Avoiding, however, the discussion of this point, we shall content
ourselves with observing, that closely connected with the Sanscrit,
if not derived from it, are the Bengali, the high Hindustani, or
grand popular language of Hindustan, generally used by the learned
in their intercourse and writings, the languages of Multan,
Guzerat, and other provinces, without mentioning the mixed dialect
called Mongolian Hindustani, a corrupt jargon of Persian, Turkish,
Arabic, and Hindu words, first used by the Mongols, after the
conquest, in their intercourse with the natives. Many of the
principal languages of Asia are totally unconnected with the
Sanscrit, both in words and grammatical structure; these are mostly
of the great Tartar family, at the head of which there is good
reason for placing the Chinese and Tibetian.
Bearing the same analogy to the Sanscrit tongue as the Indian
dialects specified above, we find the Rommany, or speech of the
Roma, or Zincali, as they style themselves, known in England and
Spain as Gypsies and Gitanos. This speech, wherever it is spoken,
is, in all principal points, one and the same, though more or less
corrupted by foreign words, picked up in the various countries to
which those who use it have penetrated.
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