Travels in Kashmir and the Panjab, containing a particular account of the government and character of the Sikhs

· 1845 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1THE EDITOR S PREFACE.

2VI

3indulgence, and can safely assure him, that it would be far easier

4to express the varied intonations of the musical notes by literal

5signs, than the complicated sounds of Oriental alphabets, by the

6manifold sounds of the English language, varying as Eastern

7letters do,

8not only with the great national divisions of lan-

9guages, but the characteristic distinctions of pastoral, nomade,

10military^, and agricultural pursuits, as

11if

12the several avocations

13of people and tribes had induced peculiarities, which were the

14were to be traced up

15true distinguishing tests

16whereby

17to one ancient original.

18The vowels of Turkey, of Persia, of

19all

20Arabia, and of India, in one and the same word, Bokhara, for

21instance, are perceptibly different in

22all,

23and the interchange

24and sound of the consonants, the Hquids especially, varies inde-

25Whether we should spell Mohammedan, Turkisthan,

26fmitely.

27and such like words, according to one or other system, it matters

28not, provided

29it

30be as near as any other to the true pronuncia-

31tion and mode of spelling.

32Where uniformity can be

33attained

34without any great departure from received usage, it is better to

35agree to adopt

36some standard; and although there are objec-

37tions to Sir William Jones's system, as well as to Gilchrist's

38the two principal authorities with Oriental scholars on such

39subjects

40— the learned bodies have decided

41in favour of the

42former, to which the reader is at once furnished with a perfect

43key, by remembering that

44all

45the vowels are sounded as in the

46Italian, the accented vowels, a,

47i,

48denoting the broad sounds,

49and for the rest, the ch only supplying the place of c before e

50and

51i,

52the

53g being

54invariably hard; lastly, the j and z pro-

55nounced simply as in English.

56In respect to the notes interspersed through the volume, such

57as they are, I am alone responsible for them.

58They were such

59as an experience of many years' residence in India, and a long

60acquaintance with the Hindu character, suggested.

61Many more

62might have been added with great advantage, and promoted