Page:The history of the Bengali language (1920).pdf/292

270 This 'লৈ,' noticeable also in Nepalese and in a Behari dialect, is the reduced form of 'লাগি,' in use in Bengali as well as in Oriya; তোমার লাগি (for you) is rather a poetic use in Bengali.

Ablative.—হতে (not to be confounded with হইতে = to be) and থেকে are the two ablative suffixes in Bengali. How the ablative denoting অৎ generated the suflix হতে has been discussed in Lecture XIII, p. 244. Both the প্রাকৃত forms হিন্ত and হঁৎ are met with in old Hindi. হঁৎ has been reduced to হতে in Bengali and to হুঁ in Hindi. It is the further reduced form of হুঁ in the shape of উঁ, that we meet with in Oriya as well as in Marathi. The Oriya form ঘরু, from house, is not the contracted form of ঘরঠুঁ. Oriya ঠুঁ or corresponding Marathi থুন্ is quite another suffix as we shall presently notice. It has been stated that from অৎ we have got হতে (cf. বৃক্ষাৎ = রুক্‌খতে = রুকখ হতে) as a general ablative forming suffix; then again we have to notice that this very অৎ being joined to the demonstrative pronouns 'ই' or ইদ, and এ or এত) (contraction of এতদ্) gave rise to the particular forms ইৎথি and এৎথি (from here) and this newly formed থি of এৎথি and ইৎথি, is the progenitor of the suffix থি or থে. We have to further note that it is থে and not থেকে which is in use in the speech of the Bengali-people all throughout the Northern and the Eastern districts and in the Districts of Jessore and Khulna. সেখান থে and not সেখান থেকে is what we hear in the tracts mentioned above. We can thus clearly see that থেকে of the standard language has acquired an otiose or euphonic ক.

In the district of Chittagong we get the form থুন্ for থে which by chance agrees with the Marathi form থুন্. Corresponding Oriya form is ঠু or ঠুঁ which is reducible to থু or থুঁ or থুন্. I have already suggested that the Marathi উন্ and Oriya উ are not contracted forms of