SINHALESE TEXTS OF STORIES

The texts of a few of the stories in the second and third volumes are appended at the suggestion of Professor Dr. Geiger of Erlangen, who has expressed the opinion that they will be of interest to philological students, retaining as they do some old grammatical forms and expressions which elsewhere have been abandoned. They are fair examples of the Sinhalese tongue which is found in the villages, and the dialogues in particular give the language exactly as it is spoken in them. I regret that the size to which the work has grown compels me to restrict the number of stories thus given in Sinhalese.

In order that the texts should possess a representative character, stories by different narrators have been selected. The village orthography has been carefully adhered to except in instances where a consonant has been accidentally omitted, or has been duplicated in carrying forward part of a word to the next line. Where a missing letter has been thus inserted by me it is enclosed in square brackets.

The stories were written in pencil, always in unbroken lines, without separation into words and sentences, and without punctuation except an occasional full-stop. For convenience of reference, however, I have marked the dialogues and sentences as in the translations.

My acquaintance with Pāli and Eḷu is too slight to enable me to make special observations on the grammatical forms met with in the stories generally. I therefore merely note a few peculiarities, most of which I think are not included in Mr. Guṇasēkara’s Grammar.

In the nouns and pronouns a genitive form in ǣ or lǣ is often employed in both the singular and plural numbers. Thus, among numerous other instances, in the singular we have:—Diribari-Lakālǣ gedara, the house of Diribari-Lakā (i, 177, line 14); nændā­māmalǣ gedara giyāya, [they] went to the house of [his] mother-in-law and father-in-law (ii, 404, line 14); unnæhælǣ akkalǣ gedara siṭinawā mama dækkā misa, tamuselǣ dihāṭa nam giyē nǣ, except that I saw [he] is at the gentleman’s elder sister’s house, [he] did not go to your quarter, indeed (ii, 214, variant); mī pæṭikkilǣ gamaṭa gihin, having gone to the f. mouseling’s village (i, 310, line 2); rāssayǣ gedara, the rākshasa’s house (iii, 122, note); um̆balǣ gamaṭa, to your village; um̆mbalǣ gedara, your house; um̆balǣ piya-rajjuruwō, your father the king; as well as the titles of Nos. 127 and 216. In the plural:—Mewwǣ ingan kiyāpan, tell [us] the limits of these (ii, 241, line 5); um̆balǣ piya-rajjuruwanḍa enḍa bǣ, um̆balǣ piya-rajjuruwō, etc., your father the king cannot come, your father the king, etc. (i, 267, line 30); ayiyalǣ gǣnu, the elder brothers’ wives; mama dannē nǣ ēwǣ wagak, I don’t know anything of those [matters]; um̆balǣ mas, your flesh. (See also No. 207 below.)

Hoṭǣ (vol. ii, 214, line 24) is perhaps a special plural form. I was informed that the word garā, a kind of demon, has two plurals, garayō and gærǣ; I do not remember other instances.

There are numerous instances in which a noun or pronoun as the subject takes an instrumental position, always governed by wisin or wihin, by; this is a common feature in Hindūstānī and Gujarātī also. In translating such sentences I have occasionally made use of the passive verb when it appeared to suit the context—(as in the last paragraph of No. 98)—in order to retain the preposition. I may here mention that the passive form with laba is practically never used by the villager; there are not half a dozen sentences in which it occurs in the stories. The following are a few examples of the subject in the instrumental position—or, rather, governed by wisin or wihin:—

Vol. i, 247, line 19: Rajjuruwō wihin wan̆durā allanḍa niyama-keruwāya, (by) the king ordered [them] to seize the wandurā.

Vol. ii, 126, line 15: Itin wedā wisin kiyannē, well then, (by) the vedā says; line 31: Ewiṭa raja wisin noyek tānāntra dī, thereupon (by) the king having given several great offices.

Vol. ii, 137, line 3: Kumāriyak genat dunnā rajjuruwoyi dēwinnānseyi wihin, a princess brought and gave (by) the king and queen.

Vol. ii, 147, line 5: Mama wisin dæn maranawāya, (by) I shall now kill [you].

Vol. ii, 206, line 3: Purusayā wisin … kīwāya, (by) the husband said.

Vol. ii, 258, line 12: Rāksayak wisin aragana giyāya, (by) a rākshasa took away.

Vol. iii, 22, line 12: Ayet nariyā wisin gonā lan̆gaṭa gihin, (by) the jackal having gone again near the bull.

Other instances are: Anit baḍu horunḍa bǣna wisin dunnā, the other goods (by) the son-in-law gave to the thieves. Raja wisin æhæwwā, (by) the king asked. Raja wisin asā, (by) the king having heard [it]. Some examples are noted in the stories also.

In the Sinhalese Mahāvansa, c. 37, v. 10, wisin is employed in the same manner; in the Swapna-mālaya occurs the line, Satten kiwu ē bawa pan̆ḍi wisinā, truly said regarding it (by) the pandit.

As in Eḷu works, there is much irregularity in the indefinite forms of the terminations of feminine nouns, but very rarely in those of masculine nouns, and never in neuter nouns, although these last are irregular in Eḷu. Thus we have quite usually gǣniyak instead of gǣniyek, a woman, but always minihek, a man. Similar forms are:—diwidenak, a leopardess; duwak, a daughter; eḷudenak, a f. goat; girawak, a parrot; kaputiyak, a f. crow; kellak, a girl; kenak, a person; kumārikāwak, kumārikāwiyak, kumāriyak, a princess; manamāliyak, a bride; mīminniyak, a f. mouse-deer; mī-pæṭikkiyak, a f. mouseling; yaksaniyak, a yaksanī.

Similarly, in Mah. ii, 37, 159, we have dēwiyaktomō; in Thup. (1901), p. 50, putakhu, p. 60, wan̆durakhu; in Amāwatura (1887), i, p. 23, ājīwakayakhu, p. 31, dewduwak.

The same use of this expression is found in Eḷu:—Amāwatura, i, p. 24, raja … uyanpallā atin asā, the king having heard from the gardener; Thup., p. 40, bodhisattwayō atin tun sīyak lā, (by) the Bodhisattwa having put three hundred (masuran).

As in ordinary Sinhalese, many words that are well known as pairs are commonly written without conjunctions, as ammā-appā, mother and father, (also, ammayi appayi or ammayi abuccayi); akkō-nagō, elder sisters and younger sisters; ayiyō-malayō, elder brothers and younger brothers; ǣt-mǣt, far and near; rǣ-dāwal, night and day; hawaha-udē, evening and morning; at-kakul, hands and feet; gan­kum̆buru, villages and rice fields; ganu-denu, taking and giving; bat­mālu, boiled rice and curry, (but also batuyi māluyi).

Usually when a particle, especially yi, is suffixed to a noun or pronoun ending in a long vowel, this is shortened, in accordance with the common village pronunciation, as in several of the examples given above. Thus minihā, with yi or ṭa, becomes minihayi, minihaṭa; ammā and ayiyā, with yi or lā, become ammayi, ammalā, ayiyayi, ayiyalā; mal-ammā, with ṭa, is mal-ammaṭa; girawā, nariyā, and hāwā, with yi, become girawayi, nariyayi, and hāwayi; dēwinnānsē, with yi or ṭa, becomes dēwinnānseyi, dēwinnānseṭa.

There are a few instances of a form of verbal noun derived from a participial adjective, which is not mentioned by Mr. Guṇasēkara. In vol. iii, 146, line 5, we have dīpuwā, evidently equal to dīpu ewwā, the things [she] gave. In vol. i, 274, line 14, there is also, me nuwara hiṭapuwō okkama yakā kǣwā, [a] yakā ate all those who stayed at this city. In vol. iii, 79, line 20, the same noun occurs in the form hiṭapuwanḍa, those who were [there]. At p. 370, line 6, we have palā tanbāpuwā wagayak kanṭa dīlā, having given [him] a sort of vegetable stew to eat. See also uyāpuwæn̥ p. 428, line 12.

From another form of the participial adjective we have in vol. iii, 66, line 38, redda allāgattuwō, those who took hold of the cloth. In the same vol., p. 228, line 1, there is, mæricci minissu maḷawungen nækiṭa ena raṭakut ædda, dead men having arisen from the dead will there be a country, also, to which they come? On p. 315, line 11, there is, itā wisālawū duṭu duṭuwangē sit piṇa-wana … sālāwak, a very spacious hall, which causes the minds of the spectators who saw it to rejoice. In the Swapna-mālaya the same expression occurs:—duṭuwanhaṭa aniṭuyi me sīnat, for the beholders this dream, too, is inauspicious.

There are several examples of a peculiar form of subjunctive, one of which has been given in vol. ii, 323, note 1. Some others are:—apagē piya-rajjuruwō āwōtin um̆ba kayi, should our father-king come [he] will eat you; ē beheta e kumāri atin dæmmōtin, should the princess apply the medicine with [her] hand; kiri ṭikak bīwōtin misa, unless [I] should drink a little milk; yan wæḍak kīwuwōtin, should [he] tell [you] any work. In the work Swapna-mālaya there are other similar expressions, such as, pibidunōtin, pibidunahotin, duṭōtin, duṭuwōtina; the second of these exhibits the uncontracted form.

A short form of participle is often employed, with either a present or a past signification. As a present participle:—ballā burāna enawā, the dog comes growling; budiyāna innakoṭa, when [they] are sleeping; ēka balāna hiṭiyā, [he] remained looking at it; kumārayā budiyāna in̆dalā, the prince having been sleeping. With a past participial meaning:—atu miṭiyak kaḍāna issarahæṭa pænnā, breaking a bundle of branches [he] sprang in front; ewwā kaḍāna æwit, having come [after] plucking them; kændana æwidin, having come [after] calling [her]; okkē isa tiyāna budiyā-gattā, placing [his] head on [her] waist-pocket, [he] slept; wastuwa hoyāna enḍa, to come [after] seeking wealth.

There is often omission to mark the long vowels, many of which, however, are shortened in the pronunciation of the Kandian villagers. As regards spelling, I have noted the following variations of the word gos, having gone:—gosin, gosin̥, gohin, gihin, gihun, gihun̥, guhin, gusin, gehun, gehun̥, ginun̥.

I also here mention the marked avoidance of the use of the personal and possessive pronouns of the third person, and of the guttural n̆, the palatal ñ, and the cerebral ṇ, as well as the employment of the binduwa in the story No. 207, “The Turtle Prince,” for all forms of mute n when followed by any consonant. Its use in this manner in this story, as well as in others sometimes, may indicate the origin of the curled form of the attached semi-consonantal n of all classes, which originally appears to have been a degraded form of the binduwa written hurriedly and united by an upstroke to the next letter. The abandonment of the first two forms of n is, I venture to think, an advantage in every way, since the class of these letters, and especially of the first one, would rarely be mistaken in Sinhalese, whatever form be used, and every step towards simplification of the alphabet under such conditions is an improvement. On the other hand, the class of t or ṭ, d or ḍ, is never mistaken by these villagers, except in the word katantaraya (which is sometimes written kaṭantaraya) and in another word or two; but la usually takes the place of ḷa, and sa of s’a.

In his Sumero-Accadian Grammar, Mr. Bertin has classified the grammatical elements of a sentence under seven headings:—s, the subject; o, the object; i, the indirect object; r, the reason for the action; c, the complement, or manner of the action; d, the determinative of time (dt), place (dp), or state (ds); and v, the verb, with or without pronouns and particles; together with q, any qualificative which explains or specifies these elements, as the words, ‘of honour,’ in the expression, ‘sword of honour.’

With this classification, the ordinary formula of the arrangement of a complete sentence in Sinhalese is, dt—dp—s—r—ds—i—o—c—v. In the stories, however, the order of the components is most irregular, and very rarely quite accords with this, although most of the sentences partly adhere to this sequence. I have not met with all the elements in one sentence, partly because of the constant omission of the pronouns. The accompanying few examples show the want of uniformity in the arrangement; their order follows the position in which s occurs:

s—dt—ds—v—c. Ibbā hat-awuruddak weli welī hiṭiyā diya nætuwa, the turtle a seven-year having dried and dried up, stayed water without.

dt—qs—qi—r—o—v. Ewiṭa e nuwara rajjuruwō wena nuwara­walwala rajunḍa kæmaṭa enḍa liyun æriyāya, at that time the city king to other cities’ kings for the eating to come, letters sent.

dt—s—ds—o—v—i. Ewiṭa berawāyā issara wāgēma salli illuwāya gamarālagen, at that time the tom-tom beater, in the former very manner, money asked-for from the gamarāla.

dt—r—qs—o—v. Me dawaswaladīma, maha rajagen yuddayakaṭa udaw illā, wena raja kenek liyun ewwēya, during these very days, from the great king for a war assistance having asked, another king letters sent.

r—dt—s—v. Ē kumārikāwaṭa dæn bohoma dawasaka hiṭa pissu­rōgayak sǣdilā, for the princess, now many a day since, an insanity having been developed.

dt—c—i—s—v—o. Etakoṭa hīnen gǣniṭa dēwatāwā kīwā, “Toṭa, etc.,” then, by dream, to the woman the dēwatāwā said, “For thee, etc.”

dt—qo—i—v—qs. Īṭapassē rajjen palātakuyi ætek-baraṭa wastuwayi dēwinnānseṭa dunnā kumārayāge piya-rajjuruwō, after that, from the kingdom a district and to a tusk-elephant-load wealth, to the queen gave the prince’s father-king.

i—o—v—s. Ē kumārayanṭa kǣma uyalā-dennē mal-ammā kenek, to the princes food having-cooked-gives a flower-mother.

i—ds—o—v—s. Ē kumārayāṭa, masuran haddāhak dīlā, kumāriyak genat-dunnā rajjuruwoyi dēwinnānseyi wihin, to the prince, masuran seven thousand having given, a princess having-brought-gave the king and queen (by).

The following transliteration has been adopted in these texts, being the same as in the translations of the stories, with the exceptions æ, ǣ, and ṣa.

Initials: අ a, ආ ā, ඉ i, ඊ ī, උ u, ඌ ū, එ e, ඒ ē, ඔ o, ඕ ō, ඖ au, ඇ æ, ඈ ǣ.

Gutturals: ක ka, ඛ kha, ග ga, ඝ gha, ඞ n̆a.

Palatals: ච ca, ඡ cha, ජ ja, ඣ jha, ඤ ña.

Cerebrals: ට ṭa, ඨ ṭha, ඩ ḍa, ඪ ḍha, ණ ṇa.

Dentals: ත ta, ථ tha, ද da, ධ dha, න na.

Labials: ප pa, ඵ pha, බ ba, භ bha, ම ma.

Semi-vowels: ය ya, ර ra, ල la, ව wa, ළ ḷa, ං n̥.

Sibilants, etc.: ශ śa, ෂ ṣa, හ sa, හ ha.

Semi-consonants thus: n̆g, n̆ḍ, n̆d, m̆b.