name of thèir country from Balisthawto Rajaputra; In- the* Old books of
the Hindoos-they are" called'Paliputras-, and'it*may I think be concluded-
that they'were thédPalibothri óf the ancients.
Tt has been SMl^pïnióif'of sBmê’ oBthelnosfr eftKghtened-writersft on the-
f^ g u a fe s lö f the East, that the Pali, the sacred'iaiiguage -ohthe pyiestfbof
Boodhjifi nearly allied to the Shahscrit óf t hé Brtukflüs; and there certainly
is much of that holy idiom engrafted, on the vulgar language of Ava, by
the introduction of the Hindoo religion. The character in common use
throughout Ava and Pegue is a round Nagari, derived from the square
Pali, orYèligious tex t; it is formed of«- circles :an*d sógiftents of circles; variously
disposed and combined, whilst the Pali, which is solely applied
to the purposes of religion, is a square, letter, chiefly consisting of righi
angles.
The Birman language contains thirty-three simple sounds, to represent
which, their alphabet, commonly called Kagye Kague, consists of an equal
number of distinct characters, exclusive of various marks and contractions,
that supply the place of long and short vowels, diphthongs, 8cc. These
are explained and enumerated in separate series, in the Birman Spelling-
book, entitled, Kaynboungie, in which every possible combination is given
and exemplified.
It should be observed here, that there is no representation of the vowel
corresponding with our short a , as from the frequent occurrence of that
sound in the middle and at the end of words, it was found convenient to
omit it in writing: it is nevertheless to be pronounced after every simple
sound or consonant not supplied with another vowel, unless it be forbidden
* Captain Wilford on Egypt and the Nile; Loubere’s Account of Siam. Chambers on
the Ruins of Mavalipuram. Asiat. Research. Vol. I.
IjffeWinrb thb^.<jtikfc6ion
‘o'f t\\ o foi|rrforc ’c on'sou’tiif's^ni) tlU (orfrofrtrth omiiouMteharacter,.^THesé
singul iwtres 1 tin uiloima^li' flUnsfej?^ominohtto‘all.lhe alpha* ‘
'bets'.'o’frSfe'Hii u IwR
- 'T h e ^ n i a n S W l ^ tótfJhÉsiih'i « ï^ ir tM k iu g h - tlu 't hdSWfe no 'distin
'guishïn^iSpTCê'bétuJeenMtlieli ^giofds iliiA mark flid^p iusc noh.ttseuuuCC
Sltitd'thé‘full letters .are'm
’IgeneraP very beautiful.- 4 ’
The coinmon?books oi ilu/Biian uisv In'fd'uol’ï particularly
oh such asVuiluhit.tlicismfbheratsp tris of Indi fjtfdcJlf)mphsc(fe«tt|fthc>:
pih h \b ifk tk i< h tlu lu (h i^ iti5lctU^aniJiiJgteiilJU.v-itlji i stvfliwiJMwïlié
«BirmahsTar c-xi'til'.the lit a.nmic-.diVIiiMw wmfrto wt^rncshcilml^'xi.?ucwoj®
hiul m-thc omaiiunul p.ut ofjthüii^tönntklsrdtfrt-v i'oki^um," oi moihis!
'te*y, thcTe'iv'a binary oi Rpbs-ttóry ofilk’joks.onsjwlH kept nr Lfc quoted
p fe s ts? Books iüathg Pali text, *,pdometimcs c o m ^ i ^
bambq©,’delicatelyplaited-, andvamishetbev&hi^sWi^itfjmne^^tO'.&m
fatfitepobh anebihardisurfac o if^drl if Laf' of b ii^iMfdrisiUrN^ ilus|'s*uEltV£R>
.Afterwards gilded, and the^sacred^lettersilaiu f e .t s Uipon n inwhfoloand
shining japan. 'I lie maigirtn^tllurmnuk'by»vrodi 11-b jibffcligtucss* ól^gt^ISf
oilikredu|gteen^pi|fh lack«’grafindl <):
In t’lfe'-rcQtation ob:poetry, the, languageiiickiW.idiri'glviWiich-JthVj^S:,
ipveik-thé pfosecbfKOo'mmöifi ètónVersatiöb .^m arsH A w f i s ^ r è d ,'! ahdtjhfe
Stbnclildirig .word of each sentence is Iengj.he-iieil,bA,;&lniükrca^fe.tyeneq,
.that? marks the peiiotipfo -the.-eaf óf a pers'èSüiw’liol'ly^tm'tcVju tinted* vs ith
the meaning.
Thé' annexed Platt exhibit* the simple élement iry t'chaYadcr^ vtfitli .the
sound that.ea.Gh^expresses, and-th^namedn« th e ^ h q m turfgut. this name