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368
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[DECEMBER, 1907.
momchiama yam kdhe, one score yam moon," to finish the reckoning, because it now takes on a new phase. The 21st to 25th are reckoned backwards thug -
21st enföan tatlanga 8 tatlanga. 22nd issât 23rd tafüal
6 24th tanai , 5 25th foan
After this they reckon by separate names :
26th ongê wa 27th hinai 28th hinlain 29th manūt 30th kanat
Any following intercalary days are all called kanat.
b. - Explanation of Terms for Numerals. There is a term for the 19th in the Central Group, which explains the curious form heang-hats for nine. The ordinary term for the 19th day is heang-hata ydm kdhë, nine ydm moon : but shom heang hata tom ydm, which is obviously "ten one less score ydm," is also used, because the 20th is heang momchiama ydm kdhe, one score yam moon. Hat means "not" and hata here is clearly "less" and so heang-hata, nine, is an elliptic phase for heang hata shom, one less ten.
Another pair of expressions is drònga chingeät, waning moon, and drongte chingedt, half moon, which explains drongte iak, half lak (20,000), aud doktai "and-a-half (score)." Here is a "lost root" dròng, dòk, "lessen," which when combined with (te, ta ) tai "lost root" for "hand," means "the lessened hand" or "half."
The only other term which might be dispated is chamānga chingeät, ten moon, the word for ten in Car Nicobar being sam, but it is quite a legitimate extension for differentiation by infix and suffix, thus; ch-am-ang-a (for s-am-am-a), or according to root forms, chang for sam.
0. - Calendar Tallies,
In a Car Nicobar Calendar (kenräta) in my possession the days are notched as follows to indicate a monsoon. It is in the form of a sword-blade.
The first month notches 31 days The second The third , The fourth The fifth
26 ) The sixth The seventh
197 days or well over half the year, wbich would require readjustment during the next monsoon.
It will be observed that the notches are meant to go 10, 6, 10, 4= 30.
