Change Language Grammar and Vocabulary of the Language of the Change Naga Tribe

Preface The Chang tribe is one of those Naga tribes which occupy the hinterland, as it were, of the Naga Hills district, stretching back to the high range, which divides Assam from Burma. Only two small Chang villages of mixed population fall far enough west to come within the boundary of the administered district, the bulk of the tribe being situated in the area of loose political control which forms a buffer between the district and the still unknown tribes which occupy the slopes of the high range on both the Assam and Burma sides.

As a tribe the Changes are of unknown origin. About eleven generations ago, according to their own reckoning, the present village of Tuensang, the fountain head of the tribe, was founded by elements coming from the south, from the Central Naga tribe known as Yimtsungr, in combination with Konya’s of the eastern Naga group from the defunct village of Chan sung, situated to the north-east of what is now Tuensang. mixture of elements is very patent in Chang culture. Some bury their dead, as the Yimtsungr do, while others expose their corpses on platforms in the Konyak manner; the village of Tuensang is composed of four clans grouped two by two who indulge in the most bitter faction fights; the Ung clan corresponding to the Ang, or chiefly, clan of the Konyak tribes and the Pongen, the doyen of the three prairies of the Ago tribe, is regarded with contempt and aversion, but nevertheless performs certain priestly functions and seems to be in some way credited with magical knowledge; the warrior's tattoo patterns are of Konyak affinities, but their breech clout is Yimtsuagr, and so forth.

**Contents and Sample Pages**