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NON-PRONOMINALIZED DIALECTS.

　The dialects spoken in the central region of the Himalayas in Sikkim and in the valley of Nepal and to the east of it are all characterized by a great simplicity in their grammatical system. Some of them, such as Gurung and Murm, are closely related to the Tibetan dialects. Murm has, however, abandoned the Tibeto-Burman method of counting higher numbers in tens and reckons them in twenties. There also seems to be a tendency to distinguish the subject of verbs by adding pronominal suffixes. The negative verb is formed in Gurung and Murm by prefixing an and often, besides, suffixing a na. A similar double negative is also used in Rng.

　The dialect spoken by the Sunwrs is apparently now characterized by the same simplicity as in the case of Gurung and Murm. Higher numbers are counted in twenties. There are short forms of the personal pronouns which are frequently used as prefixes. The person of the subject does not appear to be distinguished in the verb. The negative particle is a prefixed m. Hodgson describes Sunwr as a complex pronominalized dialect. So far as we can judge from the unsatisfactory materials at our disposal, that is no more the case at the present day.

　Mgar is a dialect of the same type. The pronoun of the second person is nang as in Nepalese dialects such as Chpng and Bhrmu, and in numerous dialects of Assam and Further India, especially (for instance) in the Kuki-Chin forms of speech. Compare also kn-ko, we, with kn, our, in most Kuki-Chin dialects. Compare further the numerals Mgar, kat, Lushi pa-khat, one; Mgar bu-li, Lushi pa-li, four; Mgar ba-nga, Lushi pa-nga, five. In most respecrts, however, Mgar agrees with Gurung, Murm, etc., in general principles, and, to a great extent, also in details of vocabulary and grammar. The negative particle is a prefixed m.

　Mgar often also agrees with Nwr, the old State language of Nepal. In that form of speech we again find a distinction between nouns denoting animate beings and inanimate objects respectively. The numerals and the personal pronouns have forms which agree with those in use in the western, pronominalized, group of Himalayan languages. Compare chhi, Pahr thiki, one, with Bunn tiki; nasi, Pahr nhisi, two, with Byngs nisi; pi, four, with Bunn, etc., pi; ji, I, with Byngs, etc., ji, and so forth. Nwr is not, however, a pronominalized dialect, but is characterized by the same simplicity as Mgar and connected forms of speech.

　Pahr can be considered as a sub-dialect of Nwr.

　There still remains one important language of the non-pronominalized type, viz., Rng o Lepcha. We here again find the tendency to distinguish between such nouns as denote animate beings and such as are the names of inanimate things. The numerals often agree very closely with those in use in the Kuki-Chin group. Compare kt, Lushi pa-khat, one; nyet, Ngent pa-nhit, two; fa-l, Lushi pa-li, four; ta-rok, Meithei, etc., ta-rk, six, and so forth. The prefix , which is very common in nouns and adjectives, should be compared with the corresponding a in Kuki-Chin, while the ka-prefix in ka- lt, bare, etc., is very common in dialects of the Ng and Bodo group. It will be seen that the old prefixes have been preserved as independent syllables in Rng, and that language in this respect forms one of the links which connect Tibetan and the Himalayan dialects with the Tibeto-Burman languages of Assam and Further India.