a,
that is, 'sons of the hills,' probably belong to this group. 03-03-010
10
KUKI-CHIN GROUP.
the tribes known as Taung-a,
that is, 'sons of the hills,' probably belong to this group.
Our information about these dialects is very limited, Khyang and Khami being
the only ones which have been satisfactorily dealt with. Both comprise several
dialects. Chinm
is said to be a link
between Chinb
k and Lai, and the same
must be said with re- gard to a Taung-a
dialect, in which a vocabulary has been published in the Upper Burma Gazetteer.
The chief peculiarity of this group is the gradual approximation to Burmese.
Burmese words occur in many of the dialects. Khami has apparently given up the
use of pronominal prefixes with verbs, which forms so characteristic a feature
of most Kuki-Chin languages. Khyang forms the higher numbers, as in Burmese,
by prefixing the multiplier thus, ngha gip, five-tens, fifty. Chinbk and
some dialects of Khyang use a negative prefix, like Burmese, while the Kuki-Chin
languages use a negative suffix. The whole sub-group is subdivided into numerous
dialects, but our information is as yet not sufficient to make a definite sketch
of the Southern Chin languages.
The close connection between all these dialects will appear from an examination
of the vocabulary given below. Meithei, Th
do,
Lushi, Lai, Rng-
khl, Khami, and Khyang have been
given as representatives of the different sub-groups. The corresponding forms
in Kachin have been added in an eighth column, as we shall have subsequently
to consider the relation of that language to our group. -
|
-
|
Meithei.
|
Th
do. |
Lush
i. |
Lai.
|
R
ngkhl. |
Khami.
|
Khyang.
|
Kachin.
|
| One.. | a-m.. |
khat.. | pa-khat | p -kat.
|
en-kat. | h-re.. |
mt./h ./hot. |
ngai-m./ai-m. |
| Two.. | a-ni.. | ni.. | pa-nhih. | p-n . |
en-n
|
n -re.
|
nhi.. | ni./ n'khong. |
| Three.. | a-hum. | thum. | pa-thum. | p-thum.
|
en-t m. |
thn.. |
thm/thn.
|
ma-sum. |
| Four.. | ma-ri. | li.. | pa-li.. | p-li.. |
m-l.
|
p-l..
|
lhi/m-lhi. | ma-l. |
| Five.. | ma-ng. |
ng.. |
pa-nga. | p-nga.
|
ri-ngh. |
p (ng). |
ngha./ngho. | ma-ng. |
| Six.. | ta-rk. |
gp.. |
pa-ruk. | p-rk.
|
ga-rk. |
te-r..
|
soke./hsok. | khr. |
| Seven.. | ta-rt. |
sa-gi.. | ya-sa-ri. | p-s-ri. |
s-ri.. |
s-r. |
she./his. | sinit. |
| Eight.. | ni-pn. |
gt.. |
pa-riat. | p-riet.
|
ga-rt.
|
ta-y. |
shet./hse. | ma-sat. |
| Nine.. | m-pan. |
k.. |
pa-kua. | p-kua.
|
gk..
|
ta-k. |
ko.. | cha-khu. |
| Ten.. | ta-r.. |
som.. | shom.. | p-ra.
|
shm. |
ho.. | ngha./ha. | s. |