Page:The Rámáyana of Tulsi Dás.djvu/662

14 "The valuable chapter on the etymology of Indian proper names may be designated the distinguishing characteristic of the book, and we venture to predict that it will prove more widely useful than the author expected.………He has, not only proved that Maholi is a corruption of Madhupuri, but that the same change has taken place in numerous other cases, and that the relative antiquity of vast numbers of towns may be safely inferred from the very form in which the names now exist. He has given sound reasons for maintaining that, in the names of many places in the Mathura district, final -oli represents -puri, on = grâma, -hâ=sthána, -si = sthalî, -b = vapra, -oi = vâpi, and -âna = âyana. Remarkable as these changes seem, the steps which led to such phonetic corruption may be seen by the observant; and they follow the course of the laws of letter change laid down with clearness by the ancient author Vararuchi in his grammar of the Prâkrit dialects. Mr. Growse remarks with truth that such facts would long ago have been recognised but for the unfortunate neglect of the Hindi language. It has been the custom to despise the vernacular of the humble villager, forgetful of the fact that the poorer class constitutes the mass of every population, and are, in fact, the people! It is their language, their literature, their customs, their religious notions, and their traditions, which over-spread the country in which they reside; and therefore, when we seek to penetrate the hazy past of Hindustan, it must be through the medium, and by the help, of Hindi………It has the longest history of any form of Aryan speech, exhibiting, in the various stages of its literature, the changes which words have undergone during a life of about four thousand years. It is not too much to expect a proper study of Hindi to revolutionise what has been called the 'Science of Language.' This chapter is thus seen to be a valuable contribution to philology. The other excellences of the volume bave been already recognised by scholars. The descriptions of the district and its history are good, and the architectural monuments are clearly explained and handsomely illustrated; while the chapter on caste, and the exposition of the tenets of the different Hindu sects, supported by numerous and interesting quotations from original works, are thoroughly satisfying."—Overland Mail.