R
OR MND
KUSIK. 03-02-068
68
GR
OR MND
KUSIK.
The G
r
s call themselves 'Mnd
,' which is the word in their
vernacular for 'man'.
Gr is spoken principally by the inhabitants of the Garo Hills, and
also in the plains at their feet, viz., the Districts of Kamrup, Goalpara, the
State of Cooch Behar, the Districts of Jalpaiguri, Mymensingh, and Dacca. It
is, moreover, spoken by small numbers of people in Sibsagar, Darrang, Nowgong,
the Khasi and Jaintia Hills (where it is called 'Dyko'), and Sylhet.
Besides the standard dialect, and forms of speech returned simply as 'Gr,'
without any dialectic designation, the following names have been returned as
those of dialects of this language. In order to complete the subject particulars
are given for the standard and unspecified dialects also.
|
Dialect.
|
Where spoken.
|
Number of speakers.
|
|
| Standard or chik... |
Garo Hills |
30,000
|
|
| Goalpara |
11,700
|
|
|
| Kamrup |
5,100
|
|
|
| (Under name of 'Mnd')... |
Mymensingh |
8,600
|
|
|
------------
|
55,400
|
||
| beng... |
Garo Hills |
33,000
|
|
| Mymensingh |
5,000
|
|
|
|
------------
|
38,000
|
||
| tong, ting, or Kuchu... |
Garo Hills |
10,000
|
|
| Mymensingh |
5,000
|
|
|
|
------------
|
15,000
|
||
| wi... |
Garo Hills |
20,000
|
|
| Chibok... | Garo Hills |
1,500
|
|
| Dlu... |
Garo Hills |
500
|
|
| Rug... |
Garo Hills |
500
|
|
| The so-called 'Kch' dialects... |
Dacca |
4,500
|
|
| Garo Hills |
5,500
|
|
|
| Goalpara |
300
|
|
|
|
------------
|
10,300
|
||
| Unspecified... | Sibsagar |
430
|
|
| Darrang |
600
|
|
|
| Nowgong |
1,200
|
|
|
| Sylhet |
550
|
|
|
| Khasi and Jaintia Hills |
670
|
|
|
| Cooch Behar |
1,200
|
|
|
| Jalpaiguri |
4,013
|
|
|
| Dacca |
200
|
|
|
|
------------
|
8,863
|
||
|
GRAND TOTAL
|
150,063
|
||
It will be understood that most of these figures are merely rough approximations. No attempt was made at the last census to separate out the different dialects. It is to be regretted that I have not succeeded in obtaining any specimens of several of those mentioned above.
The Grs call their language 'Mnd Kusik,' i.e., the language
of the men, or 'chik Kusik,' i.e., the language of the hill men. All the
dialects bear a strong resem- blance to each other, though to a foreigner, learning
to converse with the natives, the differences are striking enough. The tong
or Kuchu dialect presents the greatest