1 This Appendix is written by Mr. J. D. Anderson, the compiler of the little work on Kachári folk-tales mentioned on p. 54.—Ed. ↑
3 Zakhai = a group of four, like the Hindi ganda. ↑
4 Hā-grā; hā = earth, cf. hā-zō, high earth, mountain; hā-brū, dirty earth, mud. So also dŭi-brū, dirty water, whence we get Dibrugarh. ↑
5 The infix hŭi conveys a sense of “at” or “from a distance.” v. Mr. Anderson’s account of the ‘agglutinative’ verb; vol. III, part II, pp. 7–15 of the Linguistic Survey of India.—Ed. ↑
6 The infix bai signifies continuance. ↑
7 Nāng, gnāng are very like the Assamese lag and the Bengali lāg in the double sense of “sticking” and necessity. ↑
8 Hŭrŭ. Kacháris, like Assamese, are very fond of such expletives, which though they have little, if any, meaning, add to the liveliness of narration. Many others will be found later on. ↑
9 S’lai, or z’lai, implies mutual action, exchange. ↑
10 A good instance of the characteristic double negative of Kachári, or, rather, of the fact that the inflexion khŭise is only used with the negative verb. ↑
11 Det, which by a common idiom can be made adjectival by adding the usual prefix, thus, ge-det = big. ↑
12 Bongfāng = tree, fāng-se = one, nī = sign of the genitive. As to fāng-se, see many other instances of the Kachári generic way of counting; e.g., mānsŭi sā-se, one man; mosā mā-se, one tiger, etc. There are several instances in these stories. ↑
13 Lāng-zā-nai, the curious “passive” or “middle” participle. Perhaps the most characteristic instance of its use I have come across is in another story not given here, where a giant insults the Kachári Jack-the-giant-killer by calling him a “godo-i-au set-bā gākhir on-khāt-nai gothō,” literally a “on-throat-squeezing-milk-exuding-boy,” i.e., a babe in whose mouth is still his mother’s milk. ↑
14 Hā-hā-lāgi. The first hā is the word for “earth,” the second is the same word used as a datival affix = “up to,” while lāgi is the common Assamese word repeating the idea of the second hā. ↑
15 Mau of course = mā-au, the locative of mā = what. ↑
16 Grāng = an affix commonly used to indicate the possessor of a quality. ā = sign of nominative. ↑
17 Bā is the sign of the conditional tense, and the adjective mazáng is turned into a verb by its use. ↑
18 Mā khām-nŭ (in the infinitive) is curiously like the French use of “que faire?” ↑
19 Ga-hām = good; hām-ā = not good, bad; hām-dang = is good; hām-ā-bai = was not good, etc. ↑
20 Azang is simply the Assamese e jan, used distributively by repetition and heightened by the indigenous sā-se, which means the same as Assamese e. ↑
21 Thāng-ŭi is the adverbial participle, something like “going-ly.” Gahām-ŭi = well. ↑
22 Zo-bai-thā-nai = sit-continue-stay-ing. ↑
23 Sān sā-se = lit. “sun one.” Sā is usually the distributive word used in counting humans. I imagine its use here is not to indicate personification, but for euphony, as a jingle to sān. Man-se would be the normal construction. ↑
24 I have not marked gāngsŭ as an Assamese word, but it is probably a Kachári version of ghās. ↑
25 Ba-brāp-bai-nai-au; this is the locative case of the “passive” participle in nai of the “agglutinative” verb, ba-brāp-bai. The infix brāp signifies anger, restlessness, and bai means wandering about. ↑
27 Thāng = go; lai = severally, the same root as occurs in s’lai = exchange. ↑
28 Lubui-dang-bā, a rather rare case of a double inflection. Lubui-bā would have sufficed. Much the same difference as between “if you wish” and “if you are wishing.” ↑
29 Ga-mā, adjectival form conjugated with the verbal inflexion -bai. Cf. Lakh-mā = hide. ↑
30 Nai-nai, root repeated to signify continuous action. ↑
31 Girimā is plainly from Sanskrit grihastā. ↑
32 Hā-bai-thā-dangman = fall-continue-stay-was. ↑
33 Thro = a common infix commonly used to express completeness of action. E.g., Thoi-thro-bai = was utterly slain. ↑
34 Ga-hām man-gan = will get advantage, good. ↑
35 Man = get; e (euphonic for ā) = not; khai = by reason of. ↑
36 Hŭi is an interesting infix, and implies “went and did,” or “did from a distance.” Man-hŭi-bā = although he went and got; man = get. ↑
37 Namai-e = euphonic for namai-ŭi. ↑
38 Bung-nai-au, an interesting idiom; bungnānŭi, the present participle, apparently imitated from the Assamese, when the agglutinative verb began to decay, would have done as well; bung-nai-au is the locative of the “middle” participle; bung-nai = “on saying.” ↑
39 Sinai is evidently chini (Assamese). ↑
40 Fi-sikhī; sikhī = friend; fi is the causal prefix which also occurs in the word fi-sā, a son; i.e. a made person, “the being you cause to exist.” ↑
41 Ozai = the Assamese hadāi, with the intensive nŭ added. ↑
42 Luguse = evidently, the Assamese lagat. ↑
43 Rai = converse; lai = mutually; naise is the inflection. ↑
44 Gākhŭ = climb; gākhŭ-hŭi = went and climbed. ↑
45 No = house; au = datival inflection; the i is inserted for euphony. ↑
46 Phā-phin; an infix implying “returning.” ↑
47 Thāso may perhaps be a corruption of Assamese kasū. ↑
48 Thŭ and lŭi are examples of idiomatic expletives which are practically untranslatable. So also herā. ↑
49 Khuser is of course Assamese khusiyār. ↑
50 Nu = see; zā = be, become; hŭi = going. ↑
51 Zā = eat (the imperative is always the bare root, as in so many other languages). The word reminds me of a little story which shows the perplexities of bilingual people. A Kachári went to see his Assamese mother-in-law, who provided food and hospitably said (in Assamese) “Khā, khā.” On which her son-in-law, obeying her injunction in Kachári, bound her hand and foot. Seeing his mistake, she laughed and said, in Kachári, “Zā, zā.” On which he, much puzzled, went away! ↑
52 A good example of the agglutinative verb, for which in Hinduised Kachári would be substituted a long succession of participles, such as nu-nānŭi, zā-nānŭi, thāng-nānŭi, etc. It is impossible, of course, to translate all the infixes severally. ↑
53 Perhaps mukhang is Assamese, as well as ātheng which occurs elsewhere, and modom may be badan. ↑
54 Ba-brāp-bai-naise = wandered distractedly about. The infix bai signifies wandering, and babrāp being in pain or wrath. ↑
55 Rāzā-lŭng-hā-nī = a literal translation of Assamese rājā-hătar. ↑
56 An instance of the rare passive, a manifest imitation of the Assamese idiom ot-zā-nŭ, “bit-become-to,” to be bitten. ↑
57 An expressive phrase for “last of all.” ↑