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ThE fist lien Wrtarpers Joykcishos Public Libeamy Govi. of Wer Heagal PREFACE, Normtne can be so discouraging to the stu- deat. of & living Innguage in this country, af she chance of being, by future proficiency “chereity, when he reaches india, under the dis- agreeatlla necessity of unleaming whatever pronunciation or lessons he may have acquired at the outset of his oriental career. Few of my readers, who are iu the smallest degree acquainted witb british indian affairs, nced now ‘be apprized, that they will he exposed to the irksome situation I have just stated, provided ‘they still prefer to tlits Hite velune the very inuecurate and inadequate performances of @ll- my predecessors, as their guides to“the hin- doostanee tongue. To them without one soli~ tary exception we may apply the following lines with great propriety : Aut inerter, aut insep}, wat quibus ogestas inperst, Gai ‘semitam'non sapiunt, altert manetrant vier. ‘That it is as easy to learn at first tye polished and grammatical style of any 1, as it cau be to acquire its corrupt and igieeous idiom, ia a fact which will attnd the test of every person's ® fi PREFACE, experience throdgh all quarters of the globe, and in noue more satisfactorily than among the various nations of hinduostan. It is true, that such a jargon as the intelligent writer, quoted in page vith mentions, may be acquired very imperceptibly, though in reality the tronble is not Jess in doing this, than the snuall portiomo® manly exertion which is requisite, when properly directed, to attain so nseful an abject at once a¢ the hindoostanee langnage. "To obviate as soon as possible, to the ntiaost of my ability, 60 serious aid galling a loss of time to my countrymen o their way 10 india, as they would sustain by the perusal of any inadequate and perplering publications ov the civil aud military vehicle of discourse in that vast cmpire, [have been once more induced co devote my ieisure hours to their service. Hay ing the fullest conviction, that ne fature stage of their progeess will allord them cause to up- braid me with the charge here preferred against other authors, for that ignorance and incaparity which are still so evideut in all the suecessive at- Jemptsat a grainmar of the graud popularspeech of hindoostan, which have not been servilely copied from my own works, 1 can surely feel no hesitation to express my sentimeutsaccordingly. Fatetteriaapt qt peienly aia sapit PREFACE, iit "Phe experience of my friends, as well as my ‘own observations, hath fully convinced me, that ina climate like india, we cannotat starting suffi- cicutly shorten and smooth the road to the collo- (quial acquisition of its most useful tongue ;Lhave therefore submitted this abstract to the suffrages of an indulgent public, but with no intention of entering the lists ay an author against tmworthy vomnpetitors, whatever 1 inay yet be induced to do with more creditable opponeats. ‘That there are many very respectable individuals, whose stay is too trausitory, or whuse duties are too laborious and important in india, to admit of other than desuliory study, is a trath which every one must allow, as well as the necessity for such persons still possessing a certain knowledge of the hiudoostanee or current tongue. For peo- ple in either of thove predicaments L may safely recommend these sheets, as, though wunder a simpler form, they rather contirm than deviate from the grammatical rules observed in ny larger works, which many persons capnot always afford to purehase, even wheu procurable at a moderate price. This advive is offered in the conviction, thut the present introduction is on the whole much easier and plainer than aay thing yet published on the colloyuial speech of india. To superficial studenss, whose ears caunot-ac- ae
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