Angami: the Language of the Enchanting Hills

Angami (known as Angami Naga in linguistics fraternity) is a language spoken by around 132,225 people (2001 Census) primarily in the enchanting Naga Hills of Kohima district of Nagaland state of India. Angami belongs to the Angami-pochuri sub-branch of Tibeto-Burman family of languages. Though Angami has several varieties, principal varieties are Kohima, Khonoma and Chokri (though it has acquired an independent status over time). Kohima variety is the standard language (popularly known as common language among Angamis) which is used in published religious and academic texts. This common language is known as Tenyidie in Angami.

Earliest writings on Angami language dates back to the days of British in India. Captain J. Butter published his ‘Rough notes on the Angami Nagas and their Language’ in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Vol.44 Part 1) in 1875. Later R.B. McCabe wrote his ‘Outline Grammar of the Angami Naga Language’ in the year 1887 basing his analysis on Khonoma, Mozema and Jotsoma varieties. Some other works includes the likes of Rivenburg (1905), Grierson (1903), Supplee (1930), Haralu (1933) and several significant works by American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society in the early 20^th century.

R. Sekhose, probably the first native Angami to write on the language, says –

‘Angami language is a very peculiar language. A word may mean many different things, which can only be distinguished by High and low tones’ (Angami Dictionary with English Equivalent words, 1984). Sekhose has also published significant works such as Angami Idiomatic Expressions (1967) and Angami Naga Folklore (1970).

Angami is written using Roman script together with the conventions adopted by the Angami Language Committee in the year 1939. Tone is not marked in the orthography of Angami.

A brief summary of the linguistic research done on Angami can be cited as follows (in chronological order):

·

Capt. J Butler: Rough notes on the Angami Nagas and their language, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. 44 Part 1, 1875.

R.B. McCabe: Outline Grammar of the Angami Naga Language (with vocabulary and illustrative sentences), Calcutta, 1887.

S.W. Rivenburg: Phrases in English and Angami Naga, Kohima, 1905.

George Abraham Grierson: Linguistic Survey of India, Vol.3 Part 2, Calcutta, 1903.

J.E.T.: A Primer of Angami Naga, Kohima, 1915

J.H. Hutton: The Angami Nagas, London, 1921.

Angami Leshü Keriau, American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society, Kohima, 1923.

G.W. Supplee: Kephrüda Keriau – First Reader in Angami Naga, Kohima, 1930.

Hisale Pienünuo: The First Gate into Angami and English, Kohima, 1931.

Haralu: Angami-English Dictionary Part 1, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol.29, 1933.

Robin Burlings: Angami Naga Phonemics and Word List, Indian Linguistics, Vol. 21, 1960.

G.E. Marrison: The Classification of the Naga Languages of North-East India, Vols 1 & 2, London, 1967.

R. Sekhose Angami: Angami Idiomatic Expressions, Kohima, 1967

R. Sekhose Angami: Angami Naga Folklore, Kohima, 1970

Angami Vyakaran (in Hindi), Nagaland Bhasha Parishad, Kohima, 1970

R. Sekhose Angami: Angami Naga Word Divisions and Spelling, Kohima, 1973

N. Ravindran: Angami Phonetic Reader, CIIL, Mysore, 1974.

R. Sekhose Angami: Angami Dictionary with English Equivalent words, Kohima, 1984.

P.P. Giridhar: Angami Grammar, CIIL, Mysore, 1980.

P.P. Giridhar: Angami-English Dictionary, CIIL, Mysore, 1987.

Ram Kripal Kumar: Hindi-Angami Dwibhashi Kosh (in Hindi), CIH, Agra, 2006.

Angami is not only spoken and understood by Angami people but also by Chakhesang, Zeliang, Pochuri and Rengama people who live in Kohima district. Today Angami Naga is offered as a subject in Nagaland University, Kohima up to the level of Ph.D. Ura Academy is the institution established for the development and propagation of Angami language and is situated in Kohima, Nagaland.

Angami Alphabet Chart:

Angami Alphabet	Phonemic Value	Angami Alphabet	Phonemic Value	Angami Alphabet	Phonemic Value	Angami Alphabet	Phonemic Value	Angami Alphabet	Phonemic Value
ü	ǝ	o	o	ny	ny	b	b	f	f
üi	ǝi	ou	ou	t	t	m	m	v	v
a	a	k	k	th	th	pf	pf	w	w
ai	ai	kh	kh	d	d	bv	bv	wh	wh
i	i	g	g	n	n	y	y	s	s
ie	ie	ng	ng	ts	ts	yh	yh	sh	sh
u	u	c	c	tsh	tsh	r	r	z	z
uo	uo	ch	ch	dz	dz	rh	rh	zh	zh
e	e	j	j	p	p	l	l	h	h
ei	ei	jh	jh	ph	ph	lh	lh

Angami is a sweet language to ears (even though I cannot understand much of it). Especially all the the “Uu”(Exclamation when you see an acquaintance) and ” Hoe” (Yes) expressions. Still you will not regret learning bits and pieces of this quite beautiful and fascinating language of equally endowed and very warm hearted people who live in Naga Hills.

To be continued (I am trying to learn more).

Photo Courtsy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dagmaraka/

The Unsung Naga Hero

By Sanjoy Hazarika in http://www.indiatoday.com/itoday/millennium/100people/laldenga.html

When I was 18 and studying journalism in London, I received an invitation to dinner from Angami Zapu Phizo, the leader of Naga insurgency. As I stepped into his tiny study to shake his hand, the first impression was, “How small he is!” Yet, one could not but marvel at the passion, energy and commitment which fired this slight figure.

Through that long evening, we — the leader of the most powerful rebellion to trouble India then, and now, and the scion of a prominent Assamese political family — spoke of India and Indira Gandhi, of promises made and broken, of the taste of Assamese food. We chatted in English and even in Nagamese, a combination of Assamese and Naga dialects. He treated me not as a teenager but as an adult, with dignity and took my opinions seriously.

More than a quarter century later, it is difficult to remember his exact words as he said farewell but they were along these lines: “The Assamese are our brothers. India too will treat you as they have treated the Nagas. Only then will you understand our struggle and speak my language.”

I smiled at the time, in the confidence of youth, thinking how wrong he was. But Phizo was prophetic: he foresaw the birth of the United Liberation Force of Asom, the Bodo militant groups, the many fighting forces in Manipur and Tripura. These movements, though waning in part, continue to tie down large numbers of Indian security forces, including the army, paramilitary and police with ambushes and occasional strikes.

Yet, I doubt whether he believed that, in his lifetime, his own Naga movement would become as fractured and embittered as it has. These days, Naga guns and bullets are not trained on Indian troops but against fellow Nagas, on the basis of ethnic, ideological and personal loyalties. It is especially tragic among a deeply religious people who take the teachings of the Church very seriously.

It was a Phizo acolyte who tapped the China factor. The man chosen for the job was a young graduate named Thuengelang Muivah, then general secretary of the Naga National Council (NNC). Muivah and General Thinsolie Keyho, on their own version of the Long March, slogged through jungles and hills in Myanmar (then Burma) to Yunnan Province. They established contact with the Chinese leadership which promised them training, logistical support and arms. In addition, the Nagas established links with the Pakistanis which continue to this day.

Those were Phizo’s days of glory and power: this little man, who slipped out of India and turned up in London on a Peruvian passport, had let loose a prairie fire that engulfed the Naga hills and stunned Delhi, forcing it to launch a full-scale army operation, with the backing of military aircraft, against the rebels. He had opened a Burma front with S.S. Khaplang, a Konyak chief, heading the Eastern Naga Revolutionary Council since the 1950s.

The Nagas suffered terribly at the hands of the security forces: entire villages were torched, their inhabitants forced to flee into the jungle for safety, men taken prisoner, women were raped and molested. The innocents wept and were traumatised. There were no human-rights groups those days, no National Human Rights Commission to run to, no public-interest petition which has become so chic these days. The story of those years of violence and brutality have not been fully told. Yet, it would be foolish not to acknowledge Phizo’s role in inflicting this disaster on his own people.

Phizo’s hold over his movement weakened after ethnic divisions began surfacing in the mid-’60s. These divisions have been the bane of the Nagas for long; until less than a century ago, tribes fiercely protected their own lands and aggressively led raids on others, to collect “heads” and exact tribute as well as take slaves.

Those divisions have grown since 1975 when a faction of the Naga movement signed a Peace Accord with the Government of India at Shillong. The signatories included Phizo’s brother, Keviyalley. Muivah denounced the accord but Phizo, while making known his disapproval of what had happened, never publicly attacked the peacemakers.

Muivah and Issak Chishi Swu later broke away from the NNC to form the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) which has also split — between the Muivah-Swu faction on one side and Khaplang on the other. Again the divide is on ethnic lines.

The violence continues in Nagaland though talks have opened between the Indian Government and Phizo’s successors in the movement. The China connection is closed, the Pakistani link is cracked but ties with other “liberation groups” in the North-east continue. Indeed the NSCN(I-M) is described as the “mother” of insurgencies in the North-east.

Phizo is remembered not simply because he maintained his prophetic separateness till his death in 1992. He had an appeal that transcended ethnic fissures and touched the hearts of all Nagas.

The Nagas…!

Kohima_Cathedral Nagaland

The State of Nagaland was formally inaugurated on December 1^st, 1963, as the 16^th State of the Indian Union. It is bounded by Assam in the West, Myanmar (Burma) on the east, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam on the North and Manipur in the South. The State consists of seven Administrative Districts, inhabited by 16 major indegenous communities (offically tribes but since tribe has colonial hangovers, I avoid it) along with other sub-tribes. Each tribe is distinct in character from the other in terms of customs, language and dress.

It is a land of folklore passed down the generations through word of mouth. Here, music is an integral part of life; folk songs eulogizing ancestors, the brave deeds of warriors and traditional heroes; poetic love songs immortalizing ancient tragic love stories; or the modern tunes rendered exquisitely to set your feet a-tapping.

Each of the 16 odd indigenous communities (tribe in colonial sense)  and sub-communities that dwell in this exotic hill State can easily be distinguished by the colorful and intricately designed costumes, jewelry and beads that they adorn. The traditional ceremonial attire of each indigenous coomunity  is in itself, an awe inspiring sight to behold; the multicoloured spears and daos decorated with dyed goats hair, the headgear made of finely woven bamboo interlaced with orchid stems, adorned with boar’s teeth and hornbill’s feathers, elephant tusk armlets….. You name it! In days of yore every warrior had to earn each of these items through acts of valour, to wear them.

Nature could not have been kinder to Nagaland, sometimes referred to as the Switzerland of the East; the exquisitely picturesque landscapes, the vibrantly colourful sunrise and sunset, lush and verdant flora… this is a land that represents unimaginable beauty, molded perfectly for a breath taking experience.

Its people belong to the Indo-Mongoloid stock, whose ancestors lived off nature’s abundant gifts, blessed with sturdy formidable dispositions. Above all, the people here are warmhearted and extremely hospitable! Nagas, by nature, are lovers of fun and frolic and here life is one long festival. In all there are 16 different officially recognized indegenous communities viz Angami, Ao, Chakhesang, Chang, Khiamniungan, Kuki, Konyak, Lotha, Phom, Pochury, Rengma, Sumi, Sangtam, Yimchungru and Zeliang among others.

The Nagas with their joie de vivre, dance and songs are a part and parcel of all their festivities. Most of their dances are performed with a robust rhythm

All the major Naga indegeous coomiunities have their own language. In actual practice, the language, even within one tribal area, varies from village to village. There are about thirty languages. The multiplicity of Naga languages is mainly because of the living condition in the past, when villages were isolated and there was little of friendly inter-communication between them.

Naga languages in the Tibeto-Burman family is divided into three groups; the western sub-group, the central sub-group and the eastern sub-group. The western sub-group comprises Angami, Sema, Rengma and Chakhesang languages; the central sub-group include Ao, Lotha and Phom languages; while the eastern sub-groups is made up of among others, Chang and Konyak languages.

It is interesting to find that some Naga indegenous communities have borrowed Sanskrit words in their Assamese form.

Nagamese is a pidgin/creole used in Nagaland. Since Nagaland is inhabited by people belonging to different Naga indegeeous communities speaking languages, which are mutually unintelligible, Nagamese is the preferred form of communication for all. It is used in the Nagaland Legislature, as a means of explanation in Nagaland schools and in mixed households.. It does not follow any strict rules of grammar and is easy to pick up. Nagamese has no script. The missionaries rendered signal service to the Naga languages. They wrote the first grammar books and compiled vocabularies. The missionaries used the Roman script.

Hindi is well understood in Nagaland – even in the interior areas. The state Assembly, in a resolution adopted on18 September 1967, recommended that English be used for all official purposes within the state of Nagaland indefinitely, and that English be included as one of the languages in the VIII schedule of the constitution. But, only a fraction of the population in the state speak or write English with some degree of accuracy.