M. 03-02-241
241
KEZHM.
Regarding this tribe, I have even less information than concerning the Rengm
s.
They inhabit the south-eastern border of the N
ga Hills district, and have
the Angmis immediately to their west and south. To their east are the wild
little explored tribes of the unsettled country. To their north are the Sems.
We know all their villages well. In appearance and customs they do not differ
from the Angmis in whose country their villages lie.
The Deputy Commissioner estimates that there are about 1,620 speakers of
Kezhm. Their language differs considerably from Angmi and Sem,
but clearly belongs to the same sub-group. Through the kindness of the Deputy
Commissioner, I am enabled to publish a version of the Parable and a list of
standard words and sentences in the language, which do not profess to be altogether
correct, and which were obtained with considerable difficulty.
I have not found any authority which deals with this people or their language.
The following account of the principal peculiarities of Kezhm grammar
is based on the specimens which have been now made available for the first time.
Everything that is said below must be taken with great reservation, for, owing
to the difficulties experienced in obtaining the specimens, there can be no
doubt that they contain several errors. Where I have been able, I have separated
out the various component parts of each word by hyphens, but this has not been
done uniformly, as I have left doubtful words untouched. In many places the
interlinear translation is most uncertain, and, in some places, I have not been
able to offer any translation at all. I can only therefore say that the following
appear to be the noteworthy points of the grammar.
Nouns have a prefix e, corresponding to the Sem and Rengm , which
was originally the pronoun of the third person and means 'his,' but often has
the force only of the definite article, or even has no meaning whatever, as
in e-n
me-ch
, a distant town. Corresponding to the Angmi relative
suffix u, we have o, as in kach-o, he who was the younger. The Angmi
m, person, is represented by mi.
In nouns, the nominative singular takes the suffix nyi before transitive
verbs, cor- responding to the Lh
t n. As in that language, the suffix
can be omitted when no ambiguity will ensue. Thus, kach-o-nyi pu, the younger
said; but pu, not pu-nyi, gwo-l
, he went.
The genitive, as in other cognate languages, takes no termination, and precedes
the governing noun, as in s e-n mi kel k, that town's man one's
house, the house of a man of that town.
The dative takes the suffix nh
, as in e-pf-nh, to his father.
The locative takes ch, as in e-l-ch, in the field, and zo means
'with,' as in krokromu-zo, with harlots.
The sign of the plural is, as in Angmi, ko.
As regards pronouns, we have the following forms,-
Y or iy, I; wu-ko, we. The word v means 'property,' as in
-v, my property, but is also used to give the force of various cases
to the personal pronouns, as in -v, with me. , by itself, is used
as a prefix meaning 'my,' as in -pf, my father.
2I