Table Of ContentGilL SILVER JUBILEE PUBLICATION SERIES
MAO NAGA GRAMMAR
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P.P.GIRIDHAR
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MAO NAGA GRAMMAR
CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF INDIAN LANGUAGES
SILVER JUBILEE PUBLICATION SERIES
GilL SILVER JUBILEE PUBLICATION SERIES
MAO NAGA GRAMMAR
P. P. GIRIDHAR
I
CENTRAL INSTJTUTE OF INDIAN LANGUAGES
MANASAGANGOTRI, MYSORE 570 006
First Published July 1994
Sravana 1916
© Central Institute of7ndian Languages, Mysore, 1994
Pri ce Rs. 265/-
£
$
Published by Dr. E.Annamalai, Director
Central Institute of Indian Languages, M·ysore.
Primed by Mr. S.B.Biswas, Manager"
CHL Printing Press, Manasagangotri, Mysore 570 006
Production : Dr. Jawaharalal Handoo
Cover Design: Mr. N.IJ.ltagi
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FOREWORD
The Central Institute of Indian Languages has reached 25 years of age and it is a time
for reflection about its origin, development, achievements and shortfalls.
The study of Indian languages with the objective of preparing them for the new roles
of national reconstruction and development was the concern of many from the
independence of the country. The major responsibility to support such a study was to be
taken up by the State. The Kher Commission of the Government of India recommended
the establishment of three Central Institutes for this purpose. The Official Language
Resolution of 1968 made the Central Government also responsible for the development of
all Indian languages in addition to Hindi. These and other developments led to the
establishment ofCentt:al Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in Mysore on July 17, 1969.
The primary objective of the Institute is the development of Indian languages ensuring
coordination between the various developmental activities at the governmental and non
governmental levels and also by orienting linguistic research for the development of Indian
languages. The Institute is also to contribute towards the maintenance of multilingualism
of the country through language teaching, and translation a11d to strengthen the common
bond between the Indian languages.
The work of the Institute consists of research, training and production of teaching
materials. The resultS of these activities can be seen in itS more than 300 publications and
6879teachers trained in its Regional Language Centres. The Institute has been able to make
an impact in language teaching in schools making it skill based and function oriented. It
has brought audio visual and computer technology to aid the teaching of Indian languages.
It has helped many tribal languages to be codified, described and used in education. Its
research and training programmes in social, psychological and folkloristic aspects of
language and culture have introduced new dimensions to research on Indian languages.
The International Institutes organised by the Institute in sociolinguistics, semiotics,
phonetics and other areas have helped the development of human resource in these areas.
The major problem of the Institute is that it cannot meet all language needs of the
whole country. It has to play the role of a catalyst and modelseuer. The other agencies are
to take over the universal implementation of the innovations. This has not taken place to
the desired extent.
In the coming years, the Institute plans to consolidate the earlier work and expand
the work in the ares of translation, computer applications and production of audio visual
materials. It wishes to slJ'ike new grounds in language evaluat.ion and ·storage and
v
dissemination of language information. The Institute will move into a new Campus LO carry
on the work with new vigour and vision.
Ab:
One part of the Silver Jubilee Celebration is the publication of 25 special volumes.
The present book is one of these volumes.
fl'
~
(E. ANNAM.'XLAI)
Director
vi
Kralo shu-e
(ACKNOWLEDGEMENT)
It is a he,an-warming pleasure to say a devout Kralo1shu2 .e0 'thanks 1v ery much2' to
aU my Mao friends who have given liberally o( their time, energy and language between
OctOber and December 1982 and April and June 1984, when I toured the Mao Naga villages
in the Senapati districtofManipur. In facti oweadiffusedebLOf gratitude to the community
of Mao Nagas as a whole, especially to the villagers of Punanamai where I was billcued
for more than a month and whose overwhelming display of warmth was led by Mr. D.
Lowli, the District Sports Officer, Mao. I should mention by name the following. D. Lowli,
N. Ashuli, John L Chacko, Tasoni, John Athikho, K. Lokho, D. Lokh<?. L. Kaikho, K. H.
Lo>:Yii, Mathibo Daniel, S. Adahe, D. Nili, N. Losu. N. Athikho, L. Lohc, Kaisli, !Ia, L
Nipuni, Krcni, Ketholi Lokho, S. K. Kapani, Sibo, Joseph, Dibcn, Daniel Be(lu)sO, Lolia,
Lijisa and K. Heni of Punanamai, A. Pfok.rehrO (curremly at St. John's Medical Col leg'..:,
Banagalore), Sanni, N. Salec, M. Sibo and Dr. Kopfuji ofPudunarnai village, Athikho of
Kaibi village, currenlly a Pastor in the Mao Baptist Church, Kohima, Hepuni, Adani, H.
Nili, Headmaster Model English High School, Mao, . iii Kayina, M. Ashuli Pfozc, M.
AshihrC, Athia (of Model English High School, Mao) and M. PfokrehrO of Shongshong
village, Puni, Orho, and M. AshihrC of Kal:narnai village, K. Ashuli (of Shajouba village),
Principal, Hill College, Tadubi. Further, thanks are due to the officials of the Education
Directorate, lmphal in general and to Mr. H. Chongloi, Deputy Director(Tribal Language!:>)
in particular.
Thanks arc returned to Dr. B. B. Rajapurohit and Shri Nagaraj, my colleagues in CIIL
for spectrographic help, for helping get at the exact nature of some sounds whose
elucidation was impossible without recourse to spectrography, and to Prof. William Wang
of the University of California, Berkeley ·ror lending his ears and bol·tering my own
conclusions about four level 10nes that I carne to when I first cracked the sy<:tem. Prof.
Wang may not, howc"er. swaJlo~v. holus bolus, all that! say further about Mao tone.
I should also like to thank Dr. D. P. Pauanayak, the then Director for his
encouragement. ancl Dr. E Annamalai, the then Deputy Director for helping -smoothen out
some rough edges and to Sri K. Srininivasacharya for helping me make the manuscript
press-ready.
P. P. GIRIOIIAl~
VIJ
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CONTENTS
Page
v
Foreword
Acknowledgement Vll
1 Introduction 1
1.1 The People 1
1.2 The Language 2
2 Mao Naga Speech Sounds 11
2.1 Tones 11
15
2.2 Vowels
26
2.3 Consonants
2.4 Mao Naga Contrastive Sounds 42
2.5 Additional Phonetic Material 49
3 Morphology 59
3.0 The Word 59
76
3.1 Word Classes
3.2 Morphological Processes 77
3.3 The Noun 77
3.3.1 Morphological Composition 77
3.3.2 Gender 87
3.3.3 Number 105
3.3.4 Individuation 118
3.3.5 The Diminutive 137
3.3.6 The Pronoun 139
3.3.7 Case 175
3.3.8 The Numeral 225
3.3.9 The Adjective 238
3.4 Verb 262
3.4. I Morphological Composition 263
3.4. 2 Valency-Role Markers 268
3.4. 3 The Causative 272
3.4. 4 Tense 283
287
3.4. 5 Aspect
3.4. 6 Mood 305
3.4. 7 The Purposive 359
3.4. 8 The Infinitive 361
3.4. 9 The Continuous Participle 362
3.4.1 0 The Conjunctive Paniciplc 363
3.4.11 The Deverbal Noun 367
3.4.12 The Comparative 373
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