Nov. 5] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY. [1889.
B, P.
TheMandarindialecthas dispensedwiththe ancient B altogether,
replacingit by P at the beginning of words. InitialB is, however,
preservedin certain casesenumeratedby the old lexicographers as
ancientsoundsof the characters ; as also in the dialects, to a certain
extent.
Oneof the first words thatmeetus in the Accadian syllabaryis
•-fc^Y*,bal. Thistermhas a great varietyof meanings assigned to
it by the Assyrian scribes; and it struck me that it might verywell
be taken as a test-term for my theory of the relation of the language
to the Chinese.
The following list comprises most of the definitions {see
Briinnow, s. v.) :
Accadian.
bal, napalkfttum," to rebel,"
" disobey," " transgress
orders."
bal, etiqu," to move on, ad
vance,march."
bal, ebiru, "tocross,""go
fromone side to the other."
bal, Supilula zinnilti, pars
infima feminae, vulva;
lapiltum= bal - ki, " low
ground."Chinese.
p'ei,"theback," "turnthe back
on," "be proved false," "to
resist,""contumacious," "dis
card"(treatyobligations); p'ei-,
"to rebel," "opposeauthority,"
"perverse";pan,"to resist";
p'an, "to rebel," "revolt."
p'ao,"to travel," "to go or walk,"
"journey" ; pa, " to journey."
p'o,"a bank," "a side" (of river,
or road) ; r** ; cp. abarti,
"bank"; pin'"bank of a
stream" ; p'in, " urgent, like
one waitingat a ford." See
note;* pan, " to remove from
oneplaceto another," " trans
port."
pao,"placenta," "uterine";/'/,
vagina, vulva; p'in, vulva of
animals;"a royal concubine";
peii "low" in stature, or
height (of buildings), "base,"
"low";/M,"base,""mean";
p'in,"poor."
* The Chinesecharacterincludesthe sign for ford.
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