Part 9

The other cases are formed by postpositions. The instrumental is generally indicated by pèn (sometimes with prefixed a- or e-, as apèn, epèn, but more often without), or pèn-si. The dative takes a-phàn, "to or for," which is also occasionally used for the accusative. The sign of the dative of purpose is apòt: pi-apòt, "what for, why?" kopi-apòtsi, id. The ablative is formed with pèn or pènsi: nòn-pèn, "from now"; dàk-pèn, "from here"; apara (Ass. para) is also used, generally with pèn as well. The locative has a number of postpositions, according to the position required: -si is used for "in," as hèm-si, "in the house," adèt-si, "in his country"; arlo is also used for "in, inside." Le (properly the conjunctive participle of a verb meaning "arrive, reach to a place") is often used as a postposition for "at, in." Other common locative postpositions are a-thàk, "upon, on," àngsòng, "above, upon," arum, "below," aber, "below," alòng "together with" (lòng means "place"), adun, adung, "beside, next to" (dun is a verb meaning "to be with, accompany"), adàk, "between," àngbòng, "in the middle of," aphi, "after."

ADJECTIVES.

Adjectives are regularly formed by prefixing ke-, ki-, or ka- to the root, and do not change for gender, number, or case. Thus, from the root me, "to be good," we have keme, "good"; helo, "distance," kahelo, "far off"; dòk, "to have savour," kedòk, "savoury"; ho, "to be bitter," keho, "bitter"; lòk, "to be white," kelòk, "white"; ri, "to be rich," kiri, "rich." Ke- and ki- are generally used with monosyllables, ka- with longer words; ka- with ing- forms kàng.

The form of the adjective is precisely the, same as that of the present participle of the verbal root, used to form the present tense, and also as that of the infinitive or abstract of that root, and the collocation of the sentence alone determines the meaning of the word used. When particles of comparison or other modifying elements are added to the adjective, the prefix ke- etc. is often dropped as unnecessary; thus--

kelòk, "white"; lòk-hik, "whitish." keme, "good"; me-mu, "better"; me-ne, "best." keding, "tall"; ding-mu, "taller."

But kàngtui, "high"; kàngtui-mu, "higher"; kàngtui-ne, "highest."

Comparison is effected by means of the postpositions apar and aphàn; "his brother is taller than his sister," a-te apar (or aphàn) a-kòr ding-mu.

Adjectives commonly follow the noun qualified; when they precede, the construction corresponds to what in Aryan languages would be indicated by the relative pronoun (see below, p. 80).

NUMERALS.

The cardinal numerals are isi, one; hini, two; kethòm, three; phili, four; phòngo, five; theròk, six; theròk-si, seven; nerkèp, eight; sirkèp, nine; kèp, ten. It will be seen that seven is six plus one, eight ten minus two, nine ten minus one. From eleven to nineteen kre takes the place of kèp: kre-isi, eleven; kre-hini, twelve; kre-kethòm, thirteen, etc. A score is ingkoi, and from this point onwards the syllable ra is inserted between the multiple of ten and the added units: ingkoi-ra-isi, twenty-one; ingkoi-ra-hini, twenty-two, etc. Thirty, forty, etc. are formed by adding kèp to the multiplier unit: thòm-kèp, phili-kèp, etc. Eighty is theròk-nerkèp, ninety theròk-serkèp. A hundred is pharo or paro, a thousand suri.

The numeral follows the noun. In composition hini (except with bàng, "person") is reduced to ni, and kethòm to thòm, as jo-ni jo-thòm, "two or three nights." Phili and theròk are often contracted to phli and thròk.

Generic determinatives, as in many other Tibeto-Burman languages, are commonly used with numbers:--

with persons, bàng, as a-òng-mar kòrte bàng-theròk, "his uncles, the six brothers";

with animals, jòn (perhaps an Assamese loan-word), as chelòng jòn-phili, "four buffaloes";

with trees and things standing up, ròng: thèngpi ròng-theròk "six trees";

with houses, hum, as hèm hum-theròk-kèp, "sixty houses";

with flat things, as a mat, a leaf, a knife, pàk: as tar pàk-phòngo, "five mats"; lo pàk-phili, "four leaves"; noke pàk-thòm, "three knives";

with globular things, as an egg, a gourd, a vessel, pum: as vo-ti pum-ni, "two eggs"; bòng pum-theròksi, "seven gourds";

with parts of the body, and also with rings, bracelets, and other ornaments, hòng: as kèng e-hòng, "one leg"; roi hòng-ni, "two bracelets."

One of anything is not formed with isi, but, if a person is spoken of, inut (a Khasi loan-word) is used: if anything else, e- is prefixed to the generic determinative; "one cow," chainòng e-jòn; "one tree," thèngpi e-ròng; "one book," puthi e-pàk; "one egg," vo-ti e-pum. This e- appears to be borrowed from Assamese, where it is shortened from èk.

Ordinals are formed by prefixing batai to the cardinal, as batai-kethòm, "third," batai phili, "fourth." They seem to be little used: in the story of Harata Kunwar it will be seen that clumsy periphrases are employed to designate the second, third, fourth, and fifth brother of the family to which the hero belonged. Distributive numeral adverbs are formed by prefixing pur or phòng to the cardinal: pur-thòm or phòng-thòm, "thrice."

PRONOUNS.

The following are the personal pronouns:--

1st Person: ne, I; ne-tum, ne-li, ne-li-tum, we, excluding the person addressed: i-tum, i-li, we, including the person addressed; 2nd Person: nàng, thou; nàng-tum, nàng-li, nàng-li-tum, ye; 3rd Person: la, he, she, it; la-tum, they; alàng, he, she; alàng-li, alàng-atum, alàng-li-tum, they.

(The pronoun la is really a demonstrative, = this, that: it is probable that the original pronoun of the third person was a.)

These pronouns take the postpositions like nouns. The possessive or genitive prefixes are ne, my, our, excluding the person addressed; e- or i-, our, including the person addressed; nàng-, thy, your; a-, his, her, its, their.

The demonstrative pronouns are--la, labàngso, bàngso, this; pl. labàngso-atum, these: hala, halabàngso, that; pl. hala-tum, halabàngso-atum, those. The syllable ha- connotes distance, as dàksi, ladàk, here; ha-dàk, there; ha ahèm che-voi-lo, "he returned home from a distance."

(There appears once to have been another demonstrative pronoun, pi, pe, pa, still preserved in the compound words pi-ni, "to-day," penàp, "to-morrow," pedàp, "this morning," paningve, "to-night." Instead of pi and pe we also find mi, me, as mi-ni, me-nàp. This survival is important for the purpose of comparison with other Tibeto-Burman languages.)

As in other Tibeto-Burman languages, there is no relative pronoun; its place is taken by descriptive adjectival phrases. Thus "those six brothers who had gone to sell cow's flesh" is--

la chainòng a-òk kejòr-dàm-a-tum kòrte bàng-theròk. Those cow 's flesh to sell going (plural) brothers persons-six;

"The man whom Tenton had tied with an iron chain" is--

Tèntòn ingchin a-ni-pèn ke-kòk arlèng. Tenton iron chain-with tied-up man.

In these constructions, it will be seen, the adjective or qualifying participle precedes the noun.

The interrogative syllable, used to form interrogative pronouns, is ko-: komàt, komàt-si, who? kopi, pi, what? ko-pu, ko-pu-si, kolopu, kolopu-sòn, how? ko-àn, ko-ànsi, how many? konàt, konàthu, where? konàm-tu, nàm-tu, nàm-tu-si, when? Always when the sentence does not contain an interrogative pronoun, and sometimes when it does, the syllable ma at the end marks a question: "Are you afraid," nàng phere-dèt ma? Ne (probably an Assamese loan-word) is also used instead of ma: "Will you marry him or not?" do-ji-ne do-de-ne?

The reflexive pronoun is amethàng, self; binòng, own; but the most usual way of indicating that the action affects oneself is to prefix the particle che- (chi-, ching-, cheng-, and rarely cho-) to the verbal root: la hèm che-voi-lo, "he returned home," i.e. to his own house; a-òng-mar-atum che-pu-lo, "his uncles said to one another"; che-hàng-jo, "they asked for themselves." With initial ing-, che- coalesces to ching: with ar- it unites to form cher.

VERBS.

The Mikir verb indicates time, past, present, or future, by means of particles prefixed or suffixed to the root. It does not vary for number, [40] gender, or person. There is no separate verb-substantive, though there are several ways of expressing existence, as do, "stay, abide," used also for "have, possess"; plàng, "become"; làng, "exist, continue (with a sense of incompleteness)"; le, "arrive, happen," etc. Great use is made of adjectival or participial forms, and, in narrative, of the conjunctive participle. Compound roots are very extensively used, the principal verb being put first, then the modifying supplements, and last the time-index.

The simple, or indeterminate present is expressed by the participle with ke-, ka-, without any suffix: konàtsi nàng kedo, "where do you live?"; vo kàngjar, "the bird flies"; sarbura thi-lòt-si ne ka-chiru, "the old man having died, I am weeping"; ne-phu ke-so-kòn, "my head is aching badly." This tense, as in other languages, is often used historically for the past.

The definite or determinate present is expressed by the same participle with -lo added: la kopi kànghoi-lo? "What is he doing (now)?"

The habitual present is expressed by the verbal root with -lo: as vo-atum-ke ne-phu-athàk ingjar-lo, "the birds fly above our heads."

The simple or narrative past is formed by the verbal root with -lo or -dèt added: la pu-lo or pu-dèt, "he said"; ne-phu so-dèt, "my head was aching"; la keri-aphi-si lòng-lo, "he, after searching, found it." Sometimes dèt and lo are used together: la ne ingtòn-dèt-lo, "he abused me." Dèt may also be used for the present when the state indicated by the verb is one that began in the past and still continues: e.g. "Why are you afraid?" may be rendered kopi apòtsi nang phere-dèt, or kopi apòtsi nàng kaphere?

The complete past is indicated by the root with tànglo added: la-apòtsi ne dam-tànglo, "I went, or had gone, on his account"; telòng lòngle pho-tànglo, "the boat has touched ground." Tang is a verb meaning "to finish." There are besides a great number of other particles indicating past time used with particular verbs. Thus, with verbs meaning "to fall," bup and buk are common: hala che-koi-bup, "he fell down"; hèm ru-bup, "the house collapsed"; lòng-chòng kli-bup, "the upright memorial stone fell down"; lòng-pàk klo-buk, "the flat memorial stone fell down"; thèng-pi àngsòng-pèn nàng-klo-buk, "he fell down from the top of the tree." Such particles generally indicate not only past time but abruptness.

A periphrastic past, with the root followed by inghoi-lo, "did," frequently occurs; this is probably an imitation of Assamese idiom.

Here may be noticed the prefix nàng, used, as the specimens show, with great frequency in narrative. It has the effect of fixing the occurrence to a known place, and may generally be rendered "there." It is probable that this particle is originally the pronoun of the second person, and that it refers to the knowledge of the person addressed: "as you know," "as you see."

The future is represented in two ways: (1) by -po added to the root, to indicate an action beginning now and continuing in the future; as itum nònke labàngso akàm apòtsi pu-po, "we will talk about this affair now;" and (2) by -ji added, for an action which commences later on; as badu arlèng-ta thi-ji, "all men will die" (i.e. at some future time). As -po includes the present in the case of continuing action, it may be, and often is, used in a present sense; -ji is restricted to future time.

A compound future may be formed by adding to the root with -ji the words dòkdòk-lo: la thi-ji dòkdòk-lo, "he is just about to die"; àn cho-ji dòkdòk-lo, "it is near breakfast-time" (rice-eating); àn ik-ji dòkdòk-lo, "the rice is nearly all done." A doubtful future may be expressed by -ji added to the present participle: konàt chainòng a-òk-si dàk-si kedo-ji, "where should cow's flesh be here?"

From the above it will be seen that there is much indefiniteness in the indications of time afforded by the Mikir verb: except tàng for the past complete, and -ji for the future, the other suffixes may, according to circumstances, be rendered by the past, present, or future; they may also on occasion be omitted altogether. But the context generally removes all ambiguity.

Conditional phrases are formed by putting -te or -le, "if," at the end of the first member, and the second generally in the future with -ji or -po. Of the conditional future an example is nàng dàm-te, nàng la thèk-dàm-ji, "if you go, you will see him." The conditional past inserts asòn ("like, supposing that,") before -te: dohòn do-asòn-te, ne la nàm-ji, "if I had money, I would buy it." The conditional pluperfect modifies the second member thus: nàng dàm asòn-te, nàng la lòng-lòk apòtlo, "if you had gone, you would have got it"; nàng ne thàn asòn-te, ne la klèm tàng-lo, "if you had explained to me, I would have done it."

The imperative is, for the second person, the bare root, or more usually the root strengthened by the addition of nòn or tha, and dialectically of noi; nòn (= "now") is the strongest form. The other persons are formed by the addition of nàng (a verb meaning "to be necessary") to the future in -po or present in -lo: "let us go" is i-tum dàm-po-nàng; "let us go to the field and plough," rit hai-bai dàm-lo-nàng. We may, for the third person, use the causative form of the verb: la-ke pedàm-nòn, "let him go."

Participles. The present participle has the form of the adjective, with the prefixed ke- (ki-) or ka-; as kedàm, "going," ka-chiru, "weeping." The past participle is the root or the present participle with tàng added: dàm-tàng, "gone," thèk-tàng, "having seen," ka-pàngtu-tàng, "fattened."

Perhaps the most used form of the verb, especially in narrative, is the conjunctive participle, which is either the bare root, or the root with -si; hèm che-voi-si thèk-lo, "having returned home, he saw." When the past is indicated, dèt is used, either with or without -si, as cho-dèt jun-dèt, sarbura, tòn-arlo kaibòng patu-joi-si, i-lo, "having finished eating and drinking, the old man, having quietly hidden his club in a basket, lay down"; Tèntòn, dohòn-alàngbòng lòng-si, rit dàm-de-dèt-si, kàt-jui-lo, "Tenton, having got the bamboo-joint with the money, without returning to the field, ran away."

When the phrase in which the conjunctive participle occurs is terminated by an imperative, the suffix is not -si but -ra: "having eaten your rice, go," is àn cho-ra dàm-nòn; but "having eaten his rice, he went," is an chodèt-si dàm-lo. While -si links together parts of a narrative, -ra links together a string of imperatives.

The infinitive or verbal noun is identical in form with the present participle; kum-kiròt tàngte kekàn arki nàng arju-lònglo, "he heard (got to hear) there (nàng) the sound (arki) of fiddle (kum) scraping (ki-ròt) and dancing (ke-kàn)." All words beginning with ke-, ki-, and ka- may therefore be regarded as (1) adjectives, (2) participles forming tenses of the verb, or (3) verbal nouns; and it will be seen from the analysis of the specimens how clearly this at first sight strange allocation of forms can be made to express the required sense.

In all Tibeto-Burman languages the passive voice is either non-existent or little used; a sentence which in English would be stated passively is turned the other way, and appears in an active form. Thus--"Four trees were uprooted by the wind" would be rendered tomòn thèngpi ròng-phili pi-pur-koi-lo, "the wind uprooted four trees"; "this house has been thrown down by an earthquake" is chikli-si labàngso ahèm pi-ru-hup-lo, "an earthquake has thrown down this house." Sometimes a passive may be expressed by a periphrasis, as "I was beaten," ne kechòk èn-tàng, lit. "I received a beating." The only unquestionable example of a passive is in the case of past participles, and here the passive is expressed by the simple expedient of putting the participle before instead of after the noun: bàng kevàn ahòr, "the drink brought by people"; maja kelòng arlèng, "a man bewitched"; ne ke-pi a-àn ahòr, "the to-me-given rice and beer." This construction is exactly parallel to the method (explained above) of expressing the relative phrase by putting the adjective first, instead of after the noun, and is in fact another case of the same idiom. The participle, which may also (as just explained) be regarded as a verbal noun, comes before the subject of the sentence, because the action passes on to the subject, instead of emanating from it, as in an active construction. We are tempted to think that languages which lack what seems to European modes of thought such essential elements as a relative pronoun and a passive voice cannot be capable of any subtlety of expression; yet this phenomenon is common to forms of speech like Tibetan, Burmese, and Chinese, which possess vast literatures dealing with all kinds of subjects, and in which it is possible to render ideas of the greatest complexity and variety. Even in Europe, the clearest and most logical of languages, French, prefers to use the active form of phrase (with on) rather than the passive.

The negative verb is a very interesting and remarkable feature of the language. A separate negative root, formed by prefixing or suffixing a negative particle, and conjugated in the same way as the positive, is indeed a common property of Tibeto-Burman speech; but in Mikir this secondary root is formed in a peculiar manner. The negating syllable -e is added to the primitive, as un, "can," un-e, "cannot"; òng, "be much," òng-e, "be not much"; i, "lie down," i-e, "not lie down." But when the root begins with a consonant or a nexus of consonants, and is monosyllabic, the consonant or nexus is repeated before the added vowel: thèk, "see, be able"; thèk-the, "not see, be unable"; dàm, "go," dàm-de, "not go"; kroi, "believe, obey," kroi-kre, "disbelieve, disobey"; mèk-pràng, "eye-open, awake," mèk-pràng-pre, "not awake." When the verb is of two or more syllables, the last is chosen for reduplication: inghoi, "do," inghoi-he, "not do"; ingjinso, "show mercy," ingjinso-se, "not show mercy"; chini (Ass. loan-word), "recognise," chini-ne, "not recognise."

The secondary root thus obtained is treated in construction just like the positive root, and takes the tense-suffixes: pàk-ta pi-vàng-ve-dèt-lo, "anybody to give him (anything) came not." The time-index is, however, with negative verbs more often dropped as unnecessary, owing to the context showing what the time-relation is.

In the imperative the reduplication is not used; the particle -ri is added to the positive root, with or without nòn as well: thèk-nòn, "see!"; thèk-ri, or thèk-ri-nòn, "see not!"

It may be added that this method of forming the negative by reduplication is also applied to verbal adjectives in ke-, ki-, ka-, which thereupon usually drop the prefix: keso, "in pain, sick"; so-se, "not sick, well"; but kàngjinso, "merciful"; kàng-jinso-se, "merciless."

Besides this organic negative, there is a periphrastic negative formed by adding the word ave, "is not": Arnàm abàng ave, kechèng ave, kapetàng ave, "God has no body, no beginning, no end" (lit. "God his body is not, beginning is not, end is not"). The a in ave is the usual a of relation, and may be dropped: alàm-ave "without a word"; làm-ve, "word-less, dumb." Ka- may be prefixed, forming kave, used as an adjectival negative: kopai (Ass. kopal), "fortune," kopai-kave, "unfortunate." Another negative used separately, in emphatic assertions, is kali: tovar nàng kepèk-ji kali, "the way I will by no means yield to you"; ne-thibuk kali, "it is not my water-jar."

The causal verb is formed by prefixing the syllable pe-, pi-, pa- [41] to the root: this is probably the verb pi, meaning "to give"; e.g. cho, "eat," pecho, "feed"; tàng, "finish," petàng, "cause to finish, end"; ingrum, "be gathered together," pàngrum, "collect"; virdèt, "be lost," pi-virdèt, "destroy." This syllable takes precedure of che- in reflexive verbs: e-chainòng e-pa-chi-thu-koi-làng, "he has caused us to slaughter all our cows": here e- is the pronoun of the first person plural inclusive of the addressee; pa-, the causal prefix; chi-, the reflexive particle, indicating that the cattle slaughtered were their own; thu, a verb, "to kill by cutting"; koi, a particle indicating completeness; làng, the tense-suffix.

Compound verbs meet us at every step in Mikir. Roots are heaped together, and the compound is closed by the tense-suffix. Ordinarily the first root determines the general meaning of the compound, the rest being adverbial supplements of modifying force:--chiru-pi-lèm-lo, "he pretended to weep" (chiru, "weep," lèm, "seem, appear," pi-lèm, "cause to seem, pretend"); ke-phlòng-dàm abàng, "somebody who will go and set fire (to the funeral pile)" (phlòng, "kindle," dàm, "go"); kroi-dun-lo, "she consented" (kroi, "agree, obey," dun, "go or be with another"); ne do-dun-ji-ma, "will you stay with me?" (do, "stay," dun, as above). The texts which follow supply a multitude of other examples.

These adverbial supplements to verbs, inserted between the principal verb and the tense-suffixes, are a very characteristic feature of the language, and their proper use is one of the most difficult things for a learner to master. Certain roots take constant supplements of this kind, and are scarcely ever found without them; thus the verbs thi, "die," i, "lie down to sleep," and jàng, "close the eyes," are almost invariably followed by lòt; rèng, "to live," takes èt before verbal suffixes; lòng, "to get," takes lòk; chingbar, "to be equal (in size, weight, height)," and chingdòn, "to be equal in length," take chit; inghòn, "to love," and ingjinso, "to pity," both take duk; jòk and thèt, both meaning "to escape, get loose," take phlòt. The complements for verbs meaning "to fall" have been mentioned above (p. 82). These supplements frequently cause the tense-endings to be dispensed with, in which case the action is understood to be in the narrative past or historic present. No doubt most of them were originally separate verbal roots, but are not now capable of being used separately.

The brief outline given above will, it is hoped, enable the reader to apprehend the general construction of the narratives which follow, and display the language in action; for further analysis reference should be made to the notes appended to the texts.

I.

CHÒNGHOLOSO ATOMO. FROG STORY.

Arni-si miso-ròngpo a-òng àn che-thòn-dàmlo. Chòngholoso Day-one a big black ant (to) his uncle rice to carry went. a frog

tovar ingni-thip. Ànsi miso pulo: "Tovar ne the way sat down and blocked. Then the ant said: "The way for me

pèk-tha, chòngholoso; ne ne-òng àn chethòn-dàm-ji." Chòngholoso leave free, frog; I my-uncle rice carry-go-will." The frog

pudèt: "Ne-rum ne-lut-thòt-ra dàm-te: pàkta answered: "Under me entering (creeping)| go your way: every one

ne-rum-si dàm-hòr-le." Miso pudèt: "Ne-òng a-àn bòr under me passes." The ant said: "My uncle's rice leaf-bundle

do-kòk-le, pusi nàng-rum-le nàng-kelut-thèk-ji?" Ànsi being tied up, how you-underneath enter, creep, shall I be able?" So

chòngho-ta pèk-pe, miso-ta dàm-de. Ànsi nerlo the frog would not give way, the ant could no go. So day

chitim-lo. Ànsi miso--"Ai, ne-òng àn-ingchir-si became middle. So the ant-- "Oh, my uncle rice-hunger-in

aning-ne-thi-po" pulo; chòngholoso-arum lut-thòt-lo. Àn-lo angry with me will be" said; the frog-under he entered, crept. Then

chòngholoso miso-athàk ingni-dun-chèt-lo. Lasi miso-ròngpo the frog the ant-upon sat-down-flat. Thereupon the big black ant