02-01-017

17

LYNG-NGAM.

　The Lyng-ngam dialect of Khassi is spoken in the west of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills District, near the Garo Hills. So little has hitherto been known about it that it has usually been considered to be a dialect of Gr. It is, however, a form of Khassi, and has no connexion with any language of the Tibeto-Burman family. It is estimated that the number of its speakers is 1,850. It presents many peculiar features. The fol- lowing are the principal points of difference between it and the Standard dialect. As it has not been used as a literary dialect, there is no form of spelling, and the same word will be found spelt in two or three different ways in the specimens.

　The Vocabulary deserves study. Some of the commonest verbs are very differ- ent from those used in the Standard dialect. There are also many minor differences of pronunciation. 'A man' is u-breo, not u-brw, and 'a son' is u-khn, not u-khn. Standard ng is often represented by nj. Thus doinj for ding, fire. This sound is represented in other dialects by .

　 A final h often appears as k, and an initial b as p. Thus, baroh (Standard), all, becomes prok. Standard ei becomes aw. Thus, wei = waw, one; dei = daw, be necessary.

　As regards 'Articles,' they are frequently omitted. The masculine singular is u, and the feminine singular is ka, as in the Standard dialect. U is, however, also used for the plural instead of ki, as in r-ngut u-khn-korang, two sons; je-met ngut u-mrw, how many slaves. The diminutive article is often used without any apparent reason,-pos- sibly as a neuter. Thus, i-rynong, the property.

　NOUNS.-The prefix of the Accusative-Dative is se or sa, often contracted to s', instead of ia.

　The prefix of the Dative is hanam, hnam, or tnam. The Standard Dative-Locative prefix ha is also used, and may be spelt he or hy. We also find ta or te.

　For the Genitive besides the Standard jong; we have ba, am-ba, amb, am, and am- nam. Am-nam and am also mean 'from'.

　The plural sometimes takes the suffix met. See List of words, Nos. 140, 141, etc. It is apparently only used with names of animals.

Adjectives.-The usual word for 'male' is korang, and for 'female' konthw, in place of the Standard shin-rang and kynthei respectively. As examples of comparison we have,

The Standard suffix tam is also used for the superlative.

　The prefix re seems to correspond to the Standard adjectival prefix ba.

　PRONOUNS.-The Personal Pronouns are,-

	Singular.	Plural.
1st Person	ne	bw, w.
2nd Person	mi, mei	phw.
3rd Person	u, ju, u-ju	kiw.

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