330 Languages of the various tribes inhabiting the [April, 



The Lord's Prayer. 



Tra ni rang nang tongte Va, ma ming puja chen danga, ma nok 

 ngyarang chen songa ; rang nang maroa, irda ha-nang madaku chen 

 songa. Teja m aphak achali ninang kohi. Trokova ni tha-petenang 

 nima marorang lietang, irarangrang ni thape pa tinghi. Ninang toam- 

 nang nak kathi, ikova ninang cham cho tuko pamhi ; chenma roantang 

 roanjang nok, akomin chan, akomin mohima, urahe marang, iro chen 

 danga. 



The Mikir. 



The Mikirs occupy a tract of hilly country situated within the boun- 

 daries of the District of Nowgong in Central Asam, which covers an 

 area of about 1710 square miles. Besides the unmixed communities 

 that occupy these hills, numerous families of Mikirs are scattered all 

 over the south bank of Lower Asam. They are always changing their 

 locations ; seldom continuing above three or four years in one place ; 

 and are mostly employed in cultivating the land for rice and cotton. 



At the lowest computation the entire population of the Mikirs may 

 be estimated at about 26,000 souls. 



Living as they do in a rude state of society, and possessing no written 

 language, it is no easy matter to trace their origin. They have a tra- 

 dition that their ancestors originally came from the Jaintia hills ; which 

 might be assumed to be correct, from the circumstance of their having 

 a few Jaintia words mixed up in their vocabulary. I have had no 

 opportunities yet of making any comparison between the two languages. 

 This task I reserve for a more convenient season. 



The sounds of the Mikir language are pure and liquid, and in a great 

 measure devoid of gutturals or strong aspirates. A slight nasal inflection 

 and an abrupt cadence common to many of the vocables, are peculiari- 

 ties this language possesses in common with all the Indo-Chinese mono- 

 syllabic dialects. 



Of Nouns. 



Nouns admit of no variations expressive of number ; the plural state 

 is generally denned by a numeral, or some other word expressive of 

 quantity. Thus, Arleng, a man. A r panang arleng, or Ako-ong arleng, 

 many men. 



Acharong, a cow ; Jonphungo achorong, five cows. 



Nor are the accidents of case, distinguished by any inflections or dif- 



