Chapter NUGGURKOTE to NUMERICAL AFFIXES, CO-EFFICIENTS of N by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

called Nujeeb (literally, Noble) and would not deign to stand sentry or perform any fatiguing duty.”—V. Blacker, Mem. of the Operations in India in 1817–19, page 22.]

NULLAH, s. Hind. nala. A watercourse ; not necessarily a dry watercourse, though this is perhaps more frequently indicated in the Anglo-Indian use.

1776.—“When the water falls in all the nullahs.…”—Halhed’s Code, 52.

c. 1785.—“Major Adams had sent on the 11th Captain Hebbert…to throw a bridge over Shinga nullah.”—Carraccioli, Life of Clive, i. 93.

1789.—“The ground which the enemy had occupied was entirely composed of sandhills and deep nullahs.…”—Munro, Narrative, 224.

1799.—“I think I can show you a situation where two embrasures might be opened in the bank of the nullah with advantage.”—Wellington, Despatches, i. 26.

1817.—“On the same evening, as soon as dark, the party which was destined to open the trenches marched to the chosen spot, and before daylight formed a nullah…into a large parallel.”—Mill’s Hist. v. 377.

1843.—“Our march tardy because of the nullahs. Watercourses is the right name, but we get here a slip-slop way of writing quite contemptible.”—Life of Sir C. Napier, ii. 310.

1860.—“The real obstacle to movement is the depth of the nullahs hollowed out by the numerous rivulets, when swollen by the rains.”—Tennent’s Ceylon, ii. 574.

NUMDA, NUMNA, s. Hind. namda, namda, from Pers. namad, [Skt. namata]. Felt ; sometimes a woollen saddle-cloth, properly made of felt. The word is perhaps the same as Ar. namat,‘a coverlet,’ spread on the seat of a sovereign, &c.

[1774.—“The apartment was full of people seated on Næmets (felts of camel hair) spread round the sides of the room.…”—Hanway, Hist. Account of British Trade, i. 226.]

1815.—“That chief (Temugin or Chingiz), we are informed, after addressing the Khans in an eloquent harangue, was seated upon a black felt or nummud, and reminded of the importance of the duties to which he was called.”—Malcolm, H. of Persia, i. 410.

[1819.—“A Kattie throws a nunda on his mare.”—Trans. Lit. Soc. Bo. i. 279.]

1828.—“In a two-poled tent of a great size, and lined with yellow woollen stuff of Europe, sat Nader Koolee Khan, upon a coarse numud.…”—The Kuzzilbash, i. 254.

[1850.—“The natives use (for their tents) a sort of woollen stuff, about half an inch thick, called ‘numbda.’…By the bye, this word ‘numbda’ is said to be the origin of the word nomade, because the nomade tribes used the same material for their tents” (!)—Letter in Notes and Queries, 1st ser.i.342.]

NUMERICAL AFFIXES, CO-EFFICIENTS, or DETERMINATIVES,¹ What is meant by these expressions can perhaps be best elucidated by an extract from the Malay Grammar of the late venerable John Crawfurd:

“In the enumeration of certain objects, the Malay has a peculiar idiom which, as far as I know, does not exist in any other language of the Archipelago. It is of the same nature as the word ‘head,’ as we use it in the tale of cattle, or ‘sail’ in the enumeration of ships ; but in Malay it extends to many familiar objects. Alai, of which the original meaning has not been ascertained, is applied to such tenuous objects as leaves, grasses, &c. ; Batang, meaning ‘stem,’ or ‘trunk,’ to trees, logs, spears, and javelins ; Bantak, of which the meaning has not been ascertained, to such objects as rings ; Bidang, which means ‘spreading’ or ‘spacious,’ to mats, carpets, thatch, sails, skins, and hides ; Biji, ‘seeds,’ to corn, seeds, stones, pebbles, gems, eggs, the eyes of animals, lamps, and candlesticks,” and so on. Crawfurd names 8 or 9 other terms, one or other of which is always used in company with the numeral, in ennumerating different classes of objects, as if, in English, idiom should compel us to say ‘two stems of spears,’ ‘four spreads of carpets,’ ‘six corns of diamonds.’ As a matter of fact we do speak of 20 head of cattle, 10 file of soldiers 100 sail of ships, 20 pieces of cannon, a dozen stand of rifles. But still the practice is in none of these cases obligatory, it is technical and exceptional ; insomuch that I remember, when a boy, in old Reform-Bill days, and when disturbances were expected in a provincial town, hearing it stated by a well-informed lady that a great proprietress in the neighbourhood was so alarmed that she had ordered from town a whole stand of muskets !

To some small extent the idiom occurs also in other European languages, including French and German. Of French I don’t remember any example now except tête (de betail), nor of German except Stück, which is, however, almost as universal as the Chinese piecey. A quaint example dwells in my memory of a German courier, who, when asked whether he had any