| Moran | |
|---|---|
| Native to | India |
| Region | Assam |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
qg1 | |
| Glottolog | None |
Moran (Morān) is an extinctBoro-Garo language which was spoken inAssam inNortheast India (mostlyTinsukia district) and related toDimasa language.[1] The census returned 78 speakers in 1901, 24 in 1911 and none in 1931, and the only source of this language exists in a 1904 article by P R Gurdon.[2][3] The speakers of this language haveshifted to theAssamese language. The name "Moran" reportedly means 'forest dweller'.[citation needed]
mother - aai
father - aabai
man - sadai
woman - saisi
boy - sadaira
girl - saisira
father's father - deuta
father's mother - aaboi
respected/friend - oi u
person - sadai
elder person - sadaira
1 - Sē
2 - Ne
3 - Sām
4 - Biri
5 - Bāha
6 - Do
7 - Sini
8 - Sak
9 - Saku (zi-kho)
10 - Ti
According to the research W.B. Brown, the original language of the Morans was aKachari language. During the medieval period (13th-16th century), theMorans as well asChutias after coming in contact and becoming partially assimilated by the invadingShans, resorted to speaking thelingua franca, which was a mixture of their native tongue and Prakrit. This process of transition gave rise to the Moran language, which over time was again replaced by a modern form of Assamese which had a greater influence ofPrakrit. The Morans now are found mostly in theTinsukia district. They were greatly migratory due tojhumming or shifting cultivation even during the colonial era. They gradually migrated north from their original location to Tipam andCharaideo, where the first Tai immigrants met them; this move was probably due to spread of wet-rice cultivation.[4] When the British arrived in the 19th century, the area between Dibrugarh and Sadiya was mostly virgin forests[5] and the chief habitat of the Morans. In the early part of Ahom rule, they were employed in menial capacities as hewers of wood and drawers of water.[6] During the later part of Ahom rule, they were found in areas like Kakotal,Mariani, Holongapar, and Jhansi, where they chiefly worked asKapahiya (cotton-growers), which demonstrates their scattering around the south bank of the Brahmaputra with the expansion of the Ahom kingdom.[7]
The Moran as well other Kacharis word for water is "Di", which apparently forms the first syllable of all major rivers of Upper Assam including Dibang, Disang, Dikhou,Dikrong, Dikarai, Dihing, Digaru, Difolu, Dimow, Disoi, and so on; this shows that the group were the dominant tribe in the entire region with their seat in Sadiya, the earliest known power and civilisation of Chutias. They were probably the eastern Kachari branch which became isolated during the ahom rule.[8]
Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
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| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
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| East andSoutheast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates,Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||