MAY, 1873.]
HINDU PRONUNCIATION OF GREEK.
143
of Gopālasvāmi in Dévandahalli, and fairly repre sents all similar sculptured figures. The Rishi is represented with a deer's head! Närvé is still a village, and goes by that name. It is about 12 miles from the shrine at Kigga,
mirror, that the inequalities on the Linga are
which is itself about 6 miles from Sriñgéri, the seat of the great Sankarāchārya.
with lands, partially free from government re
It only remains to say that the Linga in the temple is a long cylinder, over three feet above ground, and some part of it must besides be Its surface is buried under the Pitham. asked to believe, credulous are rough, and the with the aid of the light reflected from a large
more enchanting scenery than that which the traveller suddenly comes upon in these re gions. The Tuigabhadrā above referred to is only
nothing less than the actual avatārs of Śiva, his consort, and his bull! There are some fine carvings and inscriptions
in the vicinity. The shrine is largely endowed venue.
It would be difficult to find lovelier and
the Tuiga—far above its confluence with the Bhadrā.
HINDU PRONUNCIATION OF GREEK, AND GREEK PRONUNCIATION OF HINDU WORDS. BY DR. A. WEBER, BERLIN.
Translated from the German by E. Rehatsek, M.C.E. It is well known that in consequence of Alexan
der's campaigns the Greeks, for a considerable time, maintained close relations with India. Greek sovereigns reigned during more than two centu ries in the north-western provinces of India, and even far down in Western India; Greek ambas
sadors were sent to the courts of Hindu kings; Greek merchants, Greek art and science, influenced
Hindu life directly, partly from the Panjāb and partly through Alexandria. This influence was undoubtedly more considerable than is usually supposed; it extended itself not merely to practical branches, e.g. to the coining of money,” to archi
India, and conversely many Indian ones came to the West. Now, the form in which they appear in both localities bears the stamp of the pronun ciation of the time, and may therefore throw a certain light thereon; that light cannot of course be very decisive, inasmuch as in general but very scanty auxiliary means, e.g. legends on coins in the imperfect and difficult Aryan characters, are at our disposal; and further, because in the recep tion and subsequent transmission of foreign
vocables their phonetic values were retained merely in a general way, while at the same time they suf.
fered considerably both from popular etymological
tecture, to dramatic representations, to astrono
assimilation to words current in the vernacular,
mico-astrological notions, &c., but also to purely
and from unintentional deterioration in the mouths of the unlearned.
mental divisions of knowledge,t such as the trans mission of various western narratives, fables, tra
I desire the following data concerning this sub
ditions, and other legendary or religious matters.
ject to be considered merely as a first attempt
In return for this, various Indian materials as well
waiting for, and in need of, being supplemented in many ways. It is hoped that the systematic ex cavations begun lately in India in the ancient Greek dominions will produce a rich harvest of coin-legends, and will be lucrative also in other analogous respects. May a propitious star guide the archaeological expedition lately started to those localities under Cunningham's skilful direction, and may thereby the conception of a C or p us in
as intellectual products found their way through commerce from the East to the West; but although the influence of the West upon India may have
dominated in pre-Christian times, it seems, on the other hand, that in post-Christian ones (exceptions of course also existing) Hindu influence upon the West had conversely a stronger current. Many
possessions which had originally come to the Hindus from the West now again migrated back,
but in the new shape which they had meanwhile assumed in India.
Thus it could not fail to happen that numbers of Greek words and names should find their way to
- Even the silver coins of the Guptas show Greek
traits.
- The king of Palibothra, to whom, in the first century of
scription u m Indicarum, executable only in India, appear so feasible to the leading powers of the Indian Government that this pium deside rium, so long and painfully felt in scientific circles,
at last be brought to a completion 1 our era, the shipwrecked Iambulos was brought, “ was a friend of the Hellenes and esteemed their science.” (Lassen, Ind. Alt. K. III. 234.)