Volume 35, Issue 6, March 2008 - Posoowa

Bar Amar: Ahom Dictionary
We, a group of five relatives,
were to make an informal call
at the residence of Shri
Lokam Tumung, the headman of
Kharang Kong, a Tangsa village while
we were on a visit to Margherita, Ledo
and other places in Assam. Actually, our
host was ready for us after he got our
phone call that we were on our way. We
also met two other chiefs there, namely,
Shri Yanim Mochang and Shri Kamsat
Loongvi. There was one more person
who also looked like a chief with the
usual headgear, a colorful lungi and
other bits of tribal haute couture,
although he looked a little different from
the rest. His ruddy white complexion in
a much younger body betrayed him. He
was no other than the Australian linguist
Dr Stephen Morey. Dr Morey completed
his Ph.D. on the Tai language of Assam
in 2002. Ever since he has been engaged
in the study of the languages of the
Northeast of India.
We exchanged gifts. The tea served to
us all was delicious. While munching
biscuits and other savories, we
abandoned European civility and put
personal questions to Stephen; he
responded to without taking offence.
Yes, he was married. He did not cook,
as his host would not allow him to do
so. He spoke Tangsa only with the
inmates of the house as well as with
other villagers. He hopped on a bicycle
from one village to the other dressed like
a local Tangsa man.
We asked him about his work. He gave
us his card and a leaflet, which DOBES
Page 10, recto of 1795 edition
produced. DOBES stands for
Dokumentation Bedrohter Sprachen; the
acronym may not be precise, which
means Documentation of Endangered
Languages. Tangsa, Tai and Singpho are
named in the leaflet among other extinct
languages, in all about fifty.
I asked him questions, which were more
in anthropology than in linguistics.
Since these subjects correlate, Stephen
was able to answer them precisely and
with authority.
The word Tangsa is a derivative from
the word Tong that means high land.
‘Cha’ or ‘Sa’ means sons of the high
land. Like the Ahoms, they migrated
from the South-West China province of
Yunan through Burma and settled in the
Dehing-Patkai region in the 13 th century.
While discussing about the Tangsa,
Stephen casually mentioned the Tai-
Ahom language and the research that is
going on.
Later, after my return to UK, I checked and
found that Dr. Stephen Moray is the Director
of the Ahom Dictionary Resource Project.
Bar Amar (1785) is the most important
Ahom language reference source. There are
several versions of this invaluable document
and the version considered to be the most
reliable is now preserved carefully at the
Department of Historical and Antiquarian
Studies (DHAS) at Guwahati. The
manuscript is being edited with up-to-date
annotations by Yehom Buragohain who is
in charge of the Ahom Section in DHAS.
A veteran Ahom scholar, Junaram
Sangbun Phukan of Patsako, Sivasagar,
Assam possesses a sasi bark manuscript
that contains nearly 3,000 entries. This
is considered to be more accessible to
scholars and is being now
photographed, transcribed and
translated under the aegis of the CRCL
(Centre for Research in Communication
and Language), at the Stirling
University. The Department of
Dr Stephen Morey
Linguistics of the Gauhati University is
also associated with this project.
A more detailed account of the project
can be found on this site:
sealang.net/archives/ahom that explains
why research on the Ahom language is
significant. Not long ago there was an
outcry in the Assam press that hundreds
of manuscripts in DHAS’s archives
were decaying for lack of expert care.
Another criticism was that the progress
in linguistic research in the Northeast
had been tardy. One can only hope that
things are now getting better.
Bhuban Baruah, UK
Page 3 * POSOOWA, March 2008