RM.
03-03-263
263
PRM.
The P
rms are a small tribe in the hills around the valley of Manipur.
There is also a small village in the valley, in the neighbourhood of Aimol.
Their number is estimated to be between 500 and 1,000. Short notes on the tribe
are found in the following:-
AUTHORITIES-
McCULLOCH, MAJOR W.,-Account of the Valley of Munipore and of the Hill Tribes; with a Comparative Vocabulary of the Munipore and other Languages. Selections from the Records of the Government of India (Foreign Department). No. xxvii. Calcutta, 1859. Short note on the Poorooms on p. 65.
DAMANT, G.H.,-Notes on the Locality and Population of the Tribes dwelling between the Brahmaputra and Ningthi Rivers. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, Vol. xii, 1880, pp. 228 and ff. Short note on Pooroom on p. 238.
Two specimens and a list of standard words and phrases have been prepared
by Babu Bisharup Singh in the Prm village in the valley of Manipur.
The dialect spoken in that village shows many traces of Meithei influence, especially
in the vocabulary. It is, however, more closely connected with such languages
as Hall
m, Langrong, Rngkh
l, etc.
The remarks on the Prm dialect which follow are entirely based on
the forms occurring in the specimens and in the list of words and are given
with every reserve.
Pronunciation.-It is often almost impossible to state whether a vowel
is long or short. U is always marked as long, and o as short, but both may certainly
be either long or short. An accented final vowel is probably long, but is shortened
when the stress is transferred to another syllable. This much may be inferred
from forms such as arr-h, good; but ha-no, bad; bak- and bk-a, eating,
etc. We have, however, no information as to where the stress should come, and
the marking of long vowels by the original writer being rather inconsistent,
it is impossible to state the rules for the shortening. I have, therefore left
forms such as bak- and bk-a, eating, as I found them without making
any attempt to introduce a consistent spelling throughout. Diphthongs occur
very frequently, but they are, in most cases, interchangeable with single vowels.
Thus, we find ma-ni and ma-ni, they; ngi and ng
, to wish; ya,
yo, and yi, a suffix of the past tense; amoi and amo, the interrogative
particle, etc. It is possible that some of these various spellings are attempts
to denote the sounds 
and 
, but we are not able to make a definite statement.
Y and w are euphonic after i, and , respectively. Thus, in t-y-,
house small in; tha-w-, arising, etc. Hard and soft consonants are sometimes
interchangeable. Thus, sa-n-p and sa-n-b, son; pi-n
and bi-n, a female suffix; kai-ch, I; mo-j, he, etc. Compare the
corresponding change in Meithei. S and y are apparently used alternatively in
the suffix of the past tense, ya, yo, and sa, so. The same suffix is
once also written cho. S is perhaps, in this case, written for z, y and z being
interchangeable in many connected languages. L and r are sometimes interchangeable.
Thus, rp silver, lp, rupee; lal, property, na-ral, thy property;
arr-h and kol-h, good. Compare Meithei, where r is substituted for l
after a vowel. A final k is often silent; thus, sk and s, slave; -nok,
no, but ha-no, good-not, bad; tik-ti, probably for tik-tik, most, etc. Kh and
h are apparently interchangeable in the numeral a-kh, one. Compare riy-h,
hundred. The same interchange occurs in ar-hong-p, cock, and n-h,
this village, as compared with Kolrn arr-khong, cock, and kho, village.
Final r is