will come. There do you sand-underneath go and hide yourself quietly;
ingnar dàm-ji dòkdòk-lo-te, la-arme
the elephant to go is-making-ready-when, its tail (to)
rip-hèt-ra nàng-poho-pèn nàng-so
holding on tightly your-turban-with your child
che-vàm-phòng-hèt-nòn. Lale ingnar nàng-arju-lo-te, 'Ne-ta
to your waist bind firmly. There the elephant you asks if, 'I also
ha ne-peso alòng nàng-kechedun-ji' pu-ra pu-nòn. Ànke
to my-wife's place am going along with you' saying say. Then
menàp arni-kàngsàm-si nàngtum le-po. Nàngke
to-morrow in the afternoon you both will arrive. Do you
làng-kung-le dokòk-non. Ànke nàng-peso
the-river-bank-on wait. Then your wife
làng-kepànglu-ji-aphàn abàn-atum asòt-atum
with-water-to-bathe-for-the-purpose her male slaves her female slaves
làng nàng-sòk-po. Ànke 'oso-aphàn làng-ejoi-pèt
water will-draw-there. Then 'For the child water one draught only
ne pi-tha' pura hàng-dun-nòn. Ànke làng nàng-pi-lo-te
me give' saying call out. Then water you-give-if,
thibuk-arlo nàng-ser-arnàn jòk-dun-thòt-nòn. Ànke nàng-phàn
the water pot-into your-gold-ring drop in. Then for you
nàng-hàng-po: ànke dun-nòn: kele-pèn nàng-sopo
there she will call: then go with them: on arriving your child
o-dàm-kòk-nòn; ànke oso ape-alòng
set down on the ground; then the child its mother-towards
chedàmpo." Ànsi adàp ingthàng-lo: chodèt jundèt
will go of itself." So the morning dawned: having eaten and drunk
H. K. ha làng-kung dàmsi sàngti-arlo
H. K. to the river bank having gone under the sand
chipatu-dàm-joi-lo. Ànsi ingnar làng
went and hid himself quietly. Then the elephant in the river
nàng-chinglu-ji vànglo. Ànke chinglu-dèt dàmji dòkdòklo. H. K.
there to bathe came. Then having bathed to go it made ready. H. K.
arme rip-dun-lòk-si, apoho-pèn a-so
its tail holding-on-tight-to, his turban-with his child
che-vàm-phòng-dèt-lo. Ànsi ingnar ha sining
tied firmly to his waist. Then the elephant to heaven flew up,
ingjar-pòn-lo, ànsi ha làng-kung o-dàm-kòk-lo. Ànke
taking him with him, and there on the river bank set him down. Then
Mòn Recho-atum-ta H. K. apeso-pèn asopo nàng-kapàngri-ji-si
Mon Raja's people also H. K's wife-with his son in order to marry
Bari-the Recho ahèm vànglo. Ànsi Bari-the Recho
great palace King's house (to) had come. Then great-palace King's
abàn-atum asòt-atum H. K. apeso
male slaves female slaves H. K.'s wife
làng-kapànglu-ji-aphàn làng nàng-kesòk-ji vànglo. Ànsi
with-water-to-bathe-for-the-purpose water there to draw came. Then
H. K. asopo-aphàn làng hàng-pi-dun-lo: "Làng ejoi-pèt
H. K. his child-for water begged them to give: "Water one draught only
ne-pi-tha ne-sopo-aphàn, pe-marli." Ànsi inut-ta pi-pe
give me my son-for, good mothers." Then one-even would not give
inut-ta pi-pe. Ànsi aphi-si sarpi nàng-dun-lo: ànsi
one-even would not give. Then at last an old woman came up to them: then
hàng-dun-thu-lo H. K.-- "Làng ejoi-pèt ne pi-tha, pe-arnàm-pi,
called out again H. K.-- "Water one draught only me give, good Madam,
ne-sopo aphàn." Ànsi sarpi làng pi-lo; thibuk
my-child-for." Then the old woman water gave him; the water-jar
pheroidun pelèm-pelàm-si, H. K. ser arnàn jòk-dun-thòt-lo. Ànsi
to touch making as though, H. K. gold ring dropped into it. So
H. K. apeso làng-pànglu-lo: a-ri a-kèng
H. K.'s wife they bathed with water: her arms her legs
chàm-èt aphi-si sarpi-alàng-thibuk aphu
washing-beautifully after the old woman's water-jar her head (over)
nàng-dunglo: ser-arnàn nàng-klo-bup. Ànsi H. K. apeso
they poured there: the gold ring there fell out. Then H. K.'s wife
pulo-- "Ai! nàng chele-dun-tànglo komàtching alàng-thibuk ma?"
said-- "Oh! here has arrived to us whose in the world water-jar?"
pu bisar-lo. Ànsi inut-ta-- "Ne thibuk kali" inut-ta--
saying she enquired. Then one-- "My jar it is not," another--
"Ne thibuk kali" pulo. Ànsi "sarpi a-thibuk"
"My jar it is not" said. Then "(it is) the old woman's jar"
pu-hur-lo. Ànsi sarpi-aphàn pulo-- "Konàtsi nàng bàngso
they all said. So to the old woman she said-- "Where did you this
arnàn kelòng-lòk? Labàngso arlèng èn-dàm-nòn! La-le nàng vàn
ring get hold of? That man go and fetch! Him if you bring
thèk-the-dèt, tàngte nàng pràn!" pulo. Ànsi
cannot, then (it is a matter of) your life!" she said. Then
sarpi chiru chernàp-si H. K. alòng dàm-lo, ànsi
the old woman weeping lamenting towards H. K. went, and
hàng-dàm-lo-- "Ne-dun ik-nòn: kopi-apòtsi 'Làng
called out to him-- "With me be pleased to come: for what reason 'Water
ne pi-tha' si pu-te ne-pràn ne-mui ne-kapedàm-ji-le
me give' this having said my life (doublet) me to cause to lose
matha-thuròng-ma?" Ànsi H. K. aso chibu-si
did you have it in your mind?" So H. K. his child carrying on his back
dun-lo. Kelepèn oso o-dàm-kòk-lo. Ànsi
went with her. On arriving the boy he set down on the ground. Then
oso kàt-tàng-tàng-si ape cherbàk dàm-kràp-lo, ànsi
the boy running straightway his mother's lap (into) climbed up, and
mòk chu-lo.
her breast sucked.
Ànsi Bari-the Recho pulo: "Ai! abidi thèk-the-lo!
Then the great palace King said: "Oh! a thing never seen before!
a-so-si chi-pethe-ràp-tàng-dèt-lo-le-ma?" Ànsi
a child-even have they got great between them already?" Then
Mòn-Recho-atum theràk-lo ingringlo: mòn-duk mòn-sa hèm
Mon-Raja's people were ashamed, were disgusted: grieved and sorry home
chevoi-lo. Ànsi H. K. pèn Bari-the-Recho asopi
they returned. Then (of) H. K. and great palace King's daughter
pàngri-lo pàngdòn-lo.
they celebrated the wedding.
Ànsi ningkàn-isi ningkàn-hini do-dun-si tiki-lo
So year-one year-two living with them he laboured in the fields
inghoi-lo, ànsi puru-krehini phàndar-krehini lòng-lo. Ànsi H. K.
and worked, and granaries-twelve barns-twelve got. Then H. K.
apeso aphàn chipulo: "Ai nàng pi! ili-ta vo-phri asòn
his wife-to said privately: "O my dear! we two also sparrows-like
vo-thung asòn e-tar àn-ke do, e-thòn an-ke do;
doves-like a nest at least have, a roosting-place at least have;
apòtke chedàm-po-nàng: ònghai pèn anihai
therefore let us go away together: father-in-law and mother-in-law
arju-nòn." Ànsi aningve H. K. apeso ape apo
ask." So that night H. K.'s wife her mother her father
cherjulo: "Ai pe pèn po! nàngli osa kepu-ke:
asked privately: "O mother and father! your son-in-law says:
'ili-ta vo-phri asòn vo-thung-asòn e-tar ànke do,
'we two also sparrows-like doves-like a nest at least have,
e-thòn ànke do: ònghai pèn anihai
a roosting-place at least have: father-in-law and mother-in-law
arju-nòn: chedam po-nàng'-- pusi pu: Nàngtum kopi abida-si
ask: let us go away together'-- so he says: Ye what order
ne phar-dun-po-ma?" Ànsi Bari-the-Recho pulo-- "Che pe!
me will command?" Then palace-great-King said-- "O daughter!
lo-thui asòn hànthui asòn eboi-si nàng
a bundle of greens like, a bundle of vegetables like, once for all you
chochòk-palar chothèng-palar tàng-dèt-lo-le-ma. Minàp-le
given away, or in exchange (doublet) completely I have. On the morrow
dàm-tha chidun, mini-le dàm-tha chidun." Ànsi apo pu-thu-lo:
go away together, to-day go away together." Then her father said again:
"Kopisi nàngtum kari-ma? bàn-ma? sòt-ma? armo-ma?
"What do you desire of me? male slaves? female slaves? ryots?
òkso-ma? ser-ma? rup-ma?" Ànsi H. K. che-thàn-dàm lo: "Ai nàngpo!
husbandmen? gold? silver?" So H. K. she went and told: "O my dear!
ne-pe pèn ne-po kepu-ke-- 'mini-le dàm-tha minàp-le
my mother and my father say-- 'this very day go away to-morrow
dàm-tha chi-dun-ta-me; aphuthàk, bàn-ma? sòt-ma? armo-ma?
go away together if you like; moreover, slaves? handmaids? ryots?
òkso-ma? ser-ma? rup-ma? Kopisi nàngtum kari-ma?' pusi pu." Ànsi
cultivators? gold? silver? What do you desire?' they say." Then
H. K. pulo: "Thàngta nàngne." Ànsi adàplo. Ànsi H. K.
H. K. said: "Anything I need not." So it became morning. Then H. K.
anipi pèn ahupo ardòm-lo ardi-lo.
his mother-in-law and his father-in-law saluted respectfully (doublet).
Ànsi ahupo pulo: "Kopisi nangli kari-ma? bàn-ma, sòt-ma,
And his father-in-law said: "What do you desire? slaves, handmaids,
armo-ma, òkso-ma, ser-ma, rup-ma?" Ànsi H. K. pulo "Thàngta nàngne."
ryots, cultivators, gold, silver?" Then H. K. said "I need nothing."
Ànsi H. K. atum pèngnànso tàngte asopo
So H. K. and his wife the wedded pair and also their son
hèm chedàm-lo ànsi hèm chile-lo. Recho cholo kethe
started for home and arrived there. A king he became, a great one
cholo, jo-arni me, jo-arni the, ànsi
he became, night and day he was happy, night and day he was great, and
arecho akethe thirlo.
his kingdom was great and stable.
NOTES.
This story is a much more elaborate piece of composition than the
last, and may be said to exhibit distinct marks of literary style. Its
vocabulary is copious and varied, and it makes large use of a device
which is employed in Mikir, as in Khasi, [42] to give amplitude to
the phrase by duplicating the leading words; nearly every important
term has its doublet, with the same meaning, following it.
Amehàng-kethèk-pèn-apara: amehàng-kethèk, "to see the face," is
equivalent to "being born"; pèn and apara, the latter borrowed from the
Assamese para, have the same signification, and the latter is really
superfluous. Phàk-lèng, shortened for phàk-belèng, "wild boar"; see
the explanation of the term in the notes to No. I, p. 94. Tiki-ke
inghoi-he: notice that both verbs are given in the negative form;
this is unusual.
Màn, "perquisites"; Assamese loan-word.
Kove, "betel-nut," Khasi kwai, Ass. guwa. Chidhir, "spirit," the
doublet of aràk (itself a Hindi loan-word) is perhaps the Khasi
kiad-hiar. Notice how, instead of using the ordinal numbers for
second, third, fourth, and fifth brothers, the father employs clumsy
periphrases to indicate the sequence. Phàndar, "store," Ass. loan-word
(bhandar).
A-bàn a-sòt: in this doublet the second member, sòt, properly means
"female slave"; a similar use of a word of different meaning as a
duplicate term will be found below (p. 129), where a-mèk "his eye"
is followed by a-no "his ear," the meaning being "his eyes."
Kado-kave, literally, "being-not-being," a periphrasis for "all
of them." Miso, "a black ant," used verecundiæ causâ for rèk,
"louse." Notice the idiom pe-ma-pe-lo, where the insertion of ma
between the repeated roots indicates the time during which an act
is done.
An-tàngte, "and also," literally, "so much not finished." Phere
nàng-ne: nàng is the verb of necessity, ne the negative particle:
"there is no need for fear." Promàn, "proof," Ass.
Chitu, the plant called in Assamese puroi-sak, Basella lucida; its
fruit has a red juice.
Arlèng ki-i, "a sleeping man": observe that arlèng here evidently
means a human being in general (see note, p. 4). Àn-cho-mèk-bur:
see note, p. 96. Vàng-noi; noi is a variant of nòn, imperative
particle. Chir-epàk: "one spear"; notice that the generic class-word
for flat things, pàk, is used with chir, a spear, referring of course
to the head only.
Da in Da-nàng seems to be a shortened imperative of dàm, to go. Arlu-ra
tòk-dàm-nòn: notice how arlu, usually a postposition (= up in),
becomes a verb when necessary; similarly, further on, in e-kòr
tàngdèt, kòr, "brother," is furnished directly with the suffix for
the past tense; e- and i- are used interchangeably for the pronoun
of the 1st person plural inclusive; the second is perhaps employed
when the vowel-harmony calls for it. Tòng-ràp-chòm: ràp, "to help,"
is employed as an adverbial supplement to indicate that two persons
do the same thing together; chòm is a doublet of ràp. Patèng, paju,
words for a second wife.
Bhin kali, bha kali: bhin is Ass. bahin, sister; bha, must be
Ass. bhai, brother, but is used as a doublet of bhin.
Notice the energetic reduplication of the negative in
plàng-ple-ple-le. Pinso, male, virile, "worthy of being called men."
Kopi tàng-a "what are you saying?" tànga is only used in this way as a
question, as tàngho (see above, p. 100) is used in carrying a message,
for pu, to say.
Bòr-i-dèt-si "with great difficulty"; bòr-i-bòr-a, "by hook or
by crook."
Arlen-thu-ròng, matha-thu-ròng: arlèn is "to aim at," matha "to think
about"; thu a particle meaning "again," and ròng one of the affixes
indicating the plural. Chiru-rap-jo-si: jo is an affix indicating
the plural.
Nàng-bàng-do? "are you there?" lit. "is your body (bàng) present?" Kopi
kevàng ma po? po, "father," is used as an endearing word in addressing
a son, or as here a grandson (see ante, pp. 99, 101).
Sòk is paddy, rice in the husk; sàng is rice freed from husk and
ready for cooking; àn is boiled rice; te, a verb, "to spread out
paddy to dry."
"Harlo," a verb, "to turn over" (the spread-out paddy); rèng, a verb,
of the spread-out paddy, "to become dry"; oi, a verb, "to collect into
a heap" the dried paddy. Làng-thàk nàng-dàm-si nàng-làng-dàm-ji-làng:
in this sentence the word làng, which occurs thrice, has three
different significations: the first làng is a noun, "water, river";
the second is a verb, "to see, look at"; the third làng is an auxiliary
verb, "to continue doing, or being," used here pleonastically.
Ser, rup, "gold, silver," see note, p. 111, ante. Notice the rare form
nèng for ne, "I"; nasals seem occasionally to be added or dropped at
will at the end of words: e.g. da and dàm, "go"; òng and o, "much,
many"; la and làng, auxiliary verb. Komàt-ching-a-lànghe ne: ching is
a particle strengthening the interrogative komàt,--"who-ever?" lànghe,
a ghat or watering place: ne the interrogative particle borrowed from
Assamese, = ma in Mikir.
Bari-the Recho, "king of the Great Palace"; bari, "a large house,"
loan-word from Assamese: the, "great."
Nàng-klo-èt-jo "there they descended beautifully"; klo, "to fall or
sink down from a height"; èt a syllable indicating beauty or charm;
Mr. Stack notes that it is perhaps connected with the word ètpi,
"yellow, golden"; it is also used as an affectionate form of address
in èt-mar-li, "my dears!" jo, plural affix. Kàn, a ceremonious word
for clothes; the ordinary expression is pe or ri. Sun-phit: phit
means "all at once," "suddenly." Tur, "the brightness, splendour"
(of the moon and sun).
The syllable jin in arni ingsàm-jin-lo indicates the day gradually
drawing on to evening. Apòr-lo: notice the verbal affix -lo appended
to the noun pòr, "time." Bèng, "to house animals for the night." Hijir,
"to shake out," as a bird its wings before starting to fly.
Phlum-phlum, onomatopoetic adverb imitating the sound of flapping;
i, "to put on one's clothes": a-ri kachi-i, "he is putting on his
dhoti"; pini kachi-i, "she is putting on her petticoat"; in this
sense the verb i takes lòk as its constant adverbial supplement:
when it means "to lie down," "to sleep," it takes lòt. Observe how
the distributive force of the sentence is expressed by repeating
the whole phrase. Angphun chepekèk-koi "he made his neck (ingphun)
crooked (kèk-dàng or kèk-juk)"; koi, a particle meaning "completely,
altogether." Èn "take," and kim, "build," both mean "to marry"; the
latter implies the building of a separate house for the newly wedded
couple, or perhaps the wedding bower.
Arlèng-aso: notice that here the word arlèng evidently means a human
being, opposed to arnàm-aso, the child of a divine person. Pàn,
"to cut down and clear the jungle for cultivation." Làng-ding
"continue to watch": ding a particle of continuance (cf. keding,
tall, long). Pàn-dèt pi-dèt; here pi has the sense of "to cut down"
(a tree, or something thick): so also thi. Màm, "the jungle." Further
on, in thi-ròk-re, thi means "to lie": Pisi dàk-le kethi-ròk-ma? "why
are you lying here?" ròk is an adverbial supplement.
Arche is used of sowing or planting many things together, as here:
to sow or plant only one thing is e: thèngthe ke-e, "he is sowing
maize"; sòk ke-rik, "he is sowing rice broad-cast"; sòk ke-e,
"he is transplanting rice." Mir-phèk-e: mir, "flower," phèk-e,
"rice-husks": "a flower that grows out of heaps of rice-husks;
has a long narrow leaf and a flower which is red and white mixed"
(Stack); tado, "a kind of white lily or arum with a yellow style"
(id.). Keme-thèk-the-òng puke: "so (puke) beautiful (keme) excessively
(òng) as never was seen (thèk-the)." Vàng-phlòt: phlòt: a particle
indicating suddenness. Teràn, an individual plot, as distinguished from
the rit or general field. E-kòrpo H. K. ateràn-le-ma: kòrpo, "cousin
(mother's brother's son)," also indicates the relationship between
a woman and her sister's husband; here of course it is used in the
latter sense, proleptically; it is characteristic of this story-teller
that he discloses the dénouement of his tale well in advance. Notice
the idiom -le -ma, "it must be," an indirect question = "is it not?"
Pòngsi, Ass. bansi, "a flute," made of a piece of bamboo; èt, to bore
a hole. Che-èt-o "he (cut and) bored holes in a number of flutes";
o seems to be a shortened form of òng, many: hem kim-o, "they built
a number of huts"; ne vo nàm-o-lo, "I have bought a lot of fowls."
Ju-me-òng, "it is very good to hear": ju is shortened from arju:
the prefix ar- is separable in this word and in arni, "day, sun,"
arlòng "stone," and several other words, which appear in composition
as ni and lòng, etc.; it seems probable that it is connected with the
Tibetan prefix r-, to which the Mikir relative particle, a-, has been
prefixed. Notice nitum for netum, possibly by vowel-harmony with the
following words mir and chilòk. Chilòk-pòn ningke-ma: observe that this
phrase stands both for the request and its answer--ningke, "willing";
ning, "mind";--ma is thus not only the interrogative particle, but
also indicates its corresponding affirmative reply. A-mèk, a-no,
"eyes and ears" = eyes only. Mini, menàp (minàp), alternative terms
for pini, penàp, "to-day, to-morrow."
Do-àngse-lo = do-koi-lo, "have all got."
Mòn Recho, probably shortened for Tomòn-Recho; tomòn, "wind." Rai-dun,
special verb for "to ask in marriage." Bòng, "gourd for holding
beer"; te, doublet. Thàk, "to weave." Thàn chèk, "to explain"; chèk
strengthens verbs for imparting information. Aning aròng kedo: ròng,
"delight," Ass. loan-word.
Notice again amèk ano for "eyes" only.
Tòk, a verb with the general meaning "to thrust, poke"; used already
above (p. 116) for thrusting with a spear; here for pounding the rice
with a long pestle (lèngpum) in the mortar (lòng); another sense is
"to write" ("to poke with a pen"). Sèt, "to give the half-cleaned rice
a second pounding." Dàng, "to serve up the cooked food." Be "to heat
the fermented rice"; sòr, "to press out the beer" from the grains,
mixed with warm water, which have been put in the conical strainer
of woven bamboo, si, by pressing down upon them a gourd, bòng.
Rèp seems to be a variant of ràp (explained above, p. 118), and
indicates that all of them have been married together. Chàn-jai,
"to have several children."
Pangri-re-dèt-làng-le-ma; here again two verbs each have the negative
affix, pàngri and làng, the latter an auxiliary signifying "to continue
to be." Pàngri in the sense "to marry," is the causal of ingri, "to
drink copiously of liquor"; the description of the marriage ceremony
at p. 18 shows the important part which is taken in it by alcoholic
drinks. Ingting-po, "it will be dark": observe the impersonal use
of the verb, without a substantive: we may say ajo kàngting-par,
"the night is very dark."
Nàng-làng-phròng-si-do-po; phròng is one of the particles used to
indicate plurality: "they will all be looking out for (làng) us there
(nàng)." Bòm, one of the verbs indicating continuance may be rendered
"from time to time."
A-ri su-ri-tha, a-kèng su-ri-tha: this injunction not to touch the hand
or foot of the fairy princess has different parallels in other lands;
in the Celebes version referred to on p. 72 it is the hair that is
not to be touched. Pe-re, causal of re, "to be knowing, clever." Ur,
a platform or screen for drying flesh in the sun; ràp includes also
a shelf in the house.
Krèng, to be dry, bears the same relation to rèng, dry (ante, p. 122),
as klàng (p. 99), to perceive, does to làng, to look at; in both the
prefix ke- has apparently been incorporated in the root.
Chedàm-ta-me "You can go if you like": observe the force of me,
"well, good." Che-me-me-làng: the verb me here seems to be the
Assamese mel, "agreement," not the Mikir word for "good." Observe
the idiomatic expression ningkàn isi-lo-le-ma thi, in answer to an
objection: so one says, in reply to a request for payment, ne nàng
pi-tàng-dèt-lo-le-ma-thi "but I have paid you already!" Observe that
in nàng che-me-me-la the last syllable = làng without its nasal. Aso
Arnàm pi-lo, "God gave a child": possibly this phrase is due to the
narrator, who it will be remembered was a Christian. Ti, a particle
= "not yet reconciled." De, a particle of asseveration, "indeed,"
probably the Assamese dei.
Hèt, a particle used with verbs meaning to tie, bind, in the sense of
"firmly, securely." Dut, a particle used with verbs of scratching
or cutting. Tòng, a particle indicating hurry or haste. Emoke,
"in a little time": mo, "space or interval of time," e-, particle of
unity, as in e-jòn, e-bèng. Pulèm, "to say in joke": pu, "say," lèm,
"seem, pretend." Pràn, Assamese. Pu-pa-na, "don't have to say": na,
Assamese. Nàng-ta-me, ne-ta-me, idiomatic, "it will be well with
you or it will be well with me," i.e. "either you or I will come
off the better." Dohai, "an oath"; probably the Assamese dohai,
"call for justice": seme (the Khasi smai) is also used.
Bòp, to shoot a bird or animal; àp, to let off a bow or gun.
Dòk-dòk, particles used to indicate that an event has nearly happened
(with ji, future affix). To, imperative particle borrowed from Khasi,
and prefixed, as in that language.
Pai-a-re "beside the hedge (pai)" = pai-a-kung. Cho-phi; the
Mikirs scorch (phi) every bird or animal before preparing it for
cooking. Chònghoi, reflexive form of inghoi, "to do," = "to do
by themselves." A-ri-e-hòng: hòng is the generic class-word for a
limb (see ante, p. 79). Ingthàn, "to cut up fish or flesh, whether
raw or cooked." Chingnèk reflexive of ingnèk, to laugh, "laughing
together." Chingni, reflexive of ingni, doublet of ingnèk; the verb
also means "to sit."
Puthòt-adàp-lo; puthòt, "next": cf. le-thòt in adàk-vàm a-dun-lethòt on
p. 114 above; the time-affix -lo is joined directly to adàp, "morning."
A-ràt, a-dèt, both Assamese loan-words; ràt is raiyat, "ryots," dèt,
deh, "country." Chethòr-pre, vàng-pre, are both used for "continually
coming and going, of many people"; the former expression indicates
greater numbers and frequency than the latter. Pòng-ting, "a gold drum,
worn on the breast, strung in the middle of a set of strings on which
black, coral, and gold beads are arranged in alternate rows six deep"
(Stack); in Assamese madoli. Ni, nèng, te, pinu: see the table of terms
of relationship on p. 20. Apar-ta-so-se-làng: this sentence appears to
be made up thus: apar, "greatly, much," ta, corroborative particle: so,
diminutive particle, negatived by se, làng, auxiliary verb, "continue";
the force of it, then, would be--"the effect would not be only the
poor result you see, fine though that is, but ever so much more!"
Konàt-tòng = konàt-ching, "wherever?" Kopi-athe = kopi-apòt.
Pai-pe-lo: this idiom is illustrated by the following phrases:
klèm-dàm pai-pe-lo, "he is not working gratis, for nothing"; là aklèng
pai-pe-lo, "he is not the elder for nothing"; i.e. he can do better
than his younger brothers. Ingjar-èt-dàn-lo: the element dàn gives
the force of returning to her own place whence she came. Jo, verb,
"to bend a bow," ràng, particle of continuance. Tha, "wait!" Assamese
loan-word. Pho, verb, "to touch, arrive at," as a boat comes to the
shore with chi, "to touch one another, to meet" (see p. 112, lines
1 and 2).
Akhi-lo-du; akhi, "something to eat," lo, "leaf," du, "wrap up," =
"so much food as can be wrapped up in a leaf," a morsel.
E-joi, "one draught"; joi is perhaps Ass. jol, "water." O, verb,
"to leave, set down."
Mòn Recho-atum; notice that here tum has its original sense of
"company"; "Mòn Raja's company, or following."
Pu-hur-lo: hur is one of the particles indicating plurality.
Ne dun-ik-nòn: ik, "elder brother," used as a respectful form of
address; observe its place in the compound imperative. Matha-thuròng,
lit. "you had another (thu) meaning" (viz. to make me lose my
life). Notice how -si, the mark of the conjunctive participle, is
affixed to the reported utterance of H. K. Cherbàk = che-arbàk; arbàk,
the lap or bosom; also a verb: oso karbàk, "she holds the child to
her bosom." Kràp is said to be used only of a child climbing up into
its mother's lap.
Ingring, used as homonym of theràk, "to be ashamed," also means
"to be afraid, disturbed in mind."
Cherju-lo = che-arju-lo. Phar, "to order"; nàng ne kephar aling-lo,
"as you order me"; ne phar-dun peme-sèn-lo, "I gave him careful
instructions." Bida = Ass. bidai, "leave to depart."
Che pe; notice that pe, "mother," is used as an affectionate term of
address to a daughter, exactly as po, "father," is used above to a son
or grandson. Lo-thui-hàn-thui, "a bundle of vegetables, with a leaf
wrapped round it." Chòk and thèng mean literally "to beat," but are
here jocularly used for getting rid of a person. Palar causal of lar,
"to be changed or exchanged," also apparently used jocularly of giving
in marriage.
H. K.-atum: notice the plural affix used to indicate H. K. and his
wife. Cho-lo, "he became"; this seems to be a different verb from cho,
"to eat." Notice a-recho "his kingship"; recho stands for raj as well
as raja. Thir, Ass. thir, "steady, stable."
ADDITIONAL NOTES.
Divisions of time. On p. 95, note, the divisions of the day are
given. To these may be added those of the year, as recorded by
Mr. Stack. A year is ning-kàn (cf. Lushei kum, Shö kun, "year," and
Lushei ni-kum, Thado ningkum, Shö yan-kun, "last year"). A month is
Chiklo, "moon"; but the Assamese months, which are solar divisions of
the year, not lunations, appear to be followed. The days of the month
are not generally counted, and there is said to be no week. (This
is borne out by S. P. Kay's English-Mikir vocabulary, which gives
hopta, the Hindustani hafta, as the word for "week," with ni-thròksi,
"seven days," as an alternative. In the Mikir Primer published by the
American Baptist missionaries in 1903, however, rui is said (p. 21)
to be the word for "week.")
Kechung-apòr (chung, to be cold) is the cold season. Ning-krèng (krèng,
to be dry) is the dry portion of winter. Chung-phàng-òk (chung,
cold; phàng-òk, hot), is the spring, merging into summer. Barla
is the rainy season, followed by Chung-jir-jir ("becoming cold by
degrees") autumn. The following are the names of the months, with
the corresponding Assamese names, as set down by Mr. Stack:--
Literary form. As pronounced in Assam. Mikir names.
Chaitra Soit Thàngthàng
Vaisakha Boihag There
Jyeshtha Jeth Jàngmi
Ashadha Ahar Aru
Sravana Srabon Vosik
Bhadra Bhadur Jakhòng
Aswini Ahin Paipai
Kartika Karti Chiti
Margasirsa Marg Phre
Paushya Poh Phaikuni
Magha Magh Matijòng
Phalguni Phagun Arkoi
According to the Mikir Primer, however, the Mikir names (which agree
with those given by Mr. Stack) correspond with periods earlier by at
least a month, Thàngthàng being the equivalent of February, instead of
Chaitra (which begins at the vernal equinox), and the other months in
ordinary sequence (There, March, Jàngmi, April, etc.). Thàngthàng is
said by Mr. Stack to be called Chànglachòng-ròng-do, "the stay-at-home
month." There is the month in which the jungle is cut and strewn to
dry (this would agree well with the equivalent of the Primer, rather
than with Boihag, April-May, when the firing would take place). Vosik
("sprout") should indicate the month of vigorous growth, when the rains
have set in. Phaikuni seems to be borrowed from the Sanskrit Phalguni,
but does not correspond with it. The other names are not explained.
Musical instruments. A flute, pongsi, cut from a bamboo, is mentioned
on p. 128: pongsi is the Assamese bansi, the well-known instrument
of the youthful Krishna (Bansi-dhar). Other instruments known to the
Mikirs are muri, a fife; chèng, a drum; chèng-brup, the small handdrum
used by the risomar to accompany their dancing at funeral feasts;
and kum, a one-stringed fiddle. The last is made by stretching a
string made from a creeper, màngri, across a gourd, bòng, which
provides an air-chamber. It is played with a bow, kum-aliso (li,
a bow, so, diminutive particle) made of bamboo, the string of which
is a tough fibre of bamboo. (Compare the one-stringed fiddle, pena,
of the Meitheis: Meithei Monograph, p. 56.)
VII.
AFFINITIES.
The place of the Mikirs in the Tibeto-Burman family.
Some idea of the mental equipment of the Arlengs will have been
gathered from the two preceding sections. It has been seen that,
within the limited circle of their experience, they possess a medium
of expression which may be described as adequate to their needs, well
knit together in its mechanism, and copious in concrete terms, though,
like all such languages, wanting in the abstract and general. Their
folk-tales are lively and effective as narratives, and the themes,
though probably borrowed from the great treasury of popular story
elaborated in Peninsular India, have been appropriated and assimilated
to the social conditions of the Mikirs themselves. Little has hitherto
been done to enlarge the resources of the language in the direction of
higher culture, or to use it for the expression of ideas lying beyond
the scope of the tribal life; but there appears to be no reason to
doubt that the language of the Mikirs will be found in the course of
time to be as capable of development for this purpose as the speech
of their neighbours the Khasis. [43]
The leading feature of the race, in contrast with other hill tribes
of Assam, is its essentially unwarlike and pacific character. Its
neighbours--Khasis, Kacharis, Kukis, Nagas--have for centuries
been engaged in continuous internecine strife, and their tribal
individualities have been preserved, and differences accentuated, by
the state of hostility in which each unit, however small, lived with
all adjacent peoples. The Mikirs have always, at least during the
last two centuries, been, as Major Stewart described them in 1855,
"good subjects." Numbering some ninety thousand souls, they are
extremely homogeneous, while other tribes in their neighbourhood
differ in an extraordinary manner from village to village, and
constantly tend to split up into smaller aggregates, looking on all
outsiders as enemies. No such disintegrating influence has affected
the Arlengs. Whether in North Cachar, the Jaintia Hills, Nowgong,
or the Mikir Hills, their tribal institutions, their language, and
their national character are identical, and they pursue their peaceful
husbandry in the same manner as their forefathers, raising in ordinary
years sufficient food for their subsistence, and a considerable amount
of cotton and lac for export to the plains. In these circumstances,
surrounded by warring tribes, and still nomadic in their habits
of cultivation, they have from time to time found it necessary to
place themselves under the protection of stronger peoples. It has
been mentioned in Section I. that the traditions of the race show
that they were formerly subject to the Khasi chiefs of Jaintia
and the eastern states of the Khasi Hills, and that they migrated
thence to the territory subject to the Ahom kings. [44] During their
sojourn in Khasi-land they assimilated much; dress (p. 5), ornaments
(p. 6), personal names (p. 17), methods of divination (pp. 34,
35), funeral ceremonies (pp. 38-42), memorial stones (p. 42), all
come from the Khasis, who have also contributed many words to their
common speech. Borrowings from Hinduism are equally manifest in their
language, their folk-tales, and their religion. Assamese words are
numerous in Mikir; Arnàm Kethe (p. 30) seems to be a translation of
Mahadeva; Jòm-aròng (p. 28), and the ideas linked therewith of an
after-life, are strongly impressed with a Hindu stamp.
Yet they retain, together with these borrowed features, a sufficiently
definite stock of original characteristics. Physically they differ
much from Khasi and Assamese alike. Their social fabric is based
upon clearly marked exogamous groups, with patriarchal principles of
marriage and inheritance; they call these by a Khasi name (kur), but
have no trace of the matriarchal family as known among the Khasis. They
build their houses on posts, while their neighbours, except the Kukis,
build on the ground. Their deities are of the primitive kind which is
common to all Indo-Chinese races, well known, under the name of Nats,
as the object of popular worship and propitiation in Burma.
Ever since the race has been studied, it has been noticed that it
was difficult to establish its exact place and affinities in the
heterogeneous congeries of peoples who inhabit the mountainous
region between India and Burma. This was remarked by Robinson in
1841 and 1849, by Stewart in 1855, by Damant in 1879. At the Census
of 1881 an attempt was made to bring the Mikirs into relation with
the Boro or Kachari stock; but it was seen at the time that more
must be ascertained regarding their neighbours before any final
judgment could be arrived at. Dr. Grierson, on linguistic grounds,
has classed them in the Linguistic Survey as intermediate between the
Boro and the Western Nagas. It appears to the present writer, in the
light of the much fuller information now available, that they should
be classed rather with those tribes which form the connecting link
between the Nagas and the Kuki-Chins, and that the preponderance of
their affinities lies with the latter of these two races, especially
those dwelling in the south of the Arakan Roma range, where the Chin
tends to merge into the Burman of the Irawadi Valley.
When Robinson and Stewart wrote, it was still remembered that the
Mikirs had once been settled in strength in the country (now called
North Cachar) to the immediate north of the Barail Range, and in
contact with the Angami, the Kachcha, and the Kabui Nagas; and that,
exposed as they were in this locality to the inroads of the Angamis and
the oppression of the Kachari kings, they had migrated westwards to the
territory of the Jaintia Raja in search of protection. It was noticed
in the Assam Census Report of 1881 that in this region north of the
Barail, where there are now no Mikirs, local names belonging to their
language indicated their former presence. When they lived there, they
must have been in touch with tribes belonging to the Kuki-Chin stock,
who have for centuries occupied the hill ranges to the south of the
valley of Cachar, and the mountains between that valley and Manipur.
The institutions of co-operative agriculture by the village lads
(p. 11), the bachelors' house or teràng (id.), the former custom
of ante-nuptial promiscuity (p. 19), and the traces of village tabu
resembling the Naga genna, still characterizing the annual festival of
the Ròngker (p. 43), all point to a connection with the Western Naga
tribes, rather than to affinity with the Kachari stock. From the Kuki
and Chin tribes the Mikirs are distinguished chiefly by their pacific
habits, and by the absence of the dependence upon hereditary tribal
chiefs which is so strong a feature among the former. The customs of
both races as regards the building of houses upon posts, with a hong
or open platform in front, are identical; in Major G. E. Fryer's paper
"On the Khyeng people of the Sandoway District, Arakan," published
in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1875 (pp. 39,
99), a Khyeng house is figured which bears a striking resemblance to
the Mikir house. The institutions of domestic and individual life
among the Khyengs (Chins), as described by Major Fryer, especially
as regards marriage, funeral ceremonies, the disposal of the dead
(after copious feasting of friends and relatives) by cremation, the
rules of inheritance (females being wholly excluded from succession),
the treatment of disease, the propitiation of spirits, and the annual
festivals in honour of the gods who preside over man's welfare,
present the closest analogy to those of the Mikirs as set forth
in this monograph. Like the Mikirs, the Chins are divided into
exogamous groups and follow the rule of male kinship; but, like the
Mikirs also in this, the approved marriage is that between a man and
his first cousin on the mother's side. It has been noticed already
(p. 21) that the word for father-in-law (òng-hai, wife's father)
in Mikir is identical with that for maternal uncle, òng, and that
son-in-law, osa, also means nephew (sister's son). The story of "the
Orphan and his Maternal Uncles" illustrates the obligation which
lies on a lad to marry his mother's brother's daughter (see above,
p. 53). Similarly, Harata Kunwar, though but a mortal, calls his
father-in-law the Bari-the Recho ònghai (p. 147), and is spoken of by
him as osa (id.), while the fairy princesses call him cousin, kòrpo
(p. 127). The same phenomenon appears in the Kuki-Chin languages. In
Shö or Chin (Khyeng) apu means both maternal uncle and father-in-law;
so also in Lushei, pu has both meanings. The following list of words
indicating relationship in Mikir and Lushei (representing the Central
Kuki-Chins) shows how closely the two languages correspond in this
important part of their vocabulary:--
Mikir. Lushei.
grandfather phu pu
grandmother phi pi
grandson su-po tu-pa
granddaughter su-pi tu-nu
father po pa
mother pei nu
aunt:
father's sister ni ni
mother's sister pi-nu nu
father's brother's wife ni nu
Among all these tribes the most important index to racial connexion is
to be found in their languages. No one would now assert that language,
any more than religion, is everywhere a conclusive mark of racial
unity; immense masses of the people of India to-day speak languages
imposed upon them from without, and Aryan speech has extended itself
over many millions in whose blood nothing is due to the original
invaders from the north-west. Again, the practices of a predatory
state of society bring into the tribe slaves and wives from outside;
or, as among the Mikirs (p. 33), aliens may be accepted on equal terms
as members, thus modifying the unity of blood. On the other hand, it
would be equally unreasonable and opposed to the facts to deny that,
among such communities as the Tibeto-Burman peoples of Assam, race
and language do, constantly and in a general manner, coincide. People
who speak a tongue which is unintelligible to their neighbours are
necessarily thrown together into a unity of their own. Their ancestral
ideas and institutions, secular and religious, their tribal history,
must tend to keep them united, and perpetuate the influence of a
common origin by the fact that all outside the community are actual or
potential enemies. Language, therefore, when it coincides with tribal
separateness, is our chief guide in determining the relationship of
the hill tribes of Assam one to another.
Here another qualification is, however, necessary. The word-stock
of the Tibeto-Burman races is to a large extent identical. The same
methods of arranging the elements of the sentence, in other words the
same general principles of grammar, prevail throughout the whole family
of speech. We must, therefore, in investigating the nearer kinship
of one group to another, not be misled by linguistic resemblances
which are common to the whole stock to which both groups belong.
In comparing Tibeto-Burman languages it has been usual to choose for
examination in the first place the numerals and in the second the
pronouns. The vocabulary of nouns, adjectives, and verbs is liable to
disturbing influences which do not equally affect the simple ideas
represented by number and person. Let us begin, therefore, with the
numerals. These, so far as they are necessary for our purpose, are
as follows in Mikir:--
one, isi
two, hini
three, kethòm
four, phili
five, phòngo
six, theròk
seven, theròk-si
eight, ner-kèp
nine, sir-kèp
ten, kèp
eleven, kre-isi
twelve, kre-hini
thirteen, etc. kre-kethòm
a score, ing-koi
twenty-one, etc. ing-koi-ra-isi
thirty, thòm-kèp
forty, etc. phili-kèp
a hundred, pharo
Here the first thing to be noticed is that the three numerals between
six and ten are not independent vocables, but compounds; seven is six
plus one: eight is ten minus two, and nine is ten minus one. In most of
the other languages of the family this is not so; the Boro, the Naga,
and the majority of the Kuki-Chin languages all have independent words
for seven, eight, and nine. It appears to be only in the Kuki-Chin
group that we can find an analogy to the Mikir words for these three
numerals. In Anal, a language of the Old Kuki family spoken in Manipur,
seven is tak-si which seems to be identical with the Mikir theròk-si;
and in Meithei (the language of the Manipuris) eight is ni-pan,"two
from ten," and nine is ma-pan, "one from ten."
We next notice that ten is expressed by two separate words, kèp
(in ten and its multiples) and kre (in the compounds from eleven
to nineteen). So far as vocabularies have yet been published, the
only other tribes of the Tibeto-Burman family [45] which have a
word resembling kèp for ten are Maring Naga, one of the Naga-Kuki
languages, where it is chip, and Shö or southern Chin, where gip is
used for ten in the sequence thirty, forty, fifty, etc. (thum-gip,
thirty, mli-gip, forty, ngha-gip, fifty, exactly corresponding to the
Mikir thòm-kèp, phili-kèp, phòngo-kèp). The close resemblance of the
other numerals in Maring to Mikir forms is noticeable; four is fili,
five funga, and six tharuk. The other word for ten, kre, strongly
resembles the Angami kerr or kerru and the Kachcha Naga gareo;
in the Central Naga group the prefix ke- has been replaced by ta-
or te-, and the words for ten are ter, tara (Ao), taro, tara, tare
(Lhota), etc. In the Naga-Kuki group Sopvoma has chiro, Maram kero,
Tangkhul thara, etc. In the Kuki-Chin group Meithei tara is the same
word: in the Central Chin another prefix, pu-, pö-, or pa-, is used,
and we have Lai pöra, Banjogi para, Taungtha parha. There are no Boro
forms which correspond to kre, nor any much resembling kèp.
The Mikir word for twenty, ingkoi, is made up of the prefix ing-,
and koi, formerly (before the loss of the final l) kol. Kachcha
Naga has the same word, engkai, Kabui choi, koi, or kol. The word
also appears in Garo (kol), Tipura (khol), and Deori-Chutiya (kwa),
of the Boro group; Angami me-kwu, me-khi, mekko, Lhota me-kwi, mekwü,
in the West and Central Naga groups; Maram and Sopvoma (make, makei),
Tangkhul (maga), Phadeng (ma-kui), in the Naga-Kuki group, and Singpho
khun. In the Kuki-Chin languages it is very common (Meithei kul,
Siyin kul, Lai pö-kul, Shonshe ma-kul, Banjogi kul, Shö [Chin] kul,
goi). There does not appear to be any trace of this word for a score
in the Tibetan and Himalayan languages, where twenty is invariably
rendered by "two-tens." [46] The Northern Indian word kori, which
has the same meaning, has been compared with it; it is difficult,
however, to imagine borrowing on one part or the other.
In the series of tens, 30 to 90, Mikir prefixes the multiplier:
thòm-kèp, phili-kèp, phòngo-kèp, etc. The Boro group prefixes the tens
(Garo sot-bri, 40, sot-bongga, 50, sot-dok, 60, etc.). [47] The Naga
group has both systems; Angami prefixes the tens: lhi [48]-da, 40,
lhi-pangu, 50, lhi-suru, 60; Lhota and Ao suffix them: Lhota tham-dro,
30, zü-ro, 40, rok-ro, 60; Ao semur' 30, lir' 40, rok-ur' 60. In the
Kuki-Chin group the majority of dialects prefix the tens (Thado and
Lushei som-thum 30, som-li 40, etc.), and this is also the rule for
Kachcha Naga, Kabui, and Khoirao, as well as for all the languages
classed by Dr. Grierson as Naga-Kuki. But the Shö or southern Chins
not only have the same collocation as the Mikirs (thum-gip, mli-gip,
ngha-gip)--an arrangement which also obtains in Burmese,--but use
the same words. This coincidence is very striking.
The word for a hundred, pharo, bears no resemblance to any word
expressing this numeral in the Boro languages. It agrees with the
Angami kra, Kezhama kri, Sopvoma kre, and in a remarkable way with
the words used by the Southern Chins (Taungtha ta-ya = tara, Chinbòk
phya = phra, Yawdwin pra, Shö (Chin) krat). It will be seen that pha-
in Mikir, k- in the Naga languages, and ta-, ph-, p- and k- in the
Chin dialects, are numeral prefixes, and that the essential element
of the numeral is ra (Mikir ro) or rat. It appears in this form,
without any prefix, in several other Kuki-Chin languages.
Here should be mentioned a custom which obtains in Mikir of counting
by fours; a group of four is cheke or chike, which corresponds to the
Boro zakhai (jakhai). This system is used for counting such things
as eggs, betel-nuts, fowls, etc., of the same class; e.g. vo-ti chike
phòngo-ra e-pum, 21 eggs (4 × 5 + 1): chike phòngo-ra pum-thòm, 23 eggs
(4 × 5 + 3). Possibly one language has borrowed from the other. (This
method of counting by fours is common throughout the Aryan languages
of Northern India, where a group of four is called (ganda.)
Our conclusion from these comparisons is that while Mikir has few
coincidences, beyond those common to the whole Tibeto-Burman family,
with the Boro group, it has many with the Naga and Kuki-Chin groups,
and especially with the Shö or southernmost Chins.
Before leaving the numerals, something must be said of the prefixes
which they exhibit throughout the Tibeto-Burman family. Taking
first that member for which we have the oldest materials, Tibetan,
the first ten numerals are as follows:--
As written. As now spoken in
Central Tibet.
one gchig chik
two gnyis nyi
three gsum sum
four bzhi shi
five lnga nga
six drug dhuk
seven bdun dün
eight brgyad gya
nine dgu gu
ten bchu chu
Here we observe several different prefixes, once no doubt supplied
with vowels, but from the dawn of written record united in Tibetan
with the following consonant, and now no longer heard in utterance;
in the first three units the prefix is g-: in four, seven, eight,
and ten it is b-: in six and nine it is d-: and in five it is l-.
In the Tibeto-Burman languages of Assam and Burma we find the same
phenomenon of numeral prefixes; but while some languages have
the same prefix throughout the ten units, others, like Tibetan,
have several different prefixes. In some cases, again, the prefixes
have been incorporated in the numeral and are no longer recognized
as separable, while in others they may be dropped when the numeral
occurs in composition; in others, again, the prefixes have (as in
spoken Tibetan) been dropped altogether.
Of the first class the best examples are the Central Kuki-Chin
languages:--
Lai. Shonshe. Lushei.
one pö-kat ma-kat pa-khat
two pö-ni ma-nhi pa-nhih
three pö-thum ma-ton pa-thum
four pö-li ma-li pa-li
five pö-nga ma-nga pa-nga
six pö-ruk ma-ruk pa-ruk
seven pö-sari ma-seri pa-sarih
eight pö-ryeth ma-rit pa-riat
nine pö-kwa ma-ko pa-kua
ten pö-ra ma-ra shom
Of the second class Mikir, in common with most of the Assam family,
is an example; in one and two the prefix ke- (representing the
Tibetan g-) has been abraded to i- and hi-: in three it persists;
in these numbers the prefix may be dropped in composition, leaving
si, ni, and thòm remaining. In four and five we have the prefix phi-
(for pi-) and pho- (for po- or pa-), representing the b- of Tibetan,
but now no longer separable. In six the prefix the- represents the
original d-, and has similarly become inseparable. In ten, the form
kre represents an original kera, answering to the Kuki-Chin pö-ra
and ma-ra and the Meithei ta-ra. We notice that in Mikir, as in
the Naga and Kuki-Chin languages, the hard consonants k, p, t (ph,
th) have replaced the soft g, b, and d of the Tibetan. In the Boro
languages, on the other hand, the original soft consonants of Tibetan
are retained, as will be seen from the forms below:--
Boro. Dimasa. Garo.
one se, sui shi sa
two ni, nui gini gni
three tham gatam gitam
four brè, brui bri bri
five ba bonga bongga
six ro, do do dok
In these changes Mikir follows the phonetic laws obtaining in Naga
and Kuki-Chin, not those which obtain in Boro.
It has been pointed out already (p. 78) that generic determinatives are
used in Mikir when numbers are joined to nouns. This practice is common
to the Boro languages and to the Kuki-Chin group (as well as Burmese),
but does not appear to be prevalent in the Western Naga group. A list
of the words used in Darrang Kachari is given at p. 13 of Mr. Endle's
grammar; for Garo, a list will be found at p. 6 of Mr. Phillips's
grammar; it much resembles the Darrang list, but neither contains
any forms coinciding with those of Mikir except the Garo pat, used
for leaves and other flat things, which resembles the Mikir pàk. On
the other hand, in Kuki-Chin we have in Lai pum for globular things,
[49] the same as in Mikir, and in Shö (Chin) we have for persons pün,
the Mikir bàng (bàng in Mikir and pang in Lushei mean body), and for
animals zün, the Mikir jòn (Mr. Houghton's grammar, p. 20). Here
again the affinity of the Arleng is with the Kuki-Chin group, and
especially with its southernmost member, rather than with the Boro.
Turning now to the pronouns, the Mikir ne for the first person singular
finds it exact equivalent only in the two Old Kuki dialects Anal and
Hiroi, spoken in Manipur, where the corresponding pronoun is ni (Anal)
and nai (Hiroi). In Boro the form is ang, in Angami a, in Sema ngi,
in Ao ni, in Lhota a, in Kachcha Naga anui. In the majority of the
Kuki-Chin family another stem, kei or ke, is used. Here Mikir agrees
with the two Kuki dialects mentioned and with some of the Naga forms,
rather than with Boro.
For the second person singular all the Tibeto-Burman languages of
Assam have nàng, or closely similar forms.
For the third person Mikir now uses the demonstrative la, but, as the
possessive prefix shows, had formerly a. In this it agrees with Lai,
Lushei, Chiru, Kolren among the Kuki family, and Tangkhul and Maring
among the Naga-Kuki group. What the original Boro pronoun of the third
person was is not now ascertainable; the demonstrative bi (Darrang),
be (Lalung), bo (Dimasa) or ua (Garo) is now used instead. This seems
to correspond with the Mikir pe-, pi-, pa- in the words mentioned
on p. 80. In Angami the pronoun is similarly po, in Sema pa, and
in Ao pa. In Meithei and many other Kuki-Chin languages another
demonstrative, ma, is used; this may be connected with the Mikir mi,
me, in mini, to-day, menàp, to-morrow (see p. 80). But, although ma
is used as a separate pronoun for the third person in the majority
of the Kuki-Chin group, the prefixed a- of relation, usual in Mikir,
which (as explained on p. 76) is really the possessive pronoun of
the third person, is widely employed throughout the family, as a
prefix both to nouns and adjectives, in exactly the same way as in
Mikir. This coincidence, again, is striking; the Boro languages seem
to present nothing similar.
The plural pronouns in Mikir are formed by adding -tum to the
singular. Exactly the same thing takes place in Tangkhul, a Naga-Kuki
language: i, I, i-thum, we; na, thou, na-thum, ye; a, he, a-thum,
they. The plural of nouns, however, in Tangkhul is formed by other
affixes, generally words meaning "many" (cf. the Mikir òng).
Mikir has two forms for the pronoun of the first person plural,
according as the speaker includes the person addressed or excludes him,
i-tum or e-tum in the former and ne-tum in the latter case. The first,
it will be seen, agrees with the general word for we in Tangkhul. In
Angami also two forms are used, he-ko for we exclusive, and a-vo for
we inclusive; the former seems to agree in form, though not in sense,
with the Mikir e-tum. The affinity of Mikir with the Western Naga
and Naga-Kuki languages seems to be exemplified here also. The Boro
languages have not the double form for this person.
The reflexive pronoun or particle in Mikir, che (see p. 80),
is represented in Thado Kuki by ki, which is perhaps the same
word. Angami has the, Meithei na. Boro does not appear to possess
any corresponding particle.
The interrogative particle -ma in Mikir (p. 80) is mo in most of the
Kuki-Chin languages (in some -em, -am), while in Angami it is ma,
and in Kachcha Naga me. The same particle (ma) is used in Garo and
Boro for questions.
Two particles are used in Mikir as suffixes to magnify or diminish
the root-word; the augmentative is -pi (as thèng, wood, firewood,
thèngpi, a tree; làng, water, làngpi, the great water, the sea),
the diminutive is -so (as hèm, a house, hèmso, a hut; làng-so, a
brook). Boro has -ma for the augmentative, -sa for the diminutive
(dui-ma, great river, dui-sa, brook); but Meithei and Thado have the
same particles as Mikir, -pi and -cha (ch is equivalent to s).
The Mikir suffix -po, feminine -pi, corresponding to the Hindi -wala
(see several examples on p. 12 ante), seems to be identical with
the Meithei -ba (-pa) and -bi (-pi), though it has nothing like the
extensive use in Mikir which -ba (-pa) has in Meithei.
The noteworthy separable prefix ar- in Mikir, which is probably
connected with the Tibetan prefix r- (see ante, p. 129, note), appears
to occur in the Kuki-Chin languages, but does not seem to have any
representative in the Boro family. The examples in the Kuki-Chin volume
of the Linguistic Survey are found in Rangkhol (p. 6, er-ming, "name"),
Aimol (p. 215, ra-mai, "tail," Mikir arme), Kom (p. 245, ra-mhing,
"name"; ra-nai, "earth, ground" [nai perhaps = Mikir le in lòng-le]),
Kyaw or Chaw (p. 254), and Hiroi (p. 282). All these forms of speech
belong to the Old Kuki group, which has already yielded several other
analogies with Mikir.
The prefix ke- (ki-, ka-), which plays so important a part in Mikir
(see pp. 77, 83, 84) in the formation of adjectives, participles,
and verbal nouns, and answers to the Boro ga- and the Angami ke-,
has for the most part disappeared from the Kuki dialects, perhaps
because it conflicts with the prefixed pronominal stem of the first
person, ka-. It survives, however, in the three Old Kuki languages,
Kom, Anal, and Hiroi. In Tangkhul, of the Naga-Kuki group, it is used
exactly as in Mikir, to form adjectives and verbal nouns, e.g.:--
Mikir. Tangkhul.
to come ke-vàng ka-va (to go)
to eat ke-cho ka-shai
to remain ke-bòm ka-pam (to sit)
to beat ke-chòk ka-sho
to die ke-thi ka-thi
The particles used in Mikir as suffixes to indicate tenses of the verb,
with the exception of that for the completed past, tàng, which appears
to be identical with the Thado and Lushei ta, do not seem to have any
close analogues in the Kuki-Chin or Naga-Kuki groups; they are also
quite different from those used in the Boro group. Causative verbs,
however, are in many Kuki-Chin languages constructed with the verb
pe or pèk, "to give," as in Mikir; and the suffix of the conjunctive
participle in Mikir, -si, is perhaps the same as -chu in Khoirao. In
Boro the prefix fi-, answering to the Mikir pi-, was formerly used
to form causatives, as appears from verbal roots in current use;
the construction now most common uses -nu, which has the same meaning
("to give") as a suffix.
The negative verb in Mikir is formed by suffixing the particle -e to
the positive root, when the latter begins with a vowel. Similarly,
in Boro a negative verb is formed by adding the particle -a. In the
Kuki-Chin languages different suffixes are employed (lo, lai, loi,
mak, ri), and in a few dialects prefixes. Here Mikir resembles Boro
rather than the Kuki group. But the remarkable feature of Mikir
in reduplicating initial consonants before the suffixed negative
(see ante, p. 85) has no analogy in either family, unless the
isolated example in Kolren (an Old Kuki dialect) quoted in the
Linguistic Survey, vol. III., part iii., p. 19, supplies one. It
is to be observed, however, that in the construction there cited
(na-pe-pèk-mao-yai, "did not give"), the verb pèk has suffixed to it
the negative particle mao, and that the reduplication alone appears
to have no negative force. Other examples seem necessary before the
rule of reduplication can be considered to be established. Possibly
loi and lai in Kuki correspond to the separate Mikir negative ka-li
(see ante, p. 86).
It remains to give some examples of correspondence in general
vocabulary between Mikir and other Tibeto-Burman languages. It has
been shown above from the analysis of the numerals that prefixes play
a large part in all these languages. These prefixes, which to some
extent are interchangeable, and also differ in the different members
of the family, have to be eliminated in order to find the roots which
are to be compared. Again, certain changes in vowels and consonants
between different languages regularly occur. Our knowledge is not
yet sufficient to enable a law of interchange to be formulated; but
the following conclusions seem to be justified. In vowels, Mikir has
a preference for long o where other languages have -a, especially in
auslaut; [50] on the other hand long a in Mikir is sometimes thinned
down to e; the word recho, answering to the Aryan raja, is an example
of both processes. Long i in Mikir often corresponds to oi and ai, as
well as to e and ei, in the cognates. As regards consonants, nasals at
the end of syllables are often rejected; thus within Mikir itself we
have o and òng, da and dàm, ne and nèng, la and làng. Some languages
(as for instance Angami [51] Naga) tolerate no consonantal endings,
not even a nasal. In Mikir itself final l has been vocalised into
i or dropped; and in many Naga and Kuki-Chin dialects (as also in
Burmese) final consonants have disappeared or have suffered great
changes. As already noticed, the surd mutes k, p, t (sometimes
aspirated) have taken the place of the original sonants g, b, d to
a large extent in Mikir, though b and d (not g) still survive in a
fair proportion of words. Boro generally retains the old sonants of
Tibetan, and Meithei uses both classes according to the adjacent
sounds. The palatals ch, j of Mikir tend to become sibilants, s,
ts, z, in the cognate languages; j is also often softened to y in
Kuki-Chin. L and r in anlaut frequently interchange in Meithei, the
interchange depending on the adjacent vowels. These letters also
interchange freely in other languages of the family. In Burmese r
has everywhere been changed to y, except in Arakan. L and n also
often interchange. Initial d in Mikir seems sometimes to correspond
to l in other cognates; and it is possible that Mikir initial s may
occasionally be represented by h in the latter, though this is not
quite certain. Th and s often interchange in anlaut, some dialects of
Kuki-Chin showing the intermediate stage of [theta], which in Burmese
now everywhere replaces original s.
Lastly, it should be noticed that Tipura, an outlying member of the
Boro group, often exhibits a sound system more closely corresponding
to that of the Kuki-Chin languages (which are its neighbours) than
Boro, Dimasa, or Garo.
The resemblances in vocabulary between Mikir and the Western Naga
dialects are extensive, as will be seen from the list (due to
Mr. A. W. Davis) at p. 201, vol. III., part ii., of the Linguistic
Survey. These need not be repeated here. The following is a list of
Boro (Darrang), Dimasa, Garo, and Tipura words which seem to correspond
with Mikir. It will be seen, however, by reference to the columns
headed Kuki-Chin and Naga (including Naga-Kuki), that in the case
of nearly all these words the other two families, as well as Mikir,
have the same roots. They therefore belong to the common stock of the
Tibeto-Burman languages of Assam, and do not by themselves prove any
close connection of Mikir with Boro.
NOUNS.
English. Mikir. Boro Kuki-Chin. Naga.
family.
nose nokàn Garo, Meithei Tangkhul
nukum, natol (n) natung
nakung Thado nakui Angami a-niki
Tipura, Lushei nhar E. Naga
bukung nakong,
natong
eye mèk Boro megan Meithei } Ang. mhi, mhü
Dimasa mu Thado } mit Tangk. mik
Garo Lushei } Maram mek
mik-ren Shö (Chin) E. Naga
mik mik, mek
mouth ing-ho Boro Lushei ka Ang. tha,
khu-ga Khami kha me-tha
Dimasa khau Shö kho Rengma
Garo màng-khòng
ho-tom,
ku-sik
tooth so Boro Andro sho Ang. ho, hu
ha-thau Sengmai shoa Sema a-hu
Dimasa id. Thado } ha
Lushei }
Shö haw
ear no Garo Meithei } na Ang. nü
na-chil, Lai } Lhota en-no
na-kal Shö a-nho Maring ka-na
face me-hàng Boro Meithei mae
makhàng Lushei hmai
Garo
mikkang
Tipura
mukhàng
belly pòk Dimasa ho Meithei puk Ang. va
Garo ok, Andro puk Sema a-pfo
pi-puk Shö puk Lhota o-pòk
Tipura Lai paw
bahak Thado wai
father po Boro } fa Meithei } Ang. po
Dimasa } Lushei } pa Sema pa
Garo pa, ba Thado } Ao ta-ba
Tipura ba Sengmai } Lhota o-po
Khami } po
Shö }
son so-po Boro f'sa Meithei } chapa Lhota o-tsöe
Dimasa Thado } Maring cha
pasa, sa Khami chopo Hatigoria
Garo sa, Shö cho chapa
pi-sa
Tipura basa
daughter so-pi Dimasa Meithei
pu-su cha-(anu)-pi
Khami
numpui-cho
cat mèng, Garo Thado meng-cha
mèng-kalu mèng-go
Tipura Ranghkhol
a-ming meng
Shö min
iron ingchin Boro shurr Andro sen, sel Ang. the-zhi
Dimasa sher Lushei thir Yachumi
Garo Thado } thi inchi
sil, sar Shö } Thukumi ise
Tipura sir Khami sing
ADJECTIVES.
English. Mikir. Boro family. Kuki-Chin. Naga.
big kethe Boro gadet Ang.
kedi
small kibi, bi-hèk Boro gahai Meithei
a-pisek
bitter keho Boro gakha Lushei kha
Meithei kha-ba
Thado a-kha
cold ke-chung Boro gazang Lushei shik
beautiful mesèn, me Boro mozang Lushei moi
VERBS.
go dàm Boro } Ang. ta
Dimasa } thàng Sopvoma ta-o
Tipura } Maring ta-so
come vàng Boro } Ang. vor
Dimasa } fai Kwoireng } pa-lo
Tipura } Maram }
eat cho Boro za Meithei cha-ba Ang. chi
Dimasa ji Khami cha Kwoireng tyu-lo
Garo cha, sa (Burmese Tangkhul ka-shai
Tipura cha cha, tsa)
beat chòk Dimasa shu Tangkhul ka-sho
die thi Boro thoi Meithei si-ba Ang. sa
Dimasa ti, thei Thado thi Sema ti
Garo ti, si, Lushei ti Sopvoma thiye
tai Khami dei Maram tei-lo
Tipura thai Tangkhul ka-thi
run kàt Boro khat Meithei chatpa Tangkhul ka-chat
Dimasa khai (?) (to go)
Garo kat Andro kat-e
say pu Boro bung Ang. pu
do, work klèm Boro khlàm
think matha Boro mithi
be necessary nàng Boro nàng Lushei ngai
Garo nàng
The above list exhibits all the coincidences which could be found on a
search through the vocabulary appended to Mr. Endle's Kachari grammar,
and it will be seen that the agreement is not extensive.
The words in which Tibeto-Burman languages agree most widely with one
another are perhaps those for water and village; for the former di,
ti, tui, dzü, zu, ji, chi, and other similar forms, all apparently
identical with the Tibetan chhu and the Turki su, run through the whole
family: for the latter khul, khu, ku (Turki ku, kui) are similarly
widespread. It is somewhat surprising to find in Mikir an exception
to the general rule. Water is làng, and village is ròng. Searching
through the tribal vocabularies, Tangkhul Naga (a Naga-Kuki form of
speech) appears to have, in ta-ra, the corresponding word to làng (r
= l, and ta a prefix). Nowhere else in the neighbourhood is there a
trace of a similar word until we come to Burmese, where water is re
(now pronounced ye). Similarly, it appears to be only in Burmese
that we have a word for village, rwa, corresponding to the Mikir
ròng. These coincidences, like others already mentioned, seem to
point to the south for the affinities of the Mikir race. At the
same time it is to be observed that Mikir appears once to have had,
like the Kuki-Chin languages generally, the word ti for water. This
survives in the word for egg, vo-ti, which must mean "fowl's water,"
and corresponds in sense to the Boro dau-dui, Chutiya du-ji, Garo
do-chi, Shö (Chin) a-tui. In Angami and Lushei "fowl" is omitted,
and the word for "egg" is merely dzü, tui, = water. [52]
It would be tedious to enumerate the coincidences in vocabulary which
are found between Mikir and all the Kuki-Chin dialects. We have had
reason to expect that these coincidences will be found to be most
numerous with the Chin languages spoken in the Southern Hill tracts
to the west of the Irawadi Valley; and the following list of similar
words will show that this expectation is borne out by the facts. In
most cases the forms in Lushei, a leading language of the Central
Kuki-Chin group, are added; where they are wanting the Mikir word
does not appear to have any corresponding form in that language. [53]
NOUNS.
English. Mikir. Chin (Shö).
male (of man) pinso pa-tho (Lushei pasal)
female (of mankind) -pi suffixed -nü [54] suffixed (L. nu, and
pui)
body bàng a-pün (L. pàng)
corpse aru ayo (L. ruang)
face mehàng hmoi-san (L. hmai)
nose no-kàn hnut-to (Meithei na-ton, L.
hna)
ear no a-hno
eye mèk a-mi, mik (L. mit)
[tear amèk-kri a-mi-khli]
tongue de le (L. lei)
mind, breast, heart ning a-mlüng (L. lung)
[angry a-ning-kethi a-mlüng-thö (L.
thi-n-lung-sha)]
back nung a-hling (L. hnung)
arm phàng bawn (L. bawn)
foot, leg kèng khön or khö (L. ke, Burmese
khyè)
stomach pòk pük
[stomach-ache pòk-keso pük-tho]
hair of body ang-mi a-hmaw (L. hmul)
bone re-pi yo'' (Lushei ruh, Angami ru)
tail ar-me ho-me (L. mei)
old man, chief sar, sarpo hsan, hsan-bo
son oso, so-po hso (Burmese sa [[Greek:
theta]a])
tiger te-ke a-kye (L. sa-kei, Burmese
kya)
cow chainòng hsaw-nü (L. se-bawng)
pig phàk wök, wo (Burmese wak)
squirrel karle a-hle (L. the-hlei)
rat phiju pha-yü (L. sa-zu)
bird vo wu (L. va)
kite vo-mu a-hmu (L. mu)
parrot vo-kèk a-kye (L. va-ki, Burmese kye)
bat vo-arplàk phalauh
crayfish, prawn chekung kye-khön (L. kai-kuang)
scale of fish lip lit (L. hlip)
louse rèk hèk (L. hrik)
land-leech ingphàt a-wot (L. vang-vàt)
sun ar-ni kho-ni (L. anni, ni)
moon chi-klo khlo (L. thla)
night a-jo yan (L. zan, jan)
rain ar-ve yo-o (L. ruah, Burmese rwa)
fire me me (L. mei)
[a flint for me-chèt a-lòng me-kha-lün (L. mei-lung),
striking fire i.e. fire-spark-stone]
fire-spark-stone
smoke mihi me-khü (L. mei-khu)
steam hi a-hu (L. hu)
stone ar-lòng a-lün (L. lung)
rice sàng saung
vegetables hàn awn (L. an)
house hèm in (L. in, Burmese im)
wood, tree thèng, thèngpi then'' (L. thing)
leaf lo law (Meithei la, Thado na, L.
hna)
fruit a-the the (L. thei)
seed a-the se
cotton phelo phoi
broom ar-phèk pha-phe
iron ingchin n'thi (L. thir)
arrow thai a-thaw (L. thal)
bow thai-li a-li (L. thal-ngul)
boat te-lòng hmlu or hmlü (L. long)
earring no-thèngpi na-thong
basket tòn tawng
dream màng maung (L. mang)
name mèn a-mín (L. hming)
matter, affair hormu a-hmu (Burmese id.)
heap bui a-pün (L. vung, bum)
place dim awn-dün
edge, border a-pre a-pe
rope a-ri a-yöh (L. hrui)
handle be bi'' (to take, seize), (L.
bèng)
Verbs.
to pour out bu, bup bauk, bo (L. buak, [55] bun)
to put bi bi (to clap, pat)
to jump chòng dong (L. zuang)
to die thi dü, di (L. thi
to kill by cutting thu thük, tük
to pound tòk dut''
to open ing-pu hü
to sleep, lie down i i'' (Burmese ip)
to hinder khàng kha
to fall klo, kli klauk (Burmese kra, L. tla, tlak)
to grind koi-i kluk
to be bitter ho kho (L. kha)
to bend kekèk kòk-lök, khü-i
to tie, fasten kòk khun
to laugh ing-nèk hlek; also noi (Meithei nok, L. nui)
to arrive, hit le leng
to be distant he-lo hlo (L. hla)
to get, obtain lòng lö-e
to lick ing-lèk m-le-e (L. liak, hliao)
to be happy me moi
to extinguish pe-mèp hmyit (L. ti-mit)
to smell ing-nim nan (L. hnim)
to be yellow èt oi (L. eng)
to speak pu pauh (a word, language)
to give pi pèk (L. pèk, pe)
to be full plèng ple
to reach, touch pho pho (L. pawh, phak)
to pull out phu phuk (L. phoi)
to work, labour sai saih
to wash chàm shau (L. shuk)
to beat chòk shö
to pierce chàng shün, hsün (L. chhun)
to begin chèng si
to explain thàn hsin
to be wet chàm so
to know, perceive thèk thàk, the
to be fat ing-tu thau (L. thao)
to itch ing-thàk thauk (L. thak)
to rise, get up thur thö, thü (L. tho, thawh)
to send toi tho
to weave thàk to-tàk (L. tah)
to rot thu thü (L. toih)
to be sweet dòk tü-i
to cover, veil up, òp ün'' (L. hup)
to throw var wo'' (L. vorh)
to hear ar-ju yauk
to sell jòr yi'' (L. zuar)
A few words from Lushei may be added, for which Southern Chin does
not appear to possess corresponding terms:--
English. Mikir. Lushei.
buffalo chelòng cheloi
bear thòk-vàm sa-vom, vom [56]
deer (sambhar) thi-jòk sa-zuk
snake phi-rui ma-rul, rul
monkey me-sàng zawng
frog ("the jumper") chòng-ho chung-u
mosquito timsik tho-shi
water-leech ing-lit hlit, sai-hlit
crab chehe chak-ai
devil hi-i huai
These close and numerous correspondences between Mikir and the
Kuki-Chin family appear to warrant the conclusion that the former
is intimately connected with the latter. The institutions of the
southern tribes, as already pointed out, confirm this conclusion;
and it may be asserted with some confidence that no such extensive
affinity can be proved between Mikir and the Boro family. As regards
the Western Nagas, while the institutions largely correspond, the
coincidences in language, though more numerous than those with Boro,
are much fewer than those with Kuki-Chin. The Southern Nagas, and
especially the Tangkhuls, who form the group intermediate between Naga
and Kuki, have a considerably closer affinity with Mikir. Possibly
if the inquiry were pushed further into Burmese than is within the
power of the present writer, more correspondences with Mikir might
be discovered in that language.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
1. A descriptive account of Asam, with a sketch of the local geography,
and a concise history of the Tea-plant of Asam, to which is added a
short account of the neighbouring tribes, exhibiting their history,
manners and customs, by William Robinson, Gowhatti Government Seminary:
Calcutta, 1841. Account of the Mikirs at pp. 308-312.
The facts stated agree generally with those recorded by Mr. Stack. The
chief deity of the Mikirs is called Hempatin. This may be a
mistranscription for Hemphu, but is more probably a mistake due to a
confusion between Mikirs and Kukis; Patin (or a closely similar form)
is the word for God in a number of the Kuki dialects (Khongzai, Thado,
Lushei, Rangkhol, Aimol, Kolren, etc.). Of course if the name Hempatin
was ever actually used by the Mikirs for their chief tribal god, this
would be an additional important evidence of a connexion between them
and the Kukis.
2. Notes on the languages of the various tribes inhabiting the Valley
of Asam and its mountain confines, by Wm. Robinson, Inspector of
Government Schools in Asam. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,
vol. xviii. (1849).
The Mikir language is treated at pp. 330-336. It is probable from
certain indications that the Mikir words were written down for
Mr. Robinson in Assamese characters, and transliterated by him into
Roman. There are a great many misprints. The declension of nouns, the
distinctions of gender, and the position of adjectives are in general
correctly explained; but the important prefix a- is not noticed, nor
its original force understood. The omission of the plural affix -tum is
remarkable. The numerals agree with those of the present day, save that
ch is used (as in Assamese) to indicate s. The use of determinative
class-words with numerals is mentioned. The personal pronouns are in
part correctly, but often wrongly given; the demonstrative pronouns
are wrongly stated, and so are the interrogatives. The absence of
a relative pronoun, and the substitute for it, are noticed. In
the verbal forms there are many errors, unless the particles
used to indicate time have greatly changed since 1849, which is
improbable. Thus, -ye is given as the future suffix instead of -ji,
and -bo instead of -po. The participle in ke-, ki-, ka- is omitted,
and the much-used conjunctive participle in -si is misrepresented as
the present participle. There is no mention of the past in tàng; ayok
(possibly a mistranscription of the Assamese) is given instead of apòt
as the particle indicating purpose. The form of the negative verb is
altogether misunderstood. There is no mention of the causative in pe-,
pi-, pa-.
One interesting point in Mr. Robinson's grammatical sketch is that
words borrowed from Assamese, which now end in -i as a substitute
for Assamese l, as hai for hal, tamoi for tamol, pitoi for pitol,
are all written with l; and in the following cases final l appears
in Mikir words now written with final i:--
ingkol, a score, now ingkoi
inghol, to do, now inghoi
sal (field-) work, now sai
aphel, afterwards, now aphi
phurul, snake, now phirui
It seems possible that this represents a real change in pronunciation,
since l was certainly the original ending in the borrowed words, and
most probably (from the similar forms in the Kuki-Chin languages)
was the original ending in the Mikir words. This vocalization of
final l is quite common in the Kuki dialects, and is an additional
argument for their connexion with Mikir.
3. Travels and adventures in the Province of Assam, by Major John
Butler: London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1855. The Mikirs are described at
pp. 126-139. Major Butler was in charge of the district of Nowgong,
and visited the Mikir Hills in 1848. His notes on the Mikir people
are not very detailed, but indicate that their condition sixty years
ago was much the same as it is now. On the question of polygamy
(see ante, p. 19), he writes (p. 138): "Polygamy is not practised,
and they reproach their countrymen of the plains for having adopted
the Assamese custom."
4. Notes on Northern Cachar, by Lieut. R. Stewart. J.A.S.B.,
vol. xxiv. (1855), pp. 582-701. This treatise is an excellent account
of the various tribes inhabiting the tract. The Mikirs are dealt with
at pp. 604-607. There is a full and useful comparative vocabulary at
pp. 658-675 of more than 400 words, besides verbal and adverbial forms,
in Manipuri, Hill Kachari (Dimasa), New Kuki (Thado), Angami Naga,
Arung Naga (or Empeo), Old Kuki (Bete), and Mikir. This is much the
most important evidence of the state of the language half a century
ago, and is superior in several respects to the materials collected
a little earlier by Robinson (to which Stewart does not refer). The
Mikir words are generally recognisable as identical with those of
the present day, and it is noticeable, with reference to the change
of final l to i, that Stewart gives the forms now in use (pitoi,
brass, pheroi, snake, ingkoi, a score, in(g)hoi, to do). The verbs
are chiefly given in the imperative, with nòn (often wrongly printed
not), sometimes as the bare root, and sometimes with -lo added. There
are some good measurements and other physical characters of Mikirs
at pp. 690-693, from which it appears that in Lieut. Stewart's time
most of the Mikir men shaved their heads, with the exception of a
large tuft of hair on the scalp.
5. Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, by Col. E. T. Dalton: Calcutta,
1872. There is a brief section on the Mikirs at pp. 53-4, which however
contains no information that is not in Robinson or Stewart. The race
is not among those figured in the volume.
6. Specimens of the Languages of India, collected by Sir George
Campbell: Calcutta, 1874. The specimens of Mikir are at pp. 205-217;
they are full of misprints and misunderstandings of what was desired,
and are worthless for linguistic purposes.
7. A Vocabulary in English and Mikir, with sentences illustrating
the use of words, by the Rev. R. E. Neighbor, of Nowgong, Assam:
Calcutta, 1878.
A most useful publication.
8. Notes on the Locality and Population of the Tribes dwelling between
the Brahmaputra and Ningthi Rivers, by G. H. Damant. Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xii., 1880, pp. 228 ff.
A posthumous work (Mr. Damant was killed in the Naga Hills in
1879). The Mikirs are mentioned on p. 236, and there is a short
vocabulary on p. 254.
9. A Statistical Account of Assam, compiled by J. S. Cotton under
the direction of W. W. Hunter: London, 1879. Contains an article on
the Mikirs at vol. ii., pp. 188-190.
10. A Gazetteer of India, by Sir W. W. Hunter, London. First edition
1881, second edition 1886. Article on the Mikir Hills and their
inhabitants.
11 to 13. The next occasions on which the tribe was dealt with were in
the Reports of the Censuses of 1881, 1891, and 1901 (Assam Province):--
11. The Report on the Census of 1881 (Calcutta, 1883) contains a
chapter (VI.) on Castes and Tribes, written by Mr. Stack. The Mikirs
are described at pp. 77-82. The inquiries on which these paragraphs
were based were followed by the more detailed investigations which
afforded the materials for the present monograph.
12. The Report on the Census of 1891, by Mr. E. A. Gait, reproduces
part of the matter of the previous report relating to the Mikirs,
and adds the detailed list of kurs or exogamous divisions already
referred to (ante, pp. 23 ff.). It also contains an interesting
comparison of the Mikir language with those of the Naga tribes, by
Mr. A. W. Davis (reproduced in the Linguistic Survey, vol. iii., part
ii., pp. 198-202). At pp. 254-256 there is an account of the Mikirs in
North Cachar by Mr. E. C. Baker, sub-divisional officer, which states
that their principal deity is called "Pertart Rijie." This is correctly
Pirthàt Recho, the first word being the Khasi Pyrthat,"thunder,"
and indicates a borrowing by the small remaining Mikir population in
North Cachar of the ideas of their Khasi neighbours.
13. The Report on the Census of 1901, by Mr. B. C. Allen: Shillong,
1902. A few remarks on the religion of the Mikirs will be found at
pp. 46-47, which however require correction by the more accurate data
contained in this monograph.
14. The Tribes of the Brahmaputra Valley, by Lt.-Col. L. A. Waddell,
I.M.S.: J.A.S.B., vol. lxix., part iii., 1900. This account is chiefly
based on anthropometrical data. The facts stated concerning the Arlengs
at pp. 29-35 appear to be taken from Dalton and the Assam Census
Reports of 1881 and 1891. The measurements taken by Col. Waddell
(see ante, p. 4) are at pp. 78-79. The tribe is not figured in the
plates appended to the paper.
15. Linguistic Survey of India, vol. iii., part ii., compiled and
edited by Dr. G. A. Grierson, Calcutta, 1902. The Mikir language is
dealt with at pp. 380-410 and 432-448.
16. An English-Mikir Vocabulary, with Assamese Equivalents, to which
have been added a few Mikir phrases, by S[ardoka] P[errin] Kay:
Shillong, Govt. Press, 1904. An extremely useful book by an educated
Mikir (see Introductory Note, p. viii.). Sardoka was Mr. Stack's
chief authority on the Mikir language. The phrases (388 in number)
are very important illustrations of the structure of the speech. The
vocabulary is an enlargement of Mr. Neighbor's work (No. 7).
A Mikir-English dictionary or vocabulary is still a desideratum.
The following is a list of all the publications in the Mikir language
which have come under the notice of the writer. They are all due
to missionaries.
1. Dhorom Arnàm aphràng ikithàn: First Catechism, in Mikir (Assamese
character), pp. 13. Anon. Sibsagar, 1875.
2. Arlèng Alàm, a Mikir Primer, by Miss E. Pursell, 1891.
3. Arlèng Alàm (Plipli-akitàp) [57] A Mikir Primer. Anon. Published
by the American Baptist Mission, Tika, Nowgong, Assam, 1903.
4. Arlèng Alàm, Angbòng akitàp. Mikir Reader, second book, by the
Rev. J. M. Carvell and Thengkur Pandit. Published by the Government
of Assam, Shillong, 1904.
5. Arlèng kalakha akitàp. Mikir Primary Arithmetic, by the
Rev. P. E. Moore and the Rev. J. M. Carvell. Published by the Assam
Secretariat Press, Shillong, 1904.
6. Birta Keme, "Glad Tidings," in Mikir, by Mosendra Pandit and
Missionaries to the Mikirs. Published by the American Baptist
Missionary Union, Tika, Assam, 1904. A summary of the Gospel history
and teaching.
(All except the first are in the Roman character.)
NOTES
[1] The record of these travels, under the name Six Months in Persia
(two vols.), was published in 1882; "A really clever and trustworthy,
readable, book," was the judgment on it of the late Sir Frederic
Goldsmid--the best of all judges.
[2] See Bibliography, No. 7.
[3] See Bibliography, No. 15.
[4] I must apologize for the misdescription of these gentlemen at
pp. 44 and 70, as of the American Presbyterian Mission.
[5] This is the official spelling. The real name is Kala-jwar,
pronounced Kola-jor (or zor), which means "black fever."
[6] It has been asserted that Arlèng means properly only a Mikir
man, not a man in general, who would be called monit or munit. This,
however, is opposed to usage as exemplified in the folk-tales collected
by Mr. Stack, and to well-established parallels found elsewhere. Thus,
in Assam, Mande (= man) is the national name of the Garos; Chingpho
(= man) is the tribal name of the race so called in the Upper Dehing
valley; Boro (= man) is the proper designation of the Kachari race. So,
in Chutia Nagpur, the Munda people of Ranchi call themselves Horo
(= man). Similar cases are found all over the world. In Europe, for
example, the name Deutsch for the Germanic race indicates that their
ancestors spoke of themselves as "the people" (diot, diota), ignoring
the other members of humankind. Munit is a very recent loan-word from
Assamese, and nowhere occurs in the tales.
[7] One is tempted to conjecture that this statement is an error based
on a confusion between the Miris and the Mikirs in Colonel Dalton's
notebooks. The custom referred to obtains among the Miris.
[8] In the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1874,
p. 17, there is an illustration and description of a Mikir "bachelors'
house," or teràng, by Mr. C. Brownlow, a tea-planter in Cachar. The
group of Mikirs among whom it was found lived at the head of the
Kopili river, looking down on the Cachar valley.
[9] Other authorities mention a fifth, Teròn, which Mr. Stack may
have overlooked because of the similarity of its name to Teràng.
[10] P. 8.
[11] In the story of Harata Kunwar, post, p. 57, a second or co-wife
is mentioned (Mikir, patèng, paju).
[12] This is an Assamese word, mel. The Mikirs cannot pronounce a
final l, and always omit it or change it to i or y in words adopted
from Assamese; e.g. hal, plough, becomes hay; pitol, brass, pitoi;
tamol, betel-nut, tamoi.
[13] Qu. Rongphar?
[14] This name, which means "Jòm or Yama's town," is often incorrectly
written Chomarong or Chumarong.
[15] Sentences enclosed in quotation marks were so written by
Mr. Stack, and are probably the ipsissima verba of his informants.
[16] Sir Joseph Hooker (Himalayan Journals, ed. 1855, vol. ii. p. 182)
relates that at the Donkia Pass, one of his servants, a Lepcha, being
taken ill, "a Lama of our party offered up prayers to Kinchinjhow
for his recovery." Perching a saddle on a stone, and burning incense
before it, "he scattered rice to the winds, invoking Kinchin, Donkia,
and all the neighbouring peaks."
[17] Such worship of objects and places of an impressive character is,
of course, common throughout India. Thus, in the Pachmarhi Hills the
writer has seen flowers and red lead (sindur) offered at the brink
of a terrible gulf of the kind so common in the plateau. Again,
at Balharpur, in the Chanda district of the Central Provinces, he
has seen worship offered to a bastion in a solidly built ruined fort
adjoining the village.--(Note by Editor.)
[18] So also among the Khasis; see Khasi Monograph, p. 119, bottom.
[19] This also is evidently borrowed from the Khasis. See Monograph,
p. 221.
[20] Compare the Khasi methods of divination by the lime-case (shanam),
and the bow (Monograph, p. 119).
[21] Mr. Stack notes that there was some reluctance on the part of
his informant to explain what was meant.
[22] Not further explained.
[23] See, however, what is said above as to the Ròngker, which agrees
with the observances elsewhere known as gennas.
[24] "Gourd": the word hànthar in the original is explained by
Mr. Stack as the name of "a creeper, with a fruit as big as a small
pumpkin, with a hard kernel in soft rind; the kernel is the size
of a mango-stone; the marrow inside is in two slices; when washed,
it loses its bitter taste, and can be fried, oil exuding. It is a
favourite dish with the Mikirs." It is, therefore, not really a gourd,
but I am unable to identify the species.
[25] "Sparrow": vo-ar-bipi, explained as a small bird, the size of
a sparrow. In the Aimol version the corresponding word is rendered
"bat"; but a bat in Mikir is vo-arplàk, and a bat has no nest (tar)
as the bird has here.
[26] "Stinging-nettle": tarme-làngbòng; this is probably not a nettle
(urtica), but some other kind of blistering plant found in the Assam
jungles; tarme means a creeper, làngbòng a vessel made of bamboo to
hold water.
[27] Fish-trap, ru: a bamboo cage placed in an opening in a weir or
dam built of stones or constructed of wattled boughs, so that the fish
entering cannot get out. The same word is used later (see note p. 53)
for the iron cage (ingchin aru) in which the orphan is confined.
[28] "May a tiger eat you, you wicked boy!" Teke nàng kòrdutpi a-osó,
literally, "You tiger-bitten boy!" pi is a syllable used in abuse,
as po ("father") is used in the opposite sense, e.g. po-arnàm-po,
"My good sir!" literally, "father-god-father;" lower down, addressing
a girl, pe ("mother") is similarly used: "pe-arnàm-pi," "dear girl!"
[29] Cloth-full, mànthung: a cloth or wrapper (pe) folded cylindrically
into a bag, and tied at the top and bottom with slit bamboo (jingtàk).
[30] "Iron cage": see note on p. 48 above.
[31] The nòksèk: the part of the house (in kàm: see plan, p. 8)
between the fireplace and the middle partition, where the offerings
of food for the spirits of the dead are placed.
[32] "A field-watcher's hut," hèm-thàp: a small hut, raised high
upon posts and thatched over, built in a clearing for cultivation,
in which the cultivator passes the night for the purpose of scaring
wild pigs and deer away from the crop.
[33] A species of potherb, so-called in Assamese: Bengali putika,
Basella lucida. It has red juicy fruit.
[34] Notice the simplicity of life indicated by the occupations
the fairy princesses have to attend to on their return to their
celestial home.
[35] The exact species of these flowers is not vouched for; those
named are common in the house-gardens of Assamese cultivators.
[36] See the note on p. 60.
[37] The flesh of animals killed by hunters is cut into strips and
dried in the sun on frames of bamboo, for future use. The frames are
called in Mikir ur and ràp.
[38] "Jungle-cock": Gallus ferrugineus, the wild fowl of Assam jungles.
[39] "Cock-pheasant": vorèk alopo, the dorik (Ass.) or "derrick,"
Gennæus Horsfieldii, the black-breasted kalij pheasant of north-east
India.
[40] There are certain particles, jo, jàm, hur, hòr, and krei, used
to indicate plurality when this is necessary; but they are inserted
between the root and the tense-suffix, which is invariable.
[41] Pe- and pi- are used with monosyllables, pa- with most
polysyllables; pa + ing = pàng.
[42] See "Khasi Monograph," p. 211.
[43] Reference may here be made to a summary of the Gospel history in
Mikir entitled Birta Keme, "Glad tidings," published by the American
Baptist Mission Press, Tika, Nowgong, in 1904.
[44] This seems to have taken place in or about 1765 A.D. See Gait,
History of Assam, p. 181.
[45] Words resembling kèp are found for ten in some of the
pronominalized languages of the lower Himalayas of Nepal; but these
do not enter into our present field of comparison.
[46] Lepcha kha, Khaling khal, are probably the same word.
[47] Other Boro languages borrow Aryan words for higher numbers
than ten.
[48] Lhi is the relic of kre, with the prefix k dropped and the r
changed to l.
[49] Linguistic Survey, vol. III. part iii., p. 118.
[50] Southern Chin, as will be seen from the word-lists which follow,
agrees in this respect with Mikir against Lushei, Meithei, and other
Kuki-Chin languages.
[51] The only exception in Angami is r, in which a few words end.
[52] This seems to make it improbable that, as suggested on p. 109,
chui in var-chui and nim-chui (to throw into water, to drown) is
connected with the Tibetan chhu.
[53] The Chin words are taken from Mr. B. Houghton's Essay on
the Language of the Southern Chins and its Affinities (Rangoon,
1892). In transcribing them h has been substituted for ` to indicate
the aspirate, but the spelling has not been otherwise varied. The
Lushei words are from Messrs. Lorrain and Savidge's Grammar and
Dictionary of the Lushai Language (Dulien dialect) (Shillong, 1898);
here too the spelling of the original has been retained.
[54] In Mikir this root is perhaps found in pi-nu, mother's sister,
nimso, a virgin, and chai-nòng, cow. Chai-nòng is now used for both
sexes, but the cognate languages point to chai (for chal) being the
original word for the bovine species.
[55] A final mute italicised in Lushei words indicates that it is
formed with the vocal organs, but not pronounced.
[56] Sa in Lushei means animal, and we see that the prefix te-
(in teke, tiger), thi- (in thi-jòk, deer), or thòk- (in thòk-vàm,
bear) has the same meaning in Mikir.
[57] So called from the figure of a butterfly (pli-pli) on the cover.