OLAC Record oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-000D-FBB5-6

Metadata
Title:		Lakni (Calendar)
		The Traditional Songs And Poetry Of Upper Assam – A Multifaceted Linguistic and Ethnographic Documentation of the Tangsa, Tai and Singpho Communities in Margherita, Northeast India
Contributor:		Stephen Morey
Contributor (translator):		Chaichuen Khamdaengyodati
Coverage:		India
Date:		2008
Description:		This is a transcription and a set of images of the Lakni book, which details aspects of the Ahom Calendar. The version of the Lakni Book that we are presenting here was copied by Atul Borgohain in the 1980s. The book consists of 23 pages, all of which are numbered on the back side in the Ahom style. Following European Tradition, we will number the front side of each page as 1r (1 recto), and the back side as 1v (1 verso). The copy made by Atul Borgohain is unreadable in part, but with the assistance of Medini Mohan, we were fortunate to obtain photographs of another xerox copy, now held by Chaw Puspa Mohan of Parijat Village, Sibsagar District. When we examined it, this photocopy was bound in such a way that the back side of the first page (the numbered side) was first and the front side (the unnumbered side) was following it; this means that the 2nd page precedes the 1st which is then followed by the 4th page which precedes the 3rd and so on. Nevertheless, between the two copies we have been able to read the entire manuscript. Chau Puspa Mohan informed us that the original book is now at Jojoli, Sibsagar, in the possession of the family of Moniram Mohan. The last page of the text is the numbered side of page 23, and the back side of that page contains some information about the author, which is very difficult to read. The book appears to have been copied, and perhaps composed, by one Juna Phukan, since words which appear to read kau Juna Phukon (kw yUnoa fUkonq �I Juna Phukan�) appear at the end of the 2nd line of the back page. The author identifies himself as the descendent of one Nokumiya Phukon (lukq lnq enakuMmIAa fUkonq). The fact that the name of the ancestor and that of the writer/copyist are both Assamese suggests that the book was written very late in the Ahom kingdom, or perhaps even in the 19th century. The Lakni book is divided into the following sections: 1r1 to 4r5 Me Pi � the table of Lakni, Kham Mvng, Pi Pan and Pi Han 4r5 to 5r3 Twelve year �Zodiac� cycle, and predictions for those years 5r4 to 9v2 Association of Zodiac years and Me Pi and predictions for those years 9v3 to 21r2 Texts A to C of Tai Ahoms and the Stars (Terwiel and Ranoo 1992) 21r3 to 21v2 Predictions on what will happen if it rains on certain days 21v3 to 22r1 Overcoming misfortunes 22r1 to 22v1 Predictions on what will happen if there are eclipses, by Tai days 22v1 to 22v5 Predictions on what will happen if there are eclipses, by Burmese days 22v5 to end Predictions on what will happen if there are eclipses, by time of day The first section lists the Me Pi (perhaps literally �mother of the year�), a term that is first encountered on folio 9v4, in the portion translated by Terwiel and Ranoo�s 1992 book Tai Ahoms and the Stars. The Me Pi consists of 60 sentences which names each year of the Lakni cycle and their correspondences with three other cycles � Kham Mvng, Pi Pan and Pi Han (which can also be read as Pi Kan). The exact meaning of these three last terms is not known. The second section contains 12 sentences that associate the years of the Lakni cycle with a twelve year Zodiac cycle. Since there are 60 years in the Lakni cycle and only 12 in the Zodiac, there are five Lakni years corresponding to each Zodiac year. The Zodiac is parallel to the 12 year cycles found in China, Thailand and various other parts of South East Asia and discussed in some depth by Terwiel (1981). This section also includes predictions for what will happen in the particular years The third section of 60 sentences associates each one of the Lakni years with both the Zodiac cycle and the full set of cycles that make up the Me Pi. For each of these years, there is a prediction given. Having established the regular calendrical cycles, there follow three sections relating to the ceremonies that need to be undertaken in times of trouble. These three section forms Texts A to C of Tai Ahoms and the Stars (Terwiel and Ranoo 1992). The last five sections of the Lakni book relate to predictions in the event of rain, misfortunes and eclipses. In the appended .pdf and Toolbox (.txt) files, only the first and last line of the first section have been transcribed in full
		This project contains linguistic, musicalogical, ethnographic and other cultural information about three communities in Upper Assam: Singpho, Tai and Tangsa. The recordings and analyses have been done by Stephen Morey, together with Palash Kumar Nath (Gauhati University), Juergen Schoepf (Phonogrammarchiv, Vienna), Meenaxi Barkataki Ruscheweyh (Goettingen Academy of Sciences), Chaichuen Khamdaengyodtai (Rajabhat University, Chiang Mai), Zeenat Tabassum (Gauhati University), Karabi Mazumder (Gauhati University), Krishna Boro (Gauhati University), Paul Hastie (LaTrobe University). The key aims of the project were • to provide a comprehensive documentation of the varieties of Tangsa language spoken in the Margherita Subdivision of Upper Assam, India, • to provide a comprehensive documentation of the traditional songs, and poetry of three endangered language communities in the Margherita Subdivision: the Tangsa and Singpho (both Tibeto-Burman) and the Tai (Tai-Kadai), including a study of Tai traditional manuscripts, which are highly relevant for language and culture maintenance among the Tai. Within each of these communities there is considerable linguistic and cultural diversity, so all the files have been divided up and named according to this system: Tai SDM01 Phake SDM02 Aiton SDM03 Khamyang SDM04 Ahom SDM05 Khamti Singpho SDM07 Turung SDM08 Numhpuk Hkawng SDM09 Diyun Hkawng SDM10 Tieng Hkawng Tangsa SDM11 Youngkuk SDM12 Cholim SDM13 Kimsing SDM14 Tikhak SDM15 Lochhang SDM16 Ngaimong SDM17 Maitai SDM18 Shechhyv SDM19 Mossang SDM20 Khvlak SDM21 Lakkai SDM22 Lungri SDM23 Hakhun SDM24 Lungkhe SDM25 Ronrang SDM26 Sangte SDM27 Sangwal SDM28 Halang SDM29 Haseng SDM30 Morang SDM31 Moklum
		Ahom is the language spoken by the royal and priestly castes, and by some portion of the population, during the time of the Ahom Kingdom (traditionally 1228 to 1824). It is no longer spoken as a mother tongue, having ceased to be used for all but ritual purposes by 1800. The language survives in ritual, in the vast treasury of manuscripts and in a new revived Ahom.
		This is a transcription and a set of images of the Lakni book, which details aspects of the Ahom Calendar. The version of the Lakni Book that we are presenting here was copied by Atul Borgohain in the 1980s. The book consists of 23 pages, all of which are numbered on the back side in the Ahom style. Following European Tradition, we will number the front side of each page as 1r (1 recto), and the back side as 1v (1 verso). The copy made by Atul Borgohain is unreadable in part, but with the assistance of Medini Mohan, we were fortunate to obtain photographs of another xerox copy, now held by Chaw Puspa Mohan of Parijat Village, Sibsagar District. When we examined it, this photocopy was bound in such a way that the back side of the first page (the numbered side) was first and the front side (the unnumbered side) was following it; this means that the 2nd page precedes the 1st which is then followed by the 4th page which precedes the 3rd and so on. Nevertheless, between the two copies we have been able to read the entire manuscript. Chau Puspa Mohan informed us that the original book is now at Jojoli, Sibsagar, in the possession of the family of Moniram Mohan. The last page of the text is the numbered side of page 23, and the back side of that page contains some information about the author, which is very difficult to read. The book appears to have been copied, and perhaps composed, by one Juna Phukan, since words which appear to read kau Juna Phukon (kw yUnoa fUkonq “I Juna Phukan”) appear at the end of the 2nd line of the back page. The author identifies himself as the descendent of one Nokumiya Phukon (lukq lnq enakuMmIAa fUkonq). The fact that the name of the ancestor and that of the writer/copyist are both Assamese suggests that the book was written very late in the Ahom kingdom, or perhaps even in the 19th century. The Lakni book is divided into the following sections: 1r1 to 4r5 Me Pi – the table of Lakni, Kham Mvng, Pi Pan and Pi Han 4r5 to 5r3 Twelve year ‘Zodiac’ cycle, and predictions for those years 5r4 to 9v2 Association of Zodiac years and Me Pi and predictions for those years 9v3 to 21r2 Texts A to C of Tai Ahoms and the Stars (Terwiel and Ranoo 1992) 21r3 to 21v2 Predictions on what will happen if it rains on certain days 21v3 to 22r1 Overcoming misfortunes 22r1 to 22v1 Predictions on what will happen if there are eclipses, by Tai days 22v1 to 22v5 Predictions on what will happen if there are eclipses, by Burmese days 22v5 to end Predictions on what will happen if there are eclipses, by time of day The first section lists the Me Pi (perhaps literally ‘mother of the year’), a term that is first encountered on folio 9v4, in the portion translated by Terwiel and Ranoo’s 1992 book Tai Ahoms and the Stars. The Me Pi consists of 60 sentences which names each year of the Lakni cycle and their correspondences with three other cycles – Kham Mvng, Pi Pan and Pi Han (which can also be read as Pi Kan). The exact meaning of these three last terms is not known. The second section contains 12 sentences that associate the years of the Lakni cycle with a twelve year Zodiac cycle. Since there are 60 years in the Lakni cycle and only 12 in the Zodiac, there are five Lakni years corresponding to each Zodiac year. The Zodiac is parallel to the 12 year cycles found in China, Thailand and various other parts of South East Asia and discussed in some depth by Terwiel (1981). This section also includes predictions for what will happen in the particular years The third section of 60 sentences associates each one of the Lakni years with both the Zodiac cycle and the full set of cycles that make up the Me Pi. For each of these years, there is a prediction given. Having established the regular calendrical cycles, there follow three sections relating to the ceremonies that need to be undertaken in times of trouble. These three section forms Texts A to C of Tai Ahoms and the Stars (Terwiel and Ranoo 1992). The last five sections of the Lakni book relate to predictions in the event of rain, misfortunes and eclipses. In the appended .pdf and Toolbox (.txt) files, only the first and last line of the first section have been transcribed in full
Format:		image/jpeg
		application/pdf
		text/html
		text/x-toolbox-text
Identifier:		oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-000D-FBB5-6
Publisher:		Stephen Morey
		Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University
Subject:		Literature
		Calendar
		Unspecified
		Ahom language
		Tai Ahom
Subject (ISO639):		aho
Type:		image
OLAC Info
Archive:		The Language Archive at the MPI for Psycholinguistics
Description:		http://www.language-archives.org/archive/www.mpi.nl
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for OLAC format
GetRecord:		Pre-generated XML file
OAI Info
OaiIdentifier:		oai:www.mpi.nl:1839_00-0000-0000-000D-FBB5-6
DateStamp:		2017-02-14
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for simple DC format
Search Info
Citation:		Stephen Morey; Chaichuen Khamdaengyodati (translator). 2008. Stephen Morey.
Terms:		area_Asia country_IN iso639_aho
Inferred Metadata
Country:		India
Area:		Asia