ABSTRACT

SIR,-I have the honour to enclose another series of Vocabularies obtained for me by the Hev. N. Brown of Sibsagor, in furtherance of my plan of exhibiting to the Society a sample of the lingual affinities of all the Aborigines of India on an uniform plan. The present series comprises four dialects of the Naga tongue,-the ChUtia, the AMm, the Khamti, the Laos,-and the Siamese. My valuable correspondent Mr. Brown has favoured me with the following remarks on the present occasion:-

" The first four columns of the table complete the variations, priorly given, of the strangely corrupted Naga language. This tongue affords an extraordinary exemplification of the manner in which an unwritten language may be broken up even upon a small extent of territory. On the other hand, in the great Tai family we have a not less striking instance of the preservation of a language in almost its original integrity and purity through many centuries, and in despite of a vast territorial diffusion; for, from Bank6k to Sadiya, along the Meinam, Salwen, Irawadi, and Kyendwen rivers, up to the sources of the Irawadi, through fourteen degrees of latitude, there is but one language, notwithstanding the diversity of governments under which the speakers of it live,

"The Mithan and Tablung Nagas (see table) reside on the hillR east and north of Sibsagor. The Kllfiris descend upon the plains near J6rMt. They are much superior to the other

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