Grammar of the Sindhi Language Compared with the Sanskrit, Prakrit and the Cognate Indian Vernaculars

Ernest Trumpp was born at Ilsfeld, in Wurtemberg, on March 13, 1828. After schooling at Heilsbronn, he entered the University of Tubingen. In 1848, he passed the Theological examinations. His main interest was, however, in the languages and in this quest he visited France, Italy and England. He settled for sometime in England where he privately taught Latin and German, before returning to Germany where he entered the service of the German Missionary Society. In 1854, he proceeded to Karachi, in Sind, to carry out linguistic researches. His health, however, forced him to leave Karachi after a year and he visited Palestine where he learnt spoken Arabic. He returned to Karachi but had to leave again for Europe. In 1862 he revisited India to learn the language of the Afghans at Peshawar, where he could stay for only eighteen months. Dr. Trumpp lectured at Tubingen on Oriental languages, and was appointed by the University of Munich to the Chair of Semitic Language and Literature. In 1883, he became blind as a result of over-work and died on April 2, 1885. A devoted linguist, Trumpp had mastered a number of Oriental languages including Sindhi, Sanskrit, Hindi, Ethiopic and Arabic.