VOCABULARY, IN THE Ceylon Portuguese, and English Languages. WITH A SERIES OF Familiar Phrases. BY JOHN CALLAWAY, Wesleyan Missionary. Colombo: PRINTED AT THE WESLEYAN MISSION PRESS. Price six Fanams. 1820. NOTE.. -Few Readers need be informed, that in Portuguese, the vowel, a, is sounded as in the English word, castle; e, like a, in care; i, like ee, in siĉel; 0,-çis sounded like s; and 8, like ng, in am-Neither wor k, are used in Portuguese. The few words in which they are like O, ong. in store; u,'ike oo, in boom found in this work, are from the Dutch. PREFACE. THE following pages are chiefly designed to assist individuals who may be desirous of acquiring the Portuguese Language as usually spoken in Ceylon. The words used in this country are alone adopted; while their pronunciation is expressed as exactly as possible, by the parent alphabet. The orthography, however, seldom varies from that of the best Portuguese Dictionaries. As the Sciences are little known, scientific terms in Ceylon Portuguese have but a limited range. Most of the inflective terminations, also, which abound in the parent tongue, are disused in this. Expressive particles, however, supply their place; and their loss is not to be deplored, as the primary words are elegantly long. Many individuals, it may be observed, from inattention to the true orthography, are accustomed to write Portuguese in the Dutch alphabet. The language in so unsuitable a garb, is sufficient to awaken the suspicion and contempt of a stranger, and has probably given birth to the appelation of" Corrupt Portuguese!" and without close and candid examination, he would, in all probability, as soon suppose it the Otaheitan language in the Roman character, as recognize the features of a legitimate descendent of the Latin. A specimen of the orthography just noticed, may not be uninteresting to the Reader:-. CORRECT. tantoe kasians, e ne toedoe-casiaos, e ne todoly modo, ja lay mode ja papia ne tempoe pasadoe per é pays koem profetos, ne isti traseroe diyes, ja papia per noos koeme soewe Filyoe, kie elle ja faye irdero de toedoe koeses, e tambeen de elle ja forma moendoe. Matt. Cap. IV. 3. papia ne tempo passado per o pais com prophetos, ne istes trazero dias, ja papia per nos com sua Filho, que elle ja fai herdero de tudo couses, e tambem de elle ja forma mundo. Matt. Cap. IV. 3. E akelore tintedoor che- E aquelhora tentador chegaandoe soewe pertoe, e ja gando sua perto ja falla, se tu fala, se toe tem Fieljoe de tem Filho de Deos, ordina que Deoes, ordena kie iesties pêd-istis pedras lo ser feito paõ. res la seer feetoe paams. Derived from so classical a source, and adopting a few nouns only from the other languages of this country, its true orthography is simple, and its musical cadence pleasing to the ear. With thousands of inhabitants, this language is the direct medium of intercouse; and the fact of its having for centuries more than maintained its ground, under circumstances which have been fatal to other tongues, in addition to what has been remarked, is no contemptible evidence of its intrinsic worth. This little work, submitted to the observation and candour of the Reader, will render, it is bel eved, an essent al service to those who wish to learn a language the easiest, perhaps, of any to acquire-while the importance of its acquisition is suggested by daily experience. |