June3] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY. [1890.
example). All are taken from the accessible repertoriesof the two
languages; and my task has been simplyto find and compare them:
indicemonstravidigito.
As a result of our comparisons thusfar, certain lawsappearto
emerge:—
I. Laws of the Modification of Elementary Sounds: as, e.g.,
for initial consonants,thatChinesey = Accadian g ; * Chinese ch
(chl)= Accadian t (or d) ; Chinese j = Accadian d; Chinese ts (ts')
= Accadian z; Chinese f= Accadian p (b) ; Chinese h (h') = Acca
diank (g), s (S) ; Chinese w, v= Accadian m (v) ; and Chinese 1 =
Accadian1, d, or r.
For final consonants, that Chinese ng may represent (a) an
Accadian finalm or n, as in £////£ = kum, rung—nun(in gu-run),
hiung=liti,sin,5fM;«»a»jr=NiN;Hang,leung.Hong,"humane,"=
LiM (cp. me-li) = lam (in nita-lam), "man,"as Jan, "humane,"=
Jan, "man"(Accadiandin = gin): or (b) an Accadian g (ng), as
yang,yung,yiung,yong,= GUG (gung), " sheep," sang,shang,zong
= sag, sag, zag (sang, shang, zang), "head"; Is'ing, "green,"
" azure " = zi(o),t sig (zing, sing),"green."
Thata Chinese finalvowel(1) may represent a final Accadian
vowel,pa = ba, ti = di, tnu — mu ; or (2) may imply,as in Acca
dianitself,the loss of a final consonant,k, p, t (g, b, d), s, r, 1; as
pao = bar, ba-l, mao= ma-S, " leader," " foremost," yi (yik) =
gig, "disease," pa (pat) = bad, "high," kiu, kit = ku-R, n%ni
(ngat)= &A-D, " to love," p'ai(pat)= ba-d, " to open," si (sik) =
Si, sig, " clothes," " grief," andso on.
As to internal vowels,a and u interchange in the dialects, and//
and 1 everywhere showthe closest affinityto each other,exactlyas
in the Accadian.
II. A law of Dialectic Correspondence; as when we find that
chHh,old dik, "a step," is ch'ik (=dig)in Cantonese, and is'ak ( =
zig)in Shanghai, or that ch'ih, "red," is chlik in Cantonese, and
* Or a lost initialg; yuen = AN, "waste." Myoriginal instance,y,-,
" night," " darkness,"agreesmoreexactlywiththeAccadianthanI then per
ceived. Thedialectic_;•<', ya, ya, pointto GI and ga,whilethe elements of the
character{sik, "evening,"+ yik, ik,"also")showthatthefinal soundwas
k (g). In Accadian thecharacter wascalledGA-GIG,andhadeachof th'«
values,as well as GE or Gf.
t In zi-kum, "heaven.
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