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HIRI LAMGNG.

　The Hiri Lamgng dialect is spoken by a small tribe in Manipur. Their total num- ber is estimated to lie between 500 and 1,000. We have no information regarding their villages in the hills, but they are found in the plains at Lamgng, in the southern part of the valley.

　Mr. Damant mentions the Lumyang Kukis as a powerful and warlike tribe to the south of the Anls. He states that they are gradually being driven north-wards by the Sokts, and that they claim to be the oldest branch of the whole Kuki family. This tribe is probably identical with the Hiri Lamgng tribe.

AUTHORITY-

　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, p. 228. Note on Lumyang Kuki on p. 239.

　 I have not come across any other authority dealing with this tribe.

　Two specimens and a list of standard words and phrases have been received from Lamgng, all prepared by Babu Bisharup Singh. The list of words abounds in verbal forms, the exact meaning of which cannot be ascertained. There are also some doubtful points in the specimens. The remarks on Lamgng grammar which follow, and which are entirely based on these texts, must accordingly be used with caution.

　Pronunciation.-The vowels of the prefixes seem to be indistinctly sounded. They are sometimes entirely dropped, and their colour is apparently influenced by the follow- ing vowel. Thus, we find:-ka-chn-, run; ki-di-y, die; k-di, to find pleasure at; nai-k p-th, of me, lit. I my (ka) word; pa-rai-d, striking; a-prai, strike; ta-k, nine; ti-ksi-y, seven; t-rk, six, etc. Ka-l and kl, far, and several other instances of the same kind can only be accounted for through the supposition that the a in ka has a very faint sound. We find a similar contraction in cases such as aw and o, that; ha-w, hau and ho, this. It is often difficult to decide whether a vowel is long or short. U is always marked as long, but this is the case in all texts prepared by Babu Bisharup Singh, and we can never know whether a u is really long or short. We often find the same word written sometimes with a long, and sometimes with a short, vowel. Thus, thang and thng, in; aw and wa, that. The use of the short vowel seems to be due to the adding of an accentuated suffix in ta-ki, what-from? why? from t, what? Ai is sometimes inter- changeable with ; thus, nai, I; nmb, with me; nang-ai, thou; nai-y, I: Li, God; l-ka-long, devil. In the same way au and o are sometimes interchanged; thus, alau, take; klo, taking. O and often seem to denote the same sound; thus, k and ko, who? and i are sometimes interchangeable; thus, pi and p, give; hin-ki and hin-k from, etc. The sound of final ng is apparently rather faint. Thus, we find wng, wn, and w, to come; a-d-thng, behind; k-d-th, behind me, etc. Hard and soft con- sonants are sometimes interchangeable. Thus, we occasionally find the common prefix ka written ga, etc. R is a common sound, but l is substituted, for it in lp, silver. We often find rr as final consonant; thus, thirr, iron; horr, bring, etc. The doubling of the r seems in some cases to be due to the elision of a following short vowel; thus, ka-ra-w, he comes; karr-bng-d, he has come. It will be seen that b is substituted for the initial w in wng, w, to come, after this double r.