03-02-096
96
BODO GROUP.
name of P
ni K
ch, which means 'small,' or 'inferior Kch,' by way
of propitiating the thoroughly Hinduised Kch power which was predominant
on their borders. Their language, so far as I can judge from the specimens which
I have seen, is a mongrel of Gr and Bengali or Assamese.
In the Garo Hills it is stated that each section of the so-called Kches
speaks a different dialect, but no specimens of any of these forms of speech
could be obtained. I am hence obliged to content myself with the specimen received
from Dacca which illustrates the dialect of the extreme south, and with that
received from Goalpara received from the extreme north. The latter is called
Tintekiy. The only other specimen of the language that is available is the
Vocabulary of the 'Konch' dialect of the Garo Hills drawn up by Lieutenant Williamson,
and referred to below in the list of authorities. This I reprint in the list
of words for purposes of comparison. The dialect differs from both of those
of which I give specimens, but is evidently based on Gr.
This so-called Kch dialect is spoken by the following number of people:-
| BENGAL- | ||||
| Dacca... |
4,500
|
|
|
|
|
Total for Bengal...
|
|
|
4,500
|
|
| ASSAM- | ||||
|
|
Garo Hills- |
|
|
|
| Harigay... |
1,100
|
|
|
|
| Satpariy... |
1,100
|
|
|
|
Dasgay or Bana ... |
1,100
|
|
|
|
| Wanng... |
1,100
|
|
|
|
| Tintekiy... |
1,100
|
|
|
|
|
Total...
|
|
5,500
|
|
|
| Goalpara- |
|
300
|
|
|
| Tintekiy... |
|
|
|
|
|
Total for Assam...
|
|
|
5,800
|
|
|
GRAND TOTAL...
|
|
|
10,300
|
|
It is hardly necessary to point out that, in the case of the Garo Hills, the figures are only rough estimates.
The following are the authorities on the Kch language, viz., both those
which deal with the language spoken at the present day by Kches, and also
this corrupt Gr or M
ch spoken by the Pni Kches.
AUTHORITIES-
HODGSON, B.H.,-Essay on the K
cch, Bd, and Dhim
l Tribes. Calcutta,
1847. Reprinted in Vol. I of Miscellaneous Essays relating to Indian Subjects,
pp. 1-160. London, 1880. Contains a Kcch vocabulary. Hodgson states that
the Kcch grammar is merely corrupt Bengali.
HUNTER, W.W.,-A Comparative Dictionary of the Languages of India and High Asia. London, 1868. The Koch words are taken from Hodgson.
WILLIAMSON, W.J.,-A Vocabulary of the Garo and Konch Dialects. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, xxxviii (1869), Pt. I., pp. 14 and ff. This vocabulary is nearly identical, so far as the Eng- lish goes, with the Standard List of Words and Sentences used in this Survey.
DALTON, E.T.,-Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal. Calcutta, 1872. Pani-Kocch or Kocch Vocabulary on pp. 93 and ff.
BEAMES, J.,-On some Koch Words in Mr. Damant's Article on the Palis of Dinajpur. Indian Anti- guary, I (1872), p. 371.