He was the first to treat the grammar systematically. He pointed out with sufficient accuracy the case-endings of nouns,[661] and explained that, in common with Finnish, they distinguished more cases than the Indo-European languages, such as the allative and the locative. He showed that there was no distinction of gender, and that the adjectives had the same case-endings as the nouns. He explained that the plural was formed by the addition of _pa_ (which, however, ought to have been _p_, _pe_, or _ip_), and that the case-ending was suffixed to it. He distinguished the pronouns with tolerable correctness, and showed their relationship to the Tartar languages. He also proved that the analogies with these languages are more obvious in the verb than in the other parts of speech. He has given an admirable transcript of the Median text of the Behistun inscription in eight plates, accompanied by a transliteration that shows a remarkable improvement on all previous efforts, though of course it has since undergone considerable alteration. His translation follows the rendering of the Persian column made by Rawlinson, and has received little alteration from later scholars. He brought his essay to a close by giving the Median transliteration and translation of the remaining inscriptions, including two that were lately found by Mr. Loftus at Susa, and which now appear for the first time. The unilingual at Persepolis was at length intelligibly rendered. Westergaard had made out its general purport; but even this imperfect result escaped the efforts of De Saulcy.[662] The last paragraph was, however, found one of unusual difficulty, and Norris suggested two alternative versions: 1. ‘Ormuzd, protect me, with all the gods, and also this fortress. Moreover, do not doubt that those confined in this place are wicked men;’ or 2. ‘Ormuzd, protect me, with all the gods, and also this fortress and what is enclosed therein. This do not doubt that the wicked men will be punished.’ In 1879, Oppert reads the same passage: ‘Que me protège Ormazd avec tous les Dieux, et cette forteresse, et aussi ce qui est dans cette forteresse. Que jamais je ne voie ce que l’homme méchant souhaite [que je voie]!’ The latest attempt was made by Weisbach, in 1890, and runs thus: ‘Mich möge Ahuramazda mit allen Göttern schützen, und diese Festung, und wiederum zu diesem Platze...! Das möge er nicht sehen (?), das, was der feindliche Mann ersinnt!’[663] The work of Norris excited some controversy, and Holtzmann was especially concerned to refute the Finnic-Tartar hypothesis. M. Haug revived the theory of its closer relationship to Turkish, proposed by De Saulcy, and he suggested that the Persians themselves were originally Tartars.[664]