Mi'kmaq

“ And so too a mikvah that was measured and found lacking, whether the mikvah was in a public area or a private area, all those that immersed in it are retroactively impure, unless he knows of a time that it was measured and found complete (and see above paragraph 65) .
סעיף עא — טמא שירד לטבול, ספק טבל ספק לא טבל; ואפילו טבל, ספק יש בו ארבעים סאה ספק אין בו, שני מקואות אחד יש בו ארבעים סאה ואחד אין בו, טבל באחד מהם ואין ידוע באיזה מהם, טמא לפי שהטמא בחזקתו עד שיודע שטבל כראוי. ”

“ But any time a mikvah does not have 40 seah, even if it is missing an infinitesimal amount, if 3 lugin of drawn water fall inside, it is invalid. It does not matter if the drawn water is from a vessel, or if one squeezes one’s clothing from a height and the water inside falls from many places ”

“ If he stood it on its side to rinse it off, even if it has rims, it does not invalidate since it is not standing in a direction that it can hold [water] ; and likewise if the water is able to go to the mikvah without it, but if the water is not able to go into the mikvah without it, even if it is turned on its side or sidewise on its opening, it invalidates.
סעיף לה — המניח טבלא תחת הצנור אצל המקוה כדי שיפלו ממנו המים למקוה, אם יש לה ד' שפות שראויה לקבל המים, פוסלת; ואם לאו, אינה פוסלת. זקפה על צדה לידוח, אפילו יש לה שפות, אינה פוסלת כיון שאינה עומדת בענין שראויה לקבל ”

“ Paragraph 62 — A mikvah that has barely 40 seah, one who immerses in it should not jump in, so that it should not be lacking water due to his jumping in; and one should not immerse twice in a row; if two people immerse one after the other, even though the feet of the first one are still touching the water, the second remains impure, because it was lacking water from the 40 seah.
סעיף סב — מקוה שיש בו מ' סאה מצומצמות, האדם הטובל בתוכו לא יקפוץ לתוכו, שלא יחסרו המים בקפיצתו בתוכו ”

“ THE MICMAC “HIEROGLYPHICS.”
The Micmac was an important tribe, occupying all of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton island, Prince Edward island, the northern part of New Brunswick, and the adjacent part of the province of Quebec, and ranging over a great part of Newfoundland. According to Rev. Silas T. Rand, op. cit., Megum is the singular form of the name which the Micmacs use for themselves. Rev. Eugene Vetromile (a) translates “Micmacs” as “secrets practicing men,” from the Delaware and old Abnaki word malike, “witchcraft,” and says the name was given them on account of their numerous jugglers ”

“ Water is làng, and village is ròng. Searching through the tribal vocabularies, Tangkhul Naga (a Naga-Kuki form of speech) appears to have, in ta-rā, the corresponding word to làng (r = l, and ta a prefix) . Nowhere else in the neighbourhood is there a trace of a similar word until we come to Burmese, where water is rē (now pronounced yē) . Similarly, it appears to be only in Burmese that we have a word for village, rwā, corresponding to the Mikir ròng. These coincidences, like others already mentioned, seem to point to the south for the affinities of the Mikir race. ”

“ Paragraph 59 — A dugout under a mikvah, if the ground between the mikvah and dugout is stable and can stand on its own, one may not immerse in the water of the dugout until there is a mingling with the mikvah of [the size of] a bladder spout; and if one cannot stand on it, even if they is only an infinitesimal mingling, one may immerse in them.
סעיף נט — עוקה (פי' חפירה) שבתוך המקוה, אם היתה הקרקע המבדלת בין העוקה ובין המקוה בריאה ויכולה להעמיד את עצמה, אין מטבילין במים שבעוקה עד שיהיו מעורבין עם המקוה כשפופרת הנאד; ואם אינה יכולה להעמיד את עצמה, אפילו אינם מעורבים אלא בכל שהוא, מטבילין בהם. ”

“ Out of the darkness and murk of the slums the soul of Mikky had climbed high, and his ambitions reached up to the limitless blue above him. It had never occurred to him once that there might be an embargo put upon his upward movements. He had taken all others to be as free hearted and generous as himself. Heir of all things, he had breathed the atmosphere of culture as though it were his right. ”

“ Nàngkelō “they have sent”: lō is a verb, “to send a thing,” while toi means “to send a person.” Sēr, gold; it is remarkable that the Tibetan word (gsēr, pronounced sēr) is used for this object of culture both in Khasi (ksiar) and Mikir, and not the Assamese (sōn, hōn) ; for silver, on the other hand, the Aryan rūp is in general use. Lut-dàm-īk-nòn; lut, verb, “enter,” dàm, verb, “go”; īk, honorific address = “elder brother” (though he is speaking to his maternal uncles) ; nòn imperative particle. ”

“ It is in this hilly country, and in the plains at its base, that the Mikir people are found. The region is continuous, and is distributed, as the figures just given show, between the districts (from east to west) of Sibsagar, Nowgong, North Cachar, the Jaintia and Khasi Hills, and Kamrup. It is malarious and unhealthy for unacclimatized persons, with a very moist climate, and is wanting in the breezy amenities of the higher plateaus of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills ”

“ The woman follows him as he goes to hunt; she wants to see what he will do. He does not go far; then he stumbles; he falls down; he hurts himself. His wife then goes back; she says to her mother: "Mikchich is not worth anything." Her mother says: "He will do something in time; be patient."
One day Kuloskap says to Mikchich: "To-morrow will be a general big ball-game; you must take part in it. Because all the young men are enemies here, they will try to kill you; they will crowd you and trample you; when they do, it will be near your father-in-law's wigwam. ”

“ Causative verbs, however, are in many Kuki-Chin languages constructed with the verb pē or pèk, “to give,” as in Mikir; and the suffix of the conjunctive participle in Mikir, -sī, is perhaps the same as -chū in Khoirāo. In Boṛo the prefix fi-, answering to the Mikir pi-, was formerly used to form causatives, as appears from verbal roots in current use; the construction now most common uses -nu, which has the same meaning (“to give”) as a suffix.
The negative verb in Mikir is formed by suffixing the particle -ē to the positive root, when the latter begins with a vowel. ”

“ The Mikirs call their Kachārī neighbours Pāròk, the Mikir pronunciation of Bŏrŏ (in the allied dialect of Tipperah boròk means “man”) ; the Assamese are Āhòm, the Bengalis Bòngnai (Bòngnai-ādin, “British rule”) , the Nagas Nākā. The Khasis generally are called Chomàng, the border race of Khasis, adjoining the Kopili or Kupli river, being Chomàng-Kēchē. Kēchē is, no doubt, equivalent to Khāsī, the vowel-change being the same as in Rēchō for Rājā. ”

“ Now the giants became very fond of the small folk, and would not for the world that they should in any way come to harm. And it came to pass that one morning the chief told them that they were to have a grand battle, since they expected in three days to be attacked by a Chenoo. Therefore the Micmac saw that in all things it was even with the giants as with his own people at home, they having their troubles with the wicked, and the chiefs their share in being obliged to keep up their magic and know all that was going on in the world. ”

“ Ever since the race has been studied, it has been noticed that it was difficult to establish its exact place and affinities in the heterogeneous congeries of peoples who inhabit the mountainous region between India and Burma. This was remarked by Robinson in 1841 and 1849, by Stewart in 1855, by Damant in 1879. At the Census of 1881 an attempt was made to bring the Mikirs into relation with the Boro or Kachārī stock; but it was seen at the time that more must be ascertained regarding their neighbours before any final judgment could be arrived at. ”

“ The Mikir people proper—that is, those who continue to live in the hills—are divided into three sections, called Chintòng, Rònghàng, and Āmrī. In the days of the migration eastward from the Kopili region, Āmrī stayed behind, or loitered, and Chintòng and Rònghàng waited for him as they moved from stage to stage. ”

“ And when he had done that, Mikchich became so young and handsome that no man or woman ever saw the like. And then Glooskap dressed him in his own best clothes, and promised him that to the end of his days, whenever he should be a man, he would be the comeliest of men; and because he was patient and tough, he should, as an animal, become the hardest to kill of all creatures on the face of the earth, as it came to pass.
So Mikchich went to the feast. Now the chief of Piktook had three beautiful daughters, and the youngest was the loveliest in the land. ”

“ If it is questionable whether or not drawn water fell in; or even if it is known that drawn water has fallen in, but it is questionable if there is 3 lugin or not; or even if it is known that there were 3 lugin, but it is questionable if the mikvah that it fell into had 40 seah or not, it is kosher.
סעיף סז — ספק מים שאובים, טהור. כיצד, מקוה שנסתפק אם נפלו לו מים שאובים או לא נפלו; ואפילו ידע בודאי שנפלו, ספק יש בהם ג' לוגין ספק אין בהם; ואפילו ידע בודאי שיש בהם ג' לוגין, ספק שהיה במקוה שנפלו בו מ' סאה ספק לא היה, ה"ז כשר. ”

“ Whether in North Cachar, the Jaintia Hills, Nowgong, or the Mikir Hills, their tribal institutions, their language, and their national character are identical, and they pursue their peaceful husbandry in the same manner as their forefathers, raising in ordinary years sufficient food for their subsistence, and a considerable amount of cotton and lac for export to the plains. In these circumstances, surrounded by warring tribes, and still nomadic in their habits of cultivation, they have from time to time found it necessary to place themselves under the protection of stronger peoples. ”

“ And now Mackay went up and down the Kap-tsu-lan plain from village to village as he had done before, but this time it was a triumphal march. And everywhere he went throngs threw away their idols and declared themselves followers of the true God.
He was overcome with joy. It was so glorious he wished he could stay there the rest of his life and lead these willing people to a higher life. But Tamsui was waiting; Sin-tiam, Bang-kah, Kelung, Go-ko-khi, they must all be visited; and finally he tore himself away, leaving some of his students to care for these people of Kap-tsu-lan. ”

“ The same phenomenon appears in the Kuki-Chin languages. In Shö or Chin [155] (Khyeng) apū means both maternal uncle and father-in-law; so also in Lushei, pu has both meanings. The following list of words indicating relationship in Mikir and Lushei (representing the Central Kuki-Chins) shows how closely the two languages correspond in this important part of their vocabulary:—
Among all these tribes the most important index to racial connexion is to be found in their languages. ”

“ All these savages go under the name of Mickmakis. Before the last war they could raise about six hundred fighting-men, according to an account given in to his most Christian majesty, and were distributed in several villages established on Cape-Breton island, island of St. John, on both the coasts of Acadia (Nova-Scotia) and on that of Canada. All, or most of the inhabitants of these villages have been instructed in the Christian religion, by missionaries which the king of France constantly maintains amongst them. ”

“ In Mikir itself final l has been vocalised into i or dropped; and in many Naga and Kuki-Chin dialects (as also in Burmese) final consonants have disappeared or have suffered great changes. As already noticed, [165] the surd mutes k, p, t (sometimes aspirated) have taken the place of the original sonants g, b, d to a large extent in Mikir, though b and d (not g) still survive in a fair proportion of words. Boṛo generally retains the old sonants of Tibetan, and Meithei uses both classes according to the adjacent sounds. ”

“ On the north the crag is crowned by a sort of plateau sloping backwards into a round-topped hill. This little plateau, about a mile east of the present village of Mukhmas, seems to have been the post of the Philistines, lying close to the centre of the insurrection, yet possessing unusually good communication with their establishments on Mount Ephraim by way of Ai and Bethel, and at the same time commanding the routes leading down to the Jordan from Ai and from Michmash itself. ”

“ Aden, Cutch, and Baghdad have fine breeds, whereas those of India and South-Eastern Africa are poor and weak. The best and the highest-priced come from the Maghrib, and second to them ranks the Egyptian race. At Meccah careful feeding and kind usage transform the dull slave into an active and symmetrical friend of man: he knows his owners kind voice, and if one of the two fast, it is generally the biped. The asses of the Holy City are tall and plump, with sleek coats, generally ash or grey-coloured, the eyes of deer, heads gracefully carried, an ambling gait, and extremely sure-footed. ”

“ Boṛo, are much fewer than those with Kuki-Chin. The Southern Nagas, and especially the Tangkhuls, who form the group intermediate between Naga and Kuki, have a considerably closer affinity with Mikir. Possibly if the inquiry were pushed further into Burmese than is within the power of the present writer, more correspondences with Mikir might be discovered in that language. ”

“ Belèng means a shovel or tray for winnowing rice; phàk-belèng-pī is a wild pig, because he roots about in the earth with his snout like a shovel; -pī is a syllable used to form augmentatives, as -sō indicates a diminutive. Bisār, to hold a judicial inquiry, is Assamese. Hèmphū, “owner,” the God Mikirs belong to. Vo-ārbīpī, “a small bird, the size of a sparrow” (not the sparrow itself, which in Mikir is vo-puru) . Nē chōpàn-vèk, “I was grazing”; chōpàn is used of feeding for animals only; vèk (or vèk-vèk) is a particle indicating continuance. ”