Burma: Census of India 1901 Vol. I - Khamkoo

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REPORT ON THE CENSUS OF BURMA.- 81
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The adjectives are all verbs. They often take the form of relative particles and their
place is generally after, but often also before, the noun they qualify- Noun and adjective
form a kind of compound and case suffixes and postpositions are added to the last member
of this group of words * * * . The root (of verbs) is combined, with postpositions,
in the same way as a noun, in order to denote different relations. There J is -often
no difference between the present and the past time, and the various suffixes which denote
the past are certainly all originally independent words. In some cases the signification of
these suffixes can still be traced as meaning completeness or some such idea (compare the
Burmese (§«)."
In common with Burmese the Kuki-Chin languages possess what Dr. Grierson
calls "generic particles added to the numerals in order to indicate the kind of
things which are counted." They are, however, as Mr. Houghton has already
told us in connection with Southern Chin, prefixed to the numeral instead of, as
in Burmese, affixed.
1 19. The Kuki-Chin group has been divided by Dr. Grierson into two prin-
„ . „.. ,
cipal sub-groups, the Meithei and the Chin. Meithei
Kuk.-Ch.n sub-groups. .
g the knguage of Manipur and need not be considered
here. The Chin sub-group is subdivided into the following:
Northern Chin.
Central Chin.
Old Kuki. .
Southern Chin.
It may be as well to preface the following remarks regarding the different
Chin languages by an extract from the Upper Burma Gazetteer
" As to the race identity of the Chin tribes" (says the compiler), " there can be no doubt,
but there is as great a variation in appearance as there is among the different Kachin
tribes and the divergencies of speech seem to be even greater. It is only a long day's march
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from Falam to the heart of the Siyin country, but the two dialects are mutually unintelligible.
The dialects to the south differ to the same extent or perhaps even more."
How -far this diversity of tongues is due to the head-hunting practices
alluded to by Mr. Baines in his paper on " the language Census of India, " it is
unnecessary to consider here. Suffice it to point out that a fuller acquaintance
with the Chins is likely to bring to light a considerably larger number of forms of
speech than have hitherto been identified and recorded. A quaint local legend
accounting for these variations in speech is given in Chapter VIII.
1 20. The first of the Northern Chin languages given by Dr. Grierson is Tha-
_ . do which is said to be spoken in six villages in the
angud e_.
Kanhow territory in the Northern Chin Hills ; the next
is Sokte, the vernacular of .a tribe of that name, which is found on both banks of the
Manipur river in the north of the administered tract. The Siyin, the third of
the Northern Chin forms with which we are concerned, is spoken south of the
Sokte country. Captain F. M. Rundall is the author of a handy Manual of Siyin.
There are two other Northern Chin tongues, namely, Ralte and Paite", but they
do not appear to be spoken within the limits of Burma. They form a link connecting
the Northern and Central Chin dialects.
121. The best known of the Central Chin forms is the Baungshe, Lai or
. _, .
Haka.
,
Baungshe is merely a Burmese nickname
«=•
sug-
Central Chin languages.
, , , .
J &
, .
, , • , •, ,
gested by the custom adopted by certain tribes of
tying their top-knot well forward over the forehead and means simply the man who
wears his turban cocked.. Major Newland, i.m.S., whose knowledge of the Hakas
or Lais is unique, has within the last few years published a handbook of nearly 700
pages dealing with their speech, which is in itself a small encyclopaedia. It is
quite the fullest and most elaborate work that has yet been published regarding
any of the languages of the hill tribes of the province. The Lai shows a good deal
more of Burmese influence than the Siyin form. The Shonshe of Gangaw is a
dialect of the ordinary Lai language. Tashon is a Central Chin form. It is not
represented by any vocabulary in the Upper Burma Gazetteer. Comparatively few
European officers have up to date rendered themselves proficient in it. Yahow or
Zaho is a dialect of Tashon. The remaining Central Chin forms are spoken outside
the limits of the Chin Hills. The above Northern and Central Chin forms were
not separately returned at the 1901 Census. They have been lumped together
under the general head of Chin and their speakers form part of the total of 1 75,037
persons returned as using Chin.
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