Languages and Nations: The Dravidian Proof in Colonial Madras

Appendix B. The Dravidian Proof

appendix b The Dravidian Proof I reproduce here the text of the Dravidian proof, that is, the “Note to the introduction” by F. W. Ellis printed in A. D. Campbell’s A grammar of theTeloogoo language (1816). This text is also referred to as the “Dissertation on Telugu,” one of a set of projected dissertations on the South Indian languages which Ellis intended to have printed at the College Press for the use of students. The only other completed dissertation is the one on Malayalam (Ellis 1878), published posthumously from a copy found at the College in later years. Ellis shows here that Telugu and Sanskrit roots are different, and that Telugu shares a set of roots with Tamil and Kannada. These two propositions are illustrated with columns of roots and words, and they form the two parts of the proof that concern vocabulary or lexicon. The last part of the proof extends the inquiry from lexicon to “idiom,” or syntax . It makes numerous four-way comparisons among Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada verses or sentences. 243 244 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 245 246 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 247 248 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 249 250 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 251 252 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 253 254 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 255 256 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 257 258 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 259 260 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 261 262 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 263 264 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 265 266 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 267 268 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 269 270 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 271 272 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 273 274 Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof Appendix B: The Dravidian Proof 275 ...