Che pē; notice that pē, “mother,” is used as an affectionate term of address to a daughter, exactly as pō, “father,” is used above to a son or grandson. Lō-thui-hàn-thui, “a bundle of vegetables, with a leaf wrapped round it.” Chòk and thèng mean literally “to beat,” but are here jocularly used for getting rid of a person. Pālār causal of lār, “to be changed or exchanged,” also apparently used jocularly of giving in marriage.
H. K.-ātum: notice the plural affix used to indicate H. K. and his wife. Chō-lo, “he became”; this seems to be a different verb from chō, “to eat.” Notice ā-rēchō “his kingship”; rēchō stands for rāj as well as rājā. Thīr, Ass. thīr, “steady, stable.”
Additional Notes.
Divisions of time. On p. 95, note, the divisions of the day are given. To these may be added those of the year, as recorded by Mr. Stack. A year is ning-kàn (cf. Lushei kum, Shö kun, “year,” and Lushei ni-kum, Thado ningkūm, Shö yan-kun, “last year”). A month is Chiklo, “moon”; but the Assamese months, which are solar divisions of the year, not lunations, appear to be followed. The days of the month are not generally counted, and there is said to be no week. (This is borne out by S. P. Kay’s English-Mikir vocabulary, which gives hopta, the Hindustani hafta, as the word for “week,” with nī-thròksī, “seven days,” as an alternative. In the Mikir Primer published by the American Baptist missionaries in 1903, however, rui is said (p. 21) to be the word for “week.”)
Kechung-āpòr (chung, to be cold) is the cold season. Ning-krèng (krèng, to be dry) is the dry portion of winter. Chung-phàng-òk (chung, cold; phàng-òk, hot), is the spring, merging into summer. Bārlā is the rainy season, followed by Chung-jir-jir (“becoming cold by degrees”) autumn. The following are the names of the months, with the corresponding Assamese names, as set down by Mr. Stack:—
| Literary form. | As pronounced in Assam. | Mikir names. |
| Chaitra | Soit | Thàngthàng |
| Vaisākha | Boihāg | Thērē |
| Jyēshṭha | Jēṭh | Jàngmī |
| Āshāḍha | Āhār | Āru |
| Śrāvana | Srābon | Vosik |
| Bhādra | Bhādur | Jākhòng |
| Āświni | Āhin | Paipai |
| Kārtika | Kārti | Chiti |
| Mārgaśirsa | Mārg | Phrē |
| Paushya | Pōh | Phaikuni |
| Māgha | Māgh | Mātijòng |
| Phālguni | Phāgun | Ārkoi |
According to the Mikir Primer, however, the Mikir names (which agree with those given by Mr. Stack) correspond with periods earlier by at least a month, Thàngthàng being the equivalent of February, instead of Chaitra (which begins at the vernal equinox), and the other months in ordinary sequence (Thērē, March, Jàngmī, April, etc.). Thàngthàng is said by Mr. Stack to be called Chànglāchòng-ròng-do, “the stay-at-home month.” Thērē is the month in which the jungle is cut and strewn to dry (this would agree well with the equivalent of the Primer, rather than with Boihāg, April-May, when the firing would take place). Vosik (“sprout”) should indicate the month of vigorous growth, when the rains have set in. Phaikuni seems to be borrowed from the Sanskrit Phālguni, but does not correspond with it. The other names are not explained.
Musical instruments. A flute, pongsī, cut from a bamboo, is mentioned on p. 128: pongsī is the Assamese baṅsī, the well-known instrument of the youthful Krishna (Baṅsī-dhar). Other instruments known to the Mikirs are muri, a fife; chèng, a drum; chèng-brup, the small handdrum used by the rīsōmār to accompany their dancing at funeral feasts; and kum, a one-stringed fiddle. The last is made by stretching a string made from a creeper, màngrī, across a gourd, bòng, which provides an air-chamber. It is played with a bow, kum-ālīsō (lī, a bow, sō, diminutive particle) made of bamboo, the string of which is a tough fibre of bamboo. (Compare the one-stringed fiddle, pena, of the Meitheis: Meithei Monograph, p. 56.)