Nov.5] PROCEEDINGS. [1889.the Chinese niu, "ox,""cow," "cattle," of which oneof the old
soundswas ngu, and which appearsin Cantoneseas ngau, in Swatow
as gu, in Amoy as giu, in Fuhchau as ngiu, as well as under the
formsnu, nuk, nau,liu. Niuis nyu = ngu. Nowit is an interesting
fact,uponwhichDr. Jensen has laid specialemphasis, thatinitial
g is often nasalized in Accadian, e.g., galu, "man"is, strictly
speaking, ngalu. This seems to prove the identity of Accadian
gu (ngu) withChineseniu {nyu). gid,gidda,again,is the Accadian
for Ass. arku,"long,"nasdhu,"to remove," elipu," to last long," etc.
Thisseemsto answer to the Chinese yii, "vague," "vast,""distant,"
which,likethe Accadian and Assyrian terms,is used of both time
and place (yii kiu, "a very longtime"), gab(patdru), "to loose,"
" free," answers to yii, " loose," " free." Chinese regularly drops
the final consonantsk, p, t ( = g, b, d) ; but among the old sounds of
the wordsjust mentioned, Dr. Williams gives ngop, ngot, which
might represent the Accadian gab (ngab) and gid (i.igid). The
Accadianhas another gab, meaning irtu,"breast." TheChinese
yp, " breast," is placed undera root YIH,withthe old forms yik, yit,
yip, ngik, etc. Thusgib (= gab) wouldseemto have beenthe
originalChinesetermfor " breast." Under the same rootwe find
yi\ "strong," "tall,"which may be the counterpart of git, gid,
"long." It is to be borne in mind thatthe Accadian signsfor gap,
git, would be the same as {ox gab, gid. Underthe same heading YU,
we find yii, "to speak," "say";yii "to talk with," "tell,""inform,"
" words," whichare clearly doublesof the Accadian gu, " to speak,"
and yii, "sick," "weak";yii, "to be cured," "disease";yii, "a cry
of pain" ; yii, " sorrowful," " grieved at," answering againto Accadian
gig," sick," " sorrowful" (cf. yok, i.e., gug,oneof the old sounds
oi yii).
We have not yet done withthe Chinese yii. It is a curious fact
that,justas in Accadian, we find twosimilarvocables6ul(limnu)
and 6ul (liadu),withthe opposite meaningsof "bad" and"glad,"
so in Chinese we find yii, "sorrowful," and yii, "joyful," "happy."
YU, "fat," "rich," "fertile" (of soil), and yii', "rich (in clothes
andchattels),""plenty," "toenrich,"remindone of the Accadian
G't,"abundance" (cp. nam-g'£,duhdu,g'e-gal, hegallu,c'fe-NUN,
nuhiu);andI think thatg'al, "to flow," g'al-g'al(gardru£a ml),
" to run," said of water, may be connected with these words;
compare the Chinese yii, "to rain." The Chineseyii, "towalk
rapidly,"mayanswerto g'al g'al,gardru,thoughiti s perhaps rather
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