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461

CHAMBA LHU.

　The majority of the inhabitants of the Chamba State speak Aryan dialects. There are, besides, some speakers of Tibetan and of a dialect which is almost identical with Manch. The latter is spoken n the north-east of the State. The number of speakers was estimated at 1,387 during the preliminary operations of this Survey, and it was returned as 1,543 at the last Census of 1901.

AUTHORITY-

　BAILEY, REV. T. GRAHAME, B.D., M. R. A. S.,-The Languages of Chamba State. Calcutta, 1905.

　The Rev. T. Grahame Bailey has written a full account of the dialect which he pro- poses to call Chamba Lhu. He has kindly allowed me to make use of it for the notes which follow. He has also been good enough to allow me to reprint a version of the Parable of the Prodigal Son and a list of Standard Words and Phrases. See below on pp. 465 and ff., 533 and ff.

　Chamba Lhu is almost identical with Manch. The Chamba copy of the Manch version of the parable mentioned above is probably meant to be an illustra- tion of Chamba Lhu. It will therefore be sufficient to make but a few remarks.

　Articles.-The numeral , one, is used as an indefinite article; thus, mi, of a man; shkr, a money lender.

　Nouns.-The inflexion of nouns is in most particulars the same as in Manch.

　Gender.-The natural gender is distinguished in the usual way; thus, b, father; y, mother: rhiz, male goat; l, female goat: ta-bh, male cat; bh, female cat: tshh, horse; nab･rh, mare: y, son; ml-y, daughter, and so on.

　Number.-There are two numbers, the singular and plural. The plural is not expressed when it appears from the context; thus, hth, elephant, and elephants. The usual plural suffix is r; thus, rh, sister; rh-r, ssters: ml-y, daughter; ml-yr, daughters.

　Case.-The cases of the singular and of the plural differ in the same way as in Manch.

　The subject of intransitive verbs and the object are not distinguished by adding suffixes. The subject of transitive verbs, on the other hand, is put in the case of the agent, which is said to be formed by adding ts or, after vowels, in the singular and z in the plural; thus, rh-ts, by a horse; b･, by a father; ml-y-, by a daughter; rhnez, by the horses; ml-y-z, by the daughters; sra-z, by the swine.

　The suffix of the dative is vi or bi; plural d; thus, rh-vi and rh-bi, to a sister; rhne-d, to horses; ml-y-d, to daughters. Ph is used instead in rh-ph, to a horse.

　The suffix of the geuitive is u or , plural du; thus, rh-u, of a horse; b-, of a father; m, of a man (m, man); ml-y-du, of daughters. The genitive can also be expressed by putting the governed before the governing noun, without any suffix; thus, hth, of an elephant; ss rhn palnz, the white horse's saddle. The final n of rhn is probably developed from the nasal sound in rh, horse.

　The ablative is formed by adding dots, i.e., dor-ts therefrom, to the base or to the genitive; thus, rh-dots, from a horse; b- dots, from a father. Dots is by origin an ablative of the demonstrative pronoun du, do, and the actual suffix is ts as in the case of the agent.