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NG
GROUP
THE NG
-BODO
SUB-GROUP.
The Western Ng
Group of languages is bounded on the south by the Kuki,
and on the west and north (so far as concerns Tibeto-Burman languages) by the
Bodo Group. In each direction there is a transitional linguistic area. That
is to say, between Ang
mi N
g
and the Bodo languages there is a group,
which I call the N
g
-Bodo Group, bridging over the difference between
the characteristic features of the two forms of speech, and similarly between
Ang
mi N
g
and the Kuki languages there is another group which I call
the N
g
-Kuki. At present we have to deal with the former,- the N
g
-Bodo
Group. This consists of two main languages, viz., Mikir, whose head- quarters
is in the Mikir Hills in the east of the Nowgong District, and Kachch
N
g
or
mp
o, which is spoken in North Cachar and in the adjoining tracts
of the N
ga Hills. Subordinate languages, closely akin to, but not dialects
of, Kachch
N
g
, are Kabui N
g
and Khoir
o N
g
. These
last two are mostly spoken in the western hill country of the State of Manipur.
As might be expected, the Bodo language, with which they show the most important
points of kinship, is the eastern one,-Chutiy
,-while Ang
mi and Lh
t
are the two N
g
tongues to which they are most closely allied.
The following is the estimated number of people who speak the various languages of this group,-
Mikir... |
89,516
|
Kachch![]() ![]() ![]() |
10,280
|
Kabui... |
11,073
|
Khoir![]() |
15,000
|
125,869
|
The close connexion which mutually exists between these four languages will
be evident from a perusal of the list of words and sentences on pp. 432 and
ff. It must, however, be confessed that in regard to Kabui and Khoiro the
classification is some- what arbitrary, for, though they have undoubted connexion
with the Bodo languages, they also show many points of contact with the Kuki
ones.
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