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and m being interchangeable letters.[1] The suffix ju in martaju was probably, at an earlier stage, a sort of case suffix used like the Japanese ni in a like position, that is when attached to verbs. It gradually assumed the character of a participial or gerund suffix. In the modern colloquial Mongol the final verb, boi, is omitted and “martaji” (which is the same as “martaju”’), is a past indicative, I have forgotten. So the participle or gerund grows out of the law of position by which, when verbs are used together, completed action claims the last place and incomplete action an earlier place. Let us call this the first stage of metamorphosis. The participle or gerund takes in the next place as a suffix an old verb (for example ju that is de) which has become transformed into a case mark. So far there are two stages of formation. Then the participle becomes transformed into a past indicative. This is a third stage.
Grammar is the work of the human mind, operating systematically on linguistic elements within its reach in an instinctive and unconscious manner. One language shews some special process better then others. Take the expression in Hepburn’s Dictionary, “hanashi wo kiki ni itta,” he has gone to hear what is said, “kiki”, hear, with the suffix “ni”, to, is a verb in the supine in a crude state, where the suffix is still disconnected from the verb to which in favourable circumstances it may subsequently become indissolubly allied. The book Mongol, has a true supine ending in “re.” It is an instance of a noteworthy fact, viz, that the grammar of the Tartar languages is more advanced than that of Japan, and possesses a verb tree more like that of European grammar. All languages are, in a state of transition from one state to another, guided by the principles which are peculiar to them. It is possible for them to be improved by the adoption of new principles. Those who have the control of education and literature wield a power which should always he used for
- ↑ B in Mongol frequently corresponds to m in Japanese, as in the following examples biye or beye, body Jap. mi.
Bedere hu, to seek, Jap. motome.
Basa, and, also, Jap. mo.
Buri, all, altogether, Jap, mattai or mattaku.
