e Gonga _toko_.
_Kat,_ "the hand." Compare Gonga _kiso_.
_Si,_ "the eye."
_Pi,_ "the ear." Compare Magyar _ful_.
_Gula,_ "great." Compare Galla _guda_.
_Tura,_ "little." Compare Gonga _tu_ and Galla _tina_.
_Kelga,_ "powerful."
_Ginn,_ "first."
_Mis,_ "many." Compare Agau _minch_ or _mench_.
_Gar,_ "to do."
_Egir,_ "after." Compare Hhamara (Abyssinian) _igria_.

The grammar of this language is still but very little known. The
conjugations of verbs are said to be very intricate and difficult, a
great variety of verbal forms being from the same root as in Hebrew, by
means of preformatives. Number and person in the verbs are marked by
suffixes--the third person singular (masculine) by _bi_ (compare Gonga
_bi,_ "he"), or _ani_ (compare Galla _enni,_ "he"), the third person
plural by _bi-nini_.

The accusative case in nouns is marked by a postposition, _ku_, as in
Hindustani. The plural of pronouns and substantives is formed sometimes
by reduplication. Thus _ni_ is "him," while _nini_ is "them;" and
_Chanaan, Yavnan, Libnan_ seem to be plural forms from _Chna, Yavan_ and
_Liban_.

A curious anomaly occurs in the declension of pronouns.' When accompanied
by the preposition kita, "with," there is a tmesis of the preposition,
and the pronouns are placed between its first and second syllable; e.g.
vi, him''-ki-ni-ta, "with him." This takes place in every number and
person, as the following scheme will show:--

1st person. 2d person. 3d person.

Sing. _ki-mu-ta_ _ki-zu-ta_ _ki-ni-ta_
(with me) (with thee) (with him)

Plur. _ki mi-ta_ _ki zu-nini-ta_ _ki-nini-ta_
(with us) (with you) (with them)

N. B.--The formation of the second person plural deserves attention. The
word _zu-nini_ is, clearly, composed of the two elements, _zu,_ "thee,"
and _nini,_ "them"--so that instead of having a word for "you," the
Chaldaeans employed for it the periphrasis "thee-them"! There is, I
believe, no known language which presents a parallel anomaly.

Such are the chief known features of this interesting but difficult form
of speech. A specimen may now be given of the mode in which it was
written. Among the earliests of the monuments hitherto discovered are a
set of bricks bearing the following cuneiform inscription [PLATE VI.,
Fig. 3]:

This inscription is explained to mean:--"Beltis, his l