03-02-472

472

　NG GROUP.

　Death-king. My friends, a madman once heard this and said, 'He kills us, so when I am dead I will kill the Death-king.' A year afterwards he died, and he ascended to the Death-king. The madman threw a spear at the Death-king, but it did not touch him. Then said the Death-king, 'This is a bad man. Send him back, and never let him come here. Why did he die?' Then the Death-king blew him back to earth in a puff of wind. Men were standing round his grave. He said to them, 'what are you doing?' 'You are dead,' said they, 'and we are making your grave.' 'I am not dead. I am alive. I went to the Death-king, and threw a spear at him, but it did not touch him. "Return," said he. "This is a bad man. Do not let him come here." I have not died. The wind blew me back here.'

PHADNG.

　This dialect of Tngkhul closely agrees with that spoken at Ukhrul, from which the village of Phadng is only a few hours to the west. We have a vocabulary by McCulloch. Damant estimates the number of speakers at about 500. I have inserted in the list of standard words and sentences all the vocables which I could find therein.

　The authorities on Phadng are McCulloch and Damant, as quoted under Sopvom. McCulloch (1859) gives a "Phudang" vocabulary on pp. vi and ff. of App. I. Damant gives a short account of the tribe on p. 246, and a short vocabulary taken from McCulloch on p. 256 of his Note.

KHANGOI.

　This is the third village of the Tngkhul Ngs regarding whose language we have any information. It is a few hours' journey to the east of Ukhrul. Damant estimates the number of speakers at 300. McCulloch has given us a vocabulary of it, which partly agrees with Brown's Northern Tngkhul.

　So far as can be judged from this vocabulary, this language has much more of a Kuki complexion than the Tngkhul of Ukhrul. It and Maring occupy the Kuki end of the chain connecting the Kuki with the Ng Languages. I have inserted in the list of standard words and sentences all the vocables which I could collect from McCulloch's vocabulary.

　The following are the authorities dealing with Khangoi:-

　BROWN, REV. N.,-Comparison of Indo-Chinese languages, as quoted under Tngkhul. Northern Tngkhul Vocabulary on p. 1035, (1837).

　McCULLOCH, MAJOR W.,-Account of the Valley of Munnipore, as quoted under Sopvom. App. I, pp. v. and ff., a Khoongoee Vocabulary, (1859).

　 DAMANT, G.H.,-Note, etc., as quoted under Sopvom. On p. 246 a brief account of the tribe. (1880.)

　As already stated, Phadng and Khangoi are only two of many dialects of Tngkhul. Almost every village of the tribe has its own form of speech.

MARING.

　Regarding this tribe Mr. Damant says:- This tribe, which is generally called Ng, inhabit a few small villages on the Hrok range of hills which separates Manipur from Burma. They have 300 houses and a population of about 1,500. They are divided into two branches known as Khoib and Maring. They are said to have been formerly much more numerous than at present.

　There is also a Maring colony at Lai Ching, in the Manipur valley, about 25 miles south of Manipur town.

The original has Saibn, which is a misprint.