde htb. This was my father, mother, and uncle’s advice, Moe nasiete pezerorn, mozerom o kliulum ho. Adjectives and Nouns. A happy man, Merde khashul. The blue sky, Osmonc osmoni. The man is happy, Merdoge kliasliul on. It is a sad occurrence, Mokure delgiri on. The meeting was large, One khaili udem jem buen. It has been a rainy day, Ornje worn-mi ho. That man is lame, 0 udmie slial on. It was a blind woman, 0 yanoge kur ho. White, black, red, and green colours, Swi, sioh, sor vsa pestai reng. Degrees of Comparison. Rustum is taller than Jamshid, Rustum master (or hlendter) Jemshir on. My brother is better to-day, Bzuzeri me, emru water on. Solomon was the wisest of men, Solomon dunutere odemhu ho. This is a very 8ne day. / f'"™ . °»* t Moruje khaili khib on. He was more polite to-day than yesterday, In emru orv.mterc heze ho. He is prettier than his sister, In juvuntere kha- herosh ha. Verbs. I am me he We are mo him. Thou art toe he You are shmd lie. He is in lid They are ishun hen. I was me boe We were mu boim. Thou wast tan boe You were shmd boif. He was in bo They were ■ishun bom. I shall be me be We shall be moe him. Thou wilt be toa be Ye will be shmoe bit. He will bo ine bu They will bo ■ishun ben. I teach me zemete We teach mu zemetim. Thou teachest toa zenu •te You teach shmo zemetit He teaches ine zemete They teach ishn zemeten I am very glad. They are lazy. Thou art tho man. Is she handsome ? He is my brother. I was sick. We are rich. We were not present. You are poor. You were dumb. He will not eat. We shall be sleepy. You will be tired. They will be awake. Me khaili khashul he. Islam kaliel hen. To o odeme he. 0 yanoge khihsiret on ? In hzuzere vie hon. Me klidsta hohe. Mu aldidur him. Mo liuzer ne holiim. Shmugripi (or nuchri). Shmu gong hoi. In na hra. Mo harmollo him. Shm6 muna hi. Ishun hizor e hen. I shall be here again this evening. Me emru pas in do hore mone he. Present Tense. I love good children, Me vatzugun khih,me pasend ha. Thou lovest fine horses, To aspe khib lie pasend lia, He loves his father, In pezere kho pasend d&ra. We love him, Mo in dusde dorim. You love her, Shuvid yanoge dustc doidt. They love their books, Ishun ddpter sho pasend dorm. He walks out every morning, In liar ru sohi bare shn. Birds fly through the air, Parenda tu hov6 paren.