Māthā thèk-thē: māthā, verb, to think, imagine; thèk, verb, to be able (also to see); thē negative affix: the whole therefore means “as could not be imagined”; jādi-thèk-thē is a doublet of the same meaning. Àn-pin: àn, particle of quantity; pin up to; also tik; àn-pin or àn-tik therefore means “to such a degree.”
Ākèng ē-hòng: ā its (the calf’s), kèng, leg, ē-, one (as before), hòng class-word for enumerating parts of the body; hā, particle indicating distance; Lā, this, hā-lā, that: lā-dàk, here, hā-dàk, there.
Tèkē-nàng-kòrdut-pī ā-osō: tèkē, “tiger”; nàng, particle of vividness, or, possibly, “you”; kòr, verb, to bite, dut, particle strengthening the verb and dispensing with tense-affix, pī syllable used in abuse, ā- syllable of relation, osṓ boy: the substantive being put last indicates that the verb is to be taken passively: “you tiger-bitten scoundrel of a boy!” As the Mikirs consider that to be eaten by a tiger is conclusive evidence of the wickedness of the victim, the phrase is equivalent to “you wicked wretch of a boy!”
Nàng peklàng thèk-sēr mā-sī: nàng, “you,” klàng, verb, “to see, observe”; pe-, causative particle, so that peklàng means “to show, to produce”; thèk, verb, to be able, sēr strengthening particle, “fully”; mā, syllable used for direct or indirect questions: dojī-mā? “will you marry me?” Nàng pēsō èn-tàng-mā? “have you taken a wife?”; then, for alternatives, do-jī-mā do-dē-mā? “will you marry him or not?”; and lastly, as here, “if you are not able to produce—then,” etc.; sī, affix of conjunctive participle, properly a locative particle.
Dei, “very good,” a loan-word from Khasi. Tàng-tē, “then,”—properly “not having finished”; tàng is the verb meaning to be ended, completed, tē the negative syllable.
Vung-dàm-phlut inghoi-lo. This periphrastic construction, in which inghoi, to do, is used to strengthen the verb, seems to be borrowed from Assamese; many examples occur further on.
Pō-ārnàm-pō! a honorific form of address; pō, literally, “father,” but used also of a son (cf. the Hindustani bābā) ārnàm, God (Ass. dēutā), pō, big, honourable. For a girl the corresponding phrase is pē-ārnàm-pī. Dohòn, Assamese dhòn (dhan), wealth, money; notice that the dh is resolved by the insertion of a vowel; similarly, further on, bahār occurs for bhār (Ass.), a load; neither dh nor bh is used in purely Mikir words.
Tòn, hotòn, one of the numerous words for basket. Tàng-hō, a word used by a messenger to express the wish of him who sent him to ask for something: not used in other phrases. Tòn pī kànghoi-ī-jī-nē “the basket for the purpose of doing what is?” Pī, what, kànghoi, infinitive, to do, -ī syllable added to indicate purpose, jī affix of future, nē, particle of enquiry, an Assamese loan-word. Làng-dun-tòn-thā: làng, verb, to look, dun, verb, to go with, to be with, tòn, verb, to peep, pry, thā, imperative particle. Tèng, to measure, with a vessel of known contents; originally, to fill (see above, tèngsèt = plèngsèt). Konàt-tòng kelòng-dàm-lo-nē: konàt, where: tòng, a particle expressing uncertainty: “where on earth did he get it”? Sai-sē “in order to”; “he really (chinàm) has to use a basket in order to measure this mass of money!” Thòn, to return a thing borrowed. Vàng-thā-tu tàng-hō-pō: notice the use of pō, father, as a respectful address, by the mother to her son; so also the uncles address their nephew respectfully with nàng-lī. Nànglī-tum-nē-kithū-pī-pèt āchainòng: notice the string of descriptive words prefixed adjectivally to the noun: this is an excellent example of the manner in which Mikir deals with what in English would be a relative sentence—“the cow of mine which you put to death by cutting her up”; literally, “by-you-my-killed-and-cut-up cow.” Thū, to kill by cutting; pī, here a verb meaning to cut a large mass (see note to preceding story, p. 94); pèt adverbial supplement indicating completeness.
Chetàng-tē, “It is not enough”: che, reflexive particle, tàng, verb, to complete, finish; tē, negative: literally, “it does not finish our business, it does not do all we want.” Che-hàng-jō: hàng, to call out, summon; che, as before, indicates that they all called out together; jō is one of the particles used to indicate plurality; others (which will be found further on) are jàm and krei. Làng, an auxiliary verb which seems to indicate continuousness, to go on being or doing. Observe that -tē is used to indicate the two parts of a conditional sentence: chainòng ā-òk jòr-dàm-tē, èn-jī làng-tē “if we go selling cow’s flesh, they will go on taking it.” In chainòng-do-ō-pārā, ō is a syllable indicating multitude, perhaps another form of òng; pārā is a loan-word from Assamese. Ābàng-phū, “each one”; also ābàng-phū-īsī (used further on); phū means “head,” īsī “one”; the latter is used in bāmòn-pō-ròng-īsī in the sense of “the whole,” “as one man.” Ā-rī-kòk-krei-sī: ā-rī “their hands,” kòk, verb, “to tie with a noose,” krei, particle of plurality. Kātirvā, “to offer for sale,” a loan-word from Khasi (tyrwa). Ē-ke-chōbei, “us he has cheated,” ē- is the pronoun of the first person plural including the person addressed. Notice the doublets—ēchainòng ēhaidi “our cattle,” ērèng ē-hu, “our skins” (hu, “hide, bark of a tree”), and observe how ē- is prefixed to each part of the sentence. Ātum chibūsī: tum is here a bamboo basket in which to carry a load on the back; bū, “to plait or weave.” Hèm mē-kechō “the house that had been eaten (chō) by fire (mē)”; hum, to pick up, collect. Phēlō means both “ashes” and “cotton.” Ārju-lòng-sī, “having got (lòng) to hear (ārju).” Ārju means both “to hear” and “to ask.”
Chi-hī-rī-thā, chi reflexive particle; hī, verb, “to rub in”; rī particle for the negative imperative, “do not”; thā, ordinary imperative affix, which may be dispensed with when the negative particle is used. Thā! “wait”! loan-word from Assamese. Tàn-mu-chòt: mu is the comparative particle, “more,” chòt is the constant suffix to mu; tàn, a verb, to be severe, burdensome. Chu-āphàn, “than last time:” āphàn is the postposition of comparison = “than.” Lòng-dàm-ō-lo “have you got so much more”: ō is, as before,the particle of multitude. Kedòr-dē: dòr, “to suffice, be enough”; dē negative syllable; hàng-jō, “they cried in crowds” (jō, particle of plurality). Ong-ē-dèt; òng “much,” particle of quantity; ē, negative; dèt tense-suffix. Thē-dung “big”; ke-thē great, dung particle; on its addition the ke- is dropped.