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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

146   CONSIDERATIONS ON THE METHOD EMPLOYED.

Marathi Dictionary,' generally follows Dr. GILCHRIST'S system, which was then also

generally employed in official publications.   • .
"In 1834 certain missionaries and civilians made a vigorous effort to establish what

they termed the Romanizing system, nearly identical with that of Sir WILLIAM JONES. The names of DUFF, PEARCE, YATES, and THOMAS, as well as H. F. PRINSEP, J. PRINSEP, J. TYTLER, and Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN, are connected with the respective memoirs printed at Serampiir. Mr. CROW'S treatise on writing oriental words was printed in Calcutta, 1845."

Quite recently the question of a more correct transcription was taken up with

much zeal in Madras, and the interest evinced in an accurate transcription is the more warmly to be encouraged in a presidency where the variety of the dialects, as well as the arbitrary spelling hitherto in use, oppose unusual difficulties to any improvement or alteration.

Perhaps the transcription then proposed may still be objected to, for general

use, as containing too many details ; we quite agree, however, with the principles, so well explained (and also supported by the Hon. WALTER ELLIOTT at Madras) in one of the most recent memoirs, "Report on the Sub-Committee appointed to consider the questions of writing Oriental words in Roman Characters," by W. H. BAYLEY, Esq., Madr. Journ., Vol. III., No. X., p. 235-471 In this it is particularly mentioned that difficulties altogether unexpected presented themselves on many points of the subject. One of these difficulties consisted in the frequent discrepancy occurring in the orthography of the more modern forms of a word? In such cases Mr. BAYLEY proposes to select the form most generally in use, to designate it as such, and to adhere to it in all official publications, a method considerably limiting arbitrary corruptions, and facilitating the extension of correct ideas of spelling amongst the European and native population:

In concluding these introductory remarks of the geographical Glossary I cannot do better than draw attention to the circumstance, that, even for many delicate

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1 The sub-committee consisted of the Hon. WALTER ELLIOTT, and W. H. BAILEY and M. NORMAN, Esqs.

The titles of other important memoirs of this journal, which reached us as late as Oct. 1861, are: "Report of the Madras Literary Society and Auxiliary of the Royal Asiatic Society on writing Indian words in Roman characters," • Vol. 1V., No. VIII., p. 179-242. "On the Substitution of Roman for the Indian Characters." By Dr. CALDWELL, Vol. IV., No. VIII., p. 243-71. Communicated by Sir C. E. TREVELYAN.

2 Geographical and personal names are particularly exposed to disfigurement among all nations; the alteration of names originally Sanskrit or easy English is no less an instance of this than the Greek terminology for Indian Geography.