In ordinary sentences, as IXoifs&ofej^agrandhamu unnadi 'there is a book' ■sp'p§cojj)|6 vdnilci tslini ' to him I gave it' Tfc«j£»fcS;S'A~» 3j&> chhandamu anaga yemi 'what is Prosody?' they would direct us to spell these words thus; IXo^s&c&^a grandhani'unnadi, -sypSJ^p vanik'istini, ^oaoa^oK^Sa chhandambanangan emi. ThiR mode of spelling would be correct in poetry; but in common life no one uses it; and if we wish to be intelligible, we must use the common dialect. The two dialects differ almost as much as ancient and modern Greek: and were a resident in Athens, to attempt to transact business in ancient Greek (using likewise poetical elision!) he would not easily be understood: nor will the Telugus understand us, unless we speak and,write as they do. These remarks are made in consequence of the publication, by natives at Madras, of some small works on Grammar and on religion, which by using poetical rules are rendered hard to understand.*
On Accent.
The accent accords with the spelling; and is easily understood. In words that consist of short syllables the accent falls on the first, thus T^y®puli 'a tiger' *S padi ' ten' °J?>«*>a enimidi 'eight' * P pa. ni 'work' would in English spelling be pulley, puddy, ennimiddi, punny.
When a long and short syllable come together, the accent falls on the long: thus Om-°~1j iteh 'a spear' "^wssm paoiu * a snake.'
When long syllables come together the accent falls on the last. Thus S^°^3,, kuda 'together.' The following instances of the accent may suffice: and to each is appended an English or Latin word of similar sound. "w& sari (Surrey) 'right.' r5^ sama(summa) 'even.' «4j ata (utter) 'they say.' sfcrf mani (money) ' a jewel.' ^S hari (hurry) 'a certain name.' 5"? cala (colour) 'a ray.' W$ pusi (pussey) 'rheum.' -38 cheri (cherry) 'each, apiece,' sS>& madi (muddy) 'a field.' "So" tera (terror) 'a curtain.' ty® puli (pulley) 'a tiger.' •S'SS'sSso satacam (shuttercome) ' a set of one hundred stanzas.'
- Writers regarding China have noticed that a similar pedantry prevails there; grammarians considering the language of common life wholly beneath their notice.
