Mar.4] PROCEEDINGS. [1850.Thesame Accadian symbol is read engar, in the sense of
"field-worker,""tillerof the soil" (ikkaru). Withthisen, which
is softened fromgan, "a field" {eklu),cp. yen, "limits of a plot
of ground," dialecticin, yan, yi" (where yan = gan, in = en, and yi"
a transition formbetweengenandge) ; as well as yuen, " a yard,
a garden,"and yuen, " a high andlevelfield." Thesecondelement
gar (kar) abbuttu,"field-work,""serfdom,"answers.o yao, dialectic
iu, yau,yo, " feudal vassalageor labour of a serf, a villein's service."
Theold sound ngo = nga, and Shanghaiyo — ya = ga, point to
ga(r); while iu =yu =gu= gu(r).* So we have yao," a brick-kiln,"
agreeingwithAccadian^j^gar,dialecticmar,the common ideo
gramfor brick(libittu); yao, " a car "= gar, " a chariot " (narkabtu);
yao, " to bite, gnaw, chew" = gar, " to eat " {akalu) ; cp. ya, the
93rdradical(=ga)"teeth,to gnaw, bite"= dialectic nga,ga ; yao,
"brightness"of heavenly bodies, "toshine"= gar, "brightness,"
"to shine."
THECHINESE'RH.
In my haste to banish an apparent anomalyfromthe Chinese
lexicon, I rejected a valuable testimony to the truth of my own
theory(p. 79). I was not ignorant of the leading factswhichI am
nowaboutto state; I was misled by the fewness of the sounds
groupedunderthishead,andby the fact thattheywereall homo
phones, instead of presenting the usual elaborate development.
Whathas nowto be said uponthe subject doesnot, however, involve
the withdrawal of any of the suggested comparisonswithAccadian
terms. I have to add rather thanto subtract.
Exclusive of proper names, thereare twenty-four homophones
written 'rh. This representsthe sound ar, if we are to keep to
Dr. Williams' usualmodeof signifying the particular vowel-sound
involved. Butin English it might equallywellbe written er, with
Dr. Edkins, or ir or ur: ordinary pronunciation makinglittle or
no difference betweenthe vowels of bird, surd,nerve. Theh of 'rh
seemsespeciallyinappropriate,becausethe Chinese r is not rough
but smooth. (1) The first of these homophones is the 126th
radical,ir, dialectic i, ji, ir ( = gi, gi, ir), " and, together,also,
* We can nowexplainLagar, labar, ardu,kal&,"servant," "man."
Theformer consistsof la = Chinese loo, " labour" + gar = Chinese yao,
"service"(servitium= servus) ; the latter of la = loo + BAR — pao, "to dig" a
trench; pao, " to till the ground."
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