The Mikirs

by Edward Stack

Numerals.

The cardinal numerals are īsī, one; hīnī, two; kethòm, three; philī, four; phòngō, five; theròk, six; theròk-sī, seven; nērkèp, eight; sirkèp, nine; kèp, ten. It will be seen that seven is six plus one, eight ten minus two, nine ten minus one. From eleven to nineteen krē takes the place of kèp: krē-īsī, eleven; krē-hīnī, twelve; krē-kethòm, thirteen, etc. A score is ingkoi, and from this point onwards the syllable rā is inserted between the multiple of ten and the added units: ingkoi-rā-īsī, twenty-one; ingkoi-rā-hīnī, twenty-two, etc. Thirty, forty, etc. are formed by adding kèp to the multiplier unit: thòm-kèp, philī-kèp, etc. Eighty is theròk-nērkèp, ninety theròk-sērkèp. A hundred is phārō or pārō, a thousand surī.

The numeral follows the noun. In composition hīnī (except with bàng, “person”) is reduced to nī, and kethòm to thòm, as jō-nī jō-thòm, “two or three nights.” Philī and theròk are often contracted to phlī and thròk.

Generic determinatives, as in many other Tibeto-Burman languages, are commonly used with numbers:—

with persons, bàng, as ā-òng-mār kòrtē bàng-theròk, “his uncles, the six brothers”;

with animals, jòn (perhaps an Assamese loan-word), as chelòng jòn-philī, “four buffaloes”;

with trees and things standing up, ròng: thèngpī ròng-theròk “six trees”;

with houses, hum, as hèm hum-theròk-kèp, “sixty houses”;

with flat things, as a mat, a leaf, a knife, pàk: as tār pàk-phòngō, “five mats”; lō pàk-philī, “four leaves”; nōkē pàk-thòm, “three knives”;

with globular things, as an egg, a gourd, a vessel, pum: as vo-tī pum-nī, “two eggs”; bòng pum-theròksī, “seven gourds”;

with parts of the body, and also with rings, bracelets, and other ornaments, hòng: as kèng ē-hòng, “one leg”; roi hòng-nī, “two bracelets.”

One of anything is not formed with īsī, but, if a person is spoken of, īnut (a Khasi loan-word) is used: if anything else, ē- is prefixed to the generic determinative; “one cow,” chainòng ē-jòn; “one tree,” thèngpī ē-ròng; “one book,” puthī ē-pàk; “one egg,” vo-tī ē-pum. This ē- appears to be borrowed from Assamese, where it is shortened from èk.

Ordinals are formed by prefixing bātai to the cardinal, as bātai-kethòm, “third,” bātai philī, “fourth.” They seem to be little used: in the story of Harata Kunwar it will be seen that clumsy periphrases are employed to designate the second, third, fourth, and fifth brother of the family to which the hero belonged. Distributive numeral adverbs are formed by prefixing pur or phòng to the cardinal: pur-thòm or phòng-thòm, “thrice.”