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MAECW, 1903.) GRAMMAR AND SPECIMENS OF THE MIKIR LANGUAGE.
101
A GRAMMAR AND SPECIMENS OF THE MIKIR LANGUAGE.
BY SIR C. J. LYALL, K.C.S.I.
I.- PRELIMINARY NOTE. T IKE Kachchā Nāgā, Kabui, and Khoirao, Mikir is a language belonging to the Nāgā Grour
L of the Tibeto-Burman Languages, which represents an intermediate stage between the true Nāgā languages, and the various speeches belonging to the Bodo Group. No complete grammar of it has ever been published. The following are the materials which have hitberto been available for its study:
ROBINSON, W., - Notes on the Languages spoken by the various tribes inhabiting the
Valley of Assam and its mountain Confines. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. XVIII., 1849, Pt. I., pp. 184 and ff., 310 and ff. On pp. 830 and fi.
an imperfect Mikir Grammar. On pp. 342 and ff. a Mikir Vocabulary. BUTLER, CAPTAIN J., - A Rough Comparative Vocabulary of some of the Dialects spoken
in the “ Nága Hills" District. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. XLI.
Pt. I., 1873, Appendix. Contains a Vocabulary. CAMPBELL, 81G., -Specimens of the Languages of India, including those of the
Aboriginal Tribes of Bengal, the Central Provinces, and the Eastern Frontier.
Calcutta, 1874. On pp. 204-205 and ff. there is a Mikir Vocabulary. ANON, A Milcir Catechism in the Assamese character, Sibsagar, 1875. NEIGHBOR, THE Rxv. R. E., - A Vocabulary in English and Mikir, with Sentences
illustrating the Use of Words. Caloutta, 1878. DAMANT, G. H., Notes on the Locality and Population of the Tribes droelling between
the Brahmaputra and Ningths Rider8. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XII. 1880, pp. 228 and ff. Account of the Mikirs on p. 236. Short Vocabulary
on p. 254. LXALL, SIR C. J., K.C.S.I., - Note on the geographical distribution and ethnological
affinities of the Mikirs on pp. 78 and ff. of the Census Report of Assam for 1881. Calcutta, 1883. This has been reprinted on pp. 177 and ff. of the Census Report of
the same Province for 1891. The reprinted copy has been revised. PURBELL, M188,- Arlong Alam. A Mikir Primer. Aseam, 1891. DAVIS, A. W., I.C.S., - Note by A. W. D. on the Relations of the principal Languages
of the Nāgā Group on pp. 163 and ff. of the Census Report of Assam for 1891, by E. A. Gait, I.C.S., Shillong, 1892. Compares Mikir with the languages of the Nāgā
and Bodo Groups BAXER, E. O.S. - Account of the Mikirs on p. 254 of the same Report. According to the Census of 1901, Mikir is spoken in the following Assam Districts :
NUMBERS DISTRICT.
OF SPEAKERS. Nowgong ... ...
34,273 Sibsagar
22,803 Khasi and Jaintia Hills
13,142 Kamrup ...
8,026 Darrang ... ...
3,108 Elsewhere ... ...
931
-
Total number of Speakers ...
82,283
