Page:The history of the Bengali language (1920).pdf/89

Rh which is in a less decayed or অপভ্রংশ form. One who knows Pāli cannot fail to notice that the Pāli word সংখত derived from সং + কৃত is the adjective form from which সঙ্খ as noun came out; সংখত in Pāli signifies 'put together' 'constructed,' 'prepared.' That we are not to follow sound alone, but have to look to many other facts in this sort of research, is what I want to impress upon you all.

I have spoken of some essential grammatical peculiarities of the Dravidian language as have been detected in the Etruscan speech of Italy; that these very peculiarities are noticeable in Bengali, is a highly interesting fact to take note of. As to this phenomenon that as in Dravidian and in Etruscan, the Bengali verbs do not distinguish between singular and plural, nothing beyond a mention of the fact seems necessary; as to the use of genitive forms as adjectives such idiomatic expressions as এক—এর নম্বর জুয়াচোর (first-rate cheat), তিন—এর ভাগ (third part) সুখের খপর (happy news) গোলের কথা (a complicated affair) ঝালের মাছ (a dish of fish hot in preparation), etc., may be referred to. The use in Bengali of the Dravidian plural forming suffixes 'gal' and 'ar,' must however be explained carefully. That গুলি or its variant গুলা (in use in Beng. and Oriya only) comes from গল্ will be evident from the following facts: (1) In the Jataka stories composed in old Māgadhi Prākṛta or Pāli, we get পুপ্‌প—গল্ (lit. many flowers) to signify a nosegay; (2) in the Prākṛta works of later days, we notice such expressions as মত্ত—গল মাত্রা সমূহ বিষ—গল ম-অ গল etc., as plural forms; (3) গুলি or গুলা of Beng. and Oriya signifies plurality exactly as গল্ does in Tamil and as it did in old Prākṛta as noted above. We notice that গুলা has assumed the form গিলা or গিলাক্ in that Bengali-speaking tract which is quite close to Assam; Mr. Laxmi Narayan Bejbarua has suggested to me that