LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 11 : 3 March 2011
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

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Language and Nomenclature Imbroglio among the Kukis

Thongkholal Haokip, Ph.D.

Kuki - A Generic Term

The word "Kuki" is a generic classification of ethnic groups that spread throughout the Northeastern region of India, Northwest Burma and Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. B.C. Allen, et al., describe the home of the Kukis as "mountainous tracts lying between Burma, Manipur, Cachar, and Arakan" (Allen, et al., 1979: 618).

In Northeast India the Kukis are present in all the states except Arunachal Pradesh. This dispersal across international borders is mainly attributed to the British colonial policy (Haokip, Thongkholal, 2010). Like some other tribes, the term "Kuki" is given by outsiders. Adam Scott Reid said that "Kuki" is a Bengali word meaning "hill people" or "highlander" (Reid, 1893: 5).

Kuki Tribes

According to Lt. Colonel J. Shakespear the term "Kuki" has a definite meaning and includes Aimol, Chothe, Chiru, Koireng, Kom, Purum, Anal, Lamkang, Moyon, Monsang, Gangte, Vaiphei, Simte, Paite, Thadou, Hmar, Zou etc (Shakespear, 1912: 8).

The Kukis are blessed with custom, culture and lingual affinity. G.A. Grierson stated that the tribes connoted by Kuki are Anals, Aimols, Chirus, Gangte, Hmars, Koms, Lushais, Paites, Purums, Raltes, Suktes, Thadou, etc., each able to understand another's dialect (Grierson, 1967: 2-3). C.A. Soppitt also asserted that all the tribes grouped under "Kuki" "have so much in common, both in language, manners, customs, and system of internal government, as to render it absolutely necessary to take them together" (Soppitt, 1976: vi).

While most colonial historians divided the Kukis into Old and New, Soppitt conjured that the official terms "old" and "new" Kuki should not be used and the term "Kuki" itself is too well established to be given up. Recognising the common ethnicity and identity of the Kukis, the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 of the Government of India placed all the Kukis under "Any Kuki Tribes" in the states of Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, and Meghalaya. While in the state of Manipur they are recognised in their respective tribes.

The Plight of the Kukis: Mutual Intelligibility and Political Disunity

Lingual and cultural affinity among the various Kuki tribes and clans has not been taken into advantage to gain political mileage. Rather, the assertion of other nomenclatures such as Khulmi, Zomi, etc. has impeded their political aspirations. The recognition of Thadou and its contestations by groups who speak the same dialect in the aftermath has been detrimental to Kuki nation-building, since the group of people speaking the same dialect and recognised as "Thadou" are the majority, which their unity would lead to the consolidation of Kuki.

In this paper brief concepts of language, nomenclature and nation-building and nomenclature imbroglio are discussed. While there is a debate on contesting nomenclatures among the Chin, Kuki and Mizos, this paper is restricted to William Shaw's "Thadou" and "Kuki" (Shaw, 1929).

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Balbir Madhopuri's Changiya Rukh - A Critique of Dalit Identity and Politics | Multiple Nested Triglossic Situation in Pakistan | Problems Encountered by Arab EFL Learners | Language and Nomenclature Imbroglio among the Kukis | Indigenous Language Abandonment in the Religious Domain in Murree - A Family Report Analysis | A Comparative Study of New Woman through the Female Protagonists of Kamala Markandaya and Shashi Deshpande | A Look into the Causes of Language Choice among Female Students in Academic Setting in Pakistan | Census and the Aspects of Growth and Development of Bangla vs. Bangla-Hindi Bilingualism -With Special Focus on West Bengal | Joshi's The Foreigner - Within and Without | To Investigate the Sense of Teacher Efficacy between Male and Female Teachers of Secondary Schools of Wah Cantt. | Comparative Study of Cost Effectiveness of Formal and Non-Formal System of Primary Teacher Certificate Programme in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan) | Sudha Murty's Short Stories as a Motif of Values | Standard English as a 'Fiat Code' and the Dwindling Faith behind It | Effect of the Use of Motivational Techniques on the Academic Achievement of the Teachers at the Higher Education Level in Pakistan | A Critical Analysis of the Function of Mass Media Language as a Tool of Social Oppression | The Use of Films in the Teaching of English in India | A Comparative Study of Effectiveness of Concept Attainment Model and Advance Organizer Model in Teaching of English in Teacher Education Course | The Effect of Cooperative Learning on Academic Achievement of Low Achievers in English | Imagining a Borderless World: A Comparative Study of Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda | Teaching English in Schools: Problems and Solutions - A Case Study from Rajasthan, India | Socio-cultural Patterns of the Tamil Brahmin Community in the Novels of R. K. Narayan | Effects of Multimedia Glosses on Aiding Vocabulary Acquisition in EFL Environment | English Language Teaching in Rural India - Issues and Suggestions | Teaching Paragraph Writing - "Bilingual" Newspapers as Tools | A Study of Teachers' Academic Qualification, Morale and Their Teaching Behaviour | Syllable Onset Clusters and Phonotactics in Pahari | Literary Criticism as a Shared Set of Measurement | Ted Hughes's Poetry - The Problem of the Evil of Self-Consciousness | Travelogue as a Literary Genre | Bim's Unfailing Strength in Anita Desai's Clear Light of Day | Impact of Education on Development of Self-Concept in Adults | An Analysis of the Lack of Primary English Language Skills among the Technical Students of Hindi Speaking States | Emergent Literacy Experiences in the Classroom - A Sample Survey in Mysore City | ICT Enabled Language Learning Using Handphones - An Experimental Study | Creative Writing in Language Classes | Business Communication: Techniques and Methods by Om P. Juneja and Aarti Mujumdar (Hyderabad: Orient BlackSwan, 2010) | Word Formation in Surjapuri | Beatrice Culleton and Her April Rain Tree - Identity Crisis of the People of Mixed Races of Colonization | A PRINT VERSION OF ALL THE PAPERS OF MARCH, 2011 ISSUE IN BOOK FORMAT. This document is better viewed if you open it online and then save it in your computer. After saving it in your computer, you can easily read all the pages from the saved document.

Call for Papers for a Language in India www.languageinindia.com Special Volume on Autobiography and Biography in Indian Writing in English | Call for Papers for a Special Volume on Indian Writing in English - Analysis of Select Novels of 2009-2010 | HOME PAGE of March 2011 Issue | HOME PAGE of Language in India | CONTACT EDITOR languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com

Thongkholal Haokip, Ph.D.
Formerly a Research Scholar
Department of Political Science
North-Eastern Hill University
Shillong - 793022
th.robert@yahoo.co.in

 
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