[8] From the writer’s Outline Grammar of the Kachári (Bårå) Language, pages 80–82. Shillong, 1884. [↑]
[9] See Soppitt’s Historical and Descriptive Account of Kachári Tribes in the North Kachar Hills, pages 52 (foot) to 55. [↑]
SECTION VI.
Outline Grammar, Etc.
The mother tongue of the Bårå race at least as spoken in this (Darrang) district undoubtedly belongs to the “Agglutinative” as distinct from the Inflexional family of languages. Here and there, perhaps, certain slight traces of inflexion may be found, but even these are doubtful and in any case very rare, indeed where they exist at all it may perhaps be assumed that they have been adopted with some obvious modifications from the speech of their Assamese and Bengali neighbours.
In the following pages only a very slight outline sketch of Kachári Grammar is attempted, as the writer has already dealt with the subject at some length over twenty years ago,[1] and most of the conclusions then arrived at still hold good, so far as the Kacháris of Darrang are concerned. But it is hoped that what little is given here may be of service to those who may have occasion to learn and make use of this language in after years. No attempt is made to draw any clear or well defined line between Accidence and Syntax, for these two closely allied branches of the subject may be best studied together by the use of certain illustrative sentences which to the attentive reader will give an insight into the structure of the language, whilst at the same time doing something to supply him with a useful vocabulary of words and phrases.