The Language of the Modhupur Mandi (Garo), Volume 2

3.622 Hear, Listen

kin-a-a vt. hear, listen.

kin-a-rik-a vt. listen to something passing or moving: nang˙-ni a-gan-a-ko ang-a kin-a-rik-e chok-ing-a I am listening and writing your speech.

ba-jin-a vi. to sound, make a sound, as a musical instrument: ang-a har-mon-i-ko ba-jin-et-a I play (cause to sound) the harmonium. <B

dal-dal adv. making noise, banging, of banging on tin roofs, bamboo pieces knocking together, water flowing on steep ground, of drums, of chopping wood.

del˙-del-a vi. have the rough sound of a broken machine, a broken water pot; make insufficient noise, as a bad drum head; hoarse, as when one cannot speak or sing properly due to a cold, or from drinking too much rice beer: git-ok del˙-del-a throat is hoarse.

dup-dup, dip-dip adv. noise of a banging rice pounder.

gam˙-a vi. make a noise, to sound, of thunder, drums, etc.

jang-a vi. make a pleasant sound, as a drum, bell, gong, voice; good speaking.

jik-jik-a vi. noise of smacking made by babies at the breast.

ka˙-sim-ang-ka˙-sim-ang adv. beautiful sounding, touching, of speaking, as one might speak to evoke pity, of music that makes one sad or thoughtful.

kin-a-dik-a vi. ugly in sound, opposite of kin-a-to-a beautiful to hear.

kin-a-si-a vi. sound bad, sound ugly, (same as kin-a-dik-a).

kin-a-to-a vi. beautiful to hear, nice sounding.

kre-o-kre-o adv. with a crackling sound, of dry leaves being crushed, an egg breaking, of shrimp, of eating food that is not fully cooked.

lil˙-lil-a vi. make a noise, of an engine, of thunder.

mik-u-a vi. sound, make a noise; cry of any animal, meow, bleat, moo, etc.; sound, of musical instrument, machine, etc.; squeak.

mik-u-drak-a vi. make a loud noise, of a dog, a squeaking ox cart, an airplane.

nang-chak-a vi. make a loud noise in the ear, like a gun: chan-dal na-chil-o nang-chak-ing-a the gun is making a loud noise in (my) ear.

reng-reng-a vi. ring, as a gong rings.

sel˙-sel-a vi. echo in del˙-del-a sel˙-sel-a have the sound of a broken machine, bad drum head.

su-del-a, git-ok su-del-a vi. having a hoarse voice.

tak-tak-a, tak-tak-a rak-rak-a vi. make a tapping sound, as the sound of beating a finger on the table, of typing.

tal˙-tal-a vi. make the noise of falling water.

tek-tek-a vi. make a non-ringing sound when struck.

teng-teng-a vi. make a ringing sound when struck, squeaking sound made by squirrels.

tim˙-tim-a vi. make a loud noise, of thunder, of rice being ground in a mill, of a tube well, motor, train. tim˙-tim adv.: tim˙-tim mik-u-a make a sound of thunder, etc.

wek-wak-a vi. noisy, with much talking.

3.626 Quiet, Silent

dol˙-a vi. make insufficient noise, of a drum.

jrip-a vi. silent, quiet, of people, animals, machines. jrip-jrip adv. silently, quietly, secretly.

jrip-jrang adv. soundlessly, silently.

ka˙-sin-chip-chip adv. very softly, quietly; very cold, of things, people.

rim-a-rim-a, rim-ang-rim-ang adv. faintly, dimly heard or seen, unclear, blurred, as from distance, or by bad hearing, by fog.

su-ang-su-ang adv. hear or see dimly, in the distance.

si-wil, si-wil-si-wil adv. quietly, softly, so as not to be heard.

srok, srok-srok, srok-srok-e, srok-e-srok-e, sruk, sruk-sruk adv. quietly, secretly.

3.628 Loud, Noisy, Disturbing

The wealth of terms for disturbing noises, especially for noisy and disturbing children, suggests that Mandis see this as a considerable problem.

gam˙-pret-a vi. sound loudly, of thunder, airplane, gun.

gam˙-ru-ru-a vi. make much noise, noisy.

gek-gak-a vi. talk a lot, chatter; disturb with noise, of animals. gek-gak-gek-gak adv.: a-chak gek-gak-gek-gak dak-e sing˙-ing-a the dog is barking noisily.

gi-jo-a, gi-ju-a vi. make a disturbance, fuss, scream, make noise, of children, of flocks of birds.

gok-chip-a, na-chil gok-chip-a vi. disturbed in the ears, tired of too much noise, don't want to hear: bol-a-ko kin-a-e na-chil gok-chip-a hearing the noise, the ears are disturbed.

hil˙-hil-tim˙-tim-a vi. make a loud noise, like machinery, like a rice mill, airplane.

jang-a-tang˙-a, jang-be-tang˙-be-a vi. noisy, be noisy.

jang-be-a vi. very loud, noisy.

jang-e, jang-i adv. loud, disturbing, of pigs, loudspeakers. jang-e bol-a, jang-i bol-a vph. speak loudly, as when under the influence of rice beer.

jang-ting-a vi. loud, make a loud noise.

jek-jak-a vi. make noise, make a disturbance, as by children or when everyone talks together; talk a lot, as when drunk; talk at the same time.

ka˙-so-a, ka˙-su-a vi. noisy, unpleasantly loud, disturbing.

ka˙-so-chip-a vi. unpleasantly loud, of dogs, children, airplanes, etc.

ka˙-so-ka˙-rek adv. noisy, of children.

na-dip-dak-a vi. be disturbed by noise, as by airplanes.

prak-prak mik-u-ing-a vph. noisy, loud, as the noise of water flowing on steep ground, crackling noise of splitting wood, of tearing cloth.

tang˙-pret-a vi. exploding noise, of bamboo bursting, of a bomb, a firecracker.

ting-gil-ting-gil adv. loudly, of talking, crying, laughing.

ting-ku-ting-ku adv. loud, of a rice pounder, a squealing pig, of angry talking.

ting-pret-a vi. noise and flying off of bamboo when it burns and bursts; loud, of crying or shouting.

3.662 Texture: Rough, Smooth

bu-rop-bu-top adv. rough in texture, of wood, ground, etc.

mik-a-a, mik-a-a srak-srak vi. slightly rough or uneven, not smooth or slippery.

min-ik-a, min-ik-min-ik vi. level, even, smooth without lumps, as the mud of a rice field that is ready for transplanting.

mrik-a vi. smooth, as well-combed hair. mrik-mrik, mrik-dil-dil adv.

rik-en-rik-en adv. uneven, pitted, wrinkles of the skin; a zigzag pattern.

rik-kap-rik-kap adv. not smooth, bumpy, rough, of boards, cloth.

rik-ki-rik-kot adv. rough, uneven, of boards, roads, the ground, food containing hard bits.

rim-il-a vi. slippery, smooth.

rim-il-tet-tet adv. very smooth, worn smooth, like a fine mat, smooth metal; shiny, like silk.

sal-srik-a vt. make smooth, as by scraping a knife, rub clean, scrape rice into the hole of a teng-ki.

skem-a vi. adv. gritty, texture of sand. skem-skem adv. mixed with sand or dirt, of food that is not good to eat.

srak-srak, mik-a srak-srak adv. intermediate between rough and smooth, not slippery.

-srot- aa. slip: rim˙-srot-a let slip with hand; ga˙-srot-a slip with the feet.

3.664 Texture: Hard, Soft

-brek- aa. soft, excessively soft: ki˙-brek-a have diarrhea; rim˙-brek-a grab with the hands and crush, when eating; nom˙-chi-brek-a cooked too softly; ging-brek-brek having a runny nose.

dil˙-dok-dil˙-dok adv. very soft, like butter, curds, European bread.

dip-u dip-u adv. very soft.

min-ek-a vi. tender, soft, of well-cooked rice, breasts; a bit over-ripe but still edible. -min-ek- aa. soft, squash, crush: jot-min-ek-a poke and make soft, crush; ga˙-min-ek-a step on and squash; rim˙-min-ek-a squash in the hand.

nom˙-a vi. soft, easy, inexpensive.

nom˙-brek-a vi. very soft, of mud, fruit.

nom˙-min-ek-a vi. very soft, too soft, of mud, fruit; cooked with too much water, of rice, tubers.

nom˙-rik-nom˙-rik adv. neither very hard nor very soft, the texture of body flesh.

rak-a vi. hard, strong, tough, difficult: dam rak-a expensive. rak-e-rak-e adv. fast, strong, of talking, walking, etc. -rak- aa. strong, fast: gong-rak-a fast; mik-rak-a wake up, strong in the eyes; mang-rak-a healthy, strong of body; ding-rak-a strong of long slender things, like string; jak-rak-a quick, fast, esp. in working with one's hands, quick at eating.

rang˙-tang-tang adv. hard, well inflated, of a football or tire; angrily.

rin-ok-a vi. not too hard and not too soft, of cooked rice; not too wet and not too dry; speaking slowly and with fine language; smooth. rin-ok-rin-ok adv.

rong-ting-gi-rong-tang-ga, rong-ting-rong-tang adv. neither very hard nor very soft, as rice cooked without enough water.

skot-a vi. intermediate between hard and soft, not too hard and not too soft, of fruit, things cooking; not fully ripe; intermediate between tight and loose. skot-skot adv.

-wek- aa. soft: go-wek-a throw mud; a-wek-a soft. dil˙-wek˙-dil˙-wek adv. good and ripe, soft, of fruit. da-wek-da-wek adv. cooked mushily.

3.666 Texture: Sharp, Dull

chat-a vi. dull, not sharp.

da-reng-a vi. very sharp.

dam-bok-a vi. blunt, dull, not sharp; round rather than pointed, of a face.

hul˙-a, ul˙-a vt. sharpen, make sharp.

mat-a vi. sharp, cut, scarred. vt. wound, make a slicing cut.

sim˙-pram-a vi. very sharp. sim˙-pram-sim˙-pram adv.

sit-a vt. grind a tool with sand to sharpen it.

srang-srang adv. sharp, of a knife; fluently, clear, clearly, exactly, as speaking clearly.

wa-min-a vi. dull, blunt, not sharp.

wil˙-a vt. sharpen, sharpen tools against a stone.

3.668 Texture: Sticky, Tough, Crumbly.

a-wek-a vi. soft, sticking together but not very sticky.

dip-ik-a vi. powdery and dry, very fine. dip-ik-dip-ik adv.

dip-it-a vi. tough, of wood that doesn't break when chopped, of wood that is a bit green and flexible; tough to chew, like beef, chewing gum.

ga˙-au-a vi. easily separated, flake off, of skin, bark; break apart readily; open up, of plant husks; not tough.

gra-a vi. not sticky, of dry flour, dirt, rice, etc.

ma˙-skap-a vi. sticky.

rong-gri-rong-gra adv. not sticky, (same as gra-a).

sit-tap-a vi. sticky, of tree sap, of flour mixed with water, etc.; stick like glue. sit-tap-sit-tap adv.

sram-a vi. crumbly, brittle, easily breakable, the texture of dry dirt, dried leaves, fried foods, puffed rice.

tek-rak-a vi. crumbly, like leaves.

tek-sram-tek-sram adv. crumbly, brittle.

3.673 Temperature: Hot, Warm

bom-bom, bom-bom dak-a adv. lukewarm, neither very hot nor very cold, of water, food.

bret-bret adv. pleasantly warm, of the sun, the weather.

ding˙-a vi. hot.

ding˙-bil-a vi. to be hot personally, become hot, of people.

ding˙-bru-ding˙-bru adv. a bit warm, of people.

ding˙-chip-a vi. very hot.

ding˙-ding adv. while hot, as for food that is hot for eating.

ding˙-gek-a vi. very hot, as a very hot day, very hot water.

ding˙-nik-a, ding˙-e nik-a vi. find it hot, seem hot.

ding˙-rit-a vi. somewhat hot, of people.

gek-gek adv. very hot, of the sun, of water: gek-gek dak-e chi ding˙-et heat the water very hot.

sal-bret-bret adv. not very hot, comfortable.

sal-chak-a vi. warm oneself in the sun.

sal-chi-bil-a vi. not hot, of weather on a cloudy day.

wal˙-chak-a, wal chak-a vi. warm oneself or one's hands at the fire.

3.675 Temperature: Cold

chik-a vi. biting cold; bite, by people, mosquitoes, etc.; bite by spirits ( mit-e) when they cause disease.

chik-chip-chip adv. very cold, personally.

chik-jim-a vi. adv. very cold, as water gets cold from standing, or like a tin-roofed house in winter. chik-jim-jim, chik-jrim-jrim adv.

chik-ok-a vi. very cold, of food or water. chik-ok-ok adv.

chik-tot-a vi. very cold, of hands, etc., of hail, of a tin-roofed house in winter: jak chik-tot-a-na wal˙-o hang-a for very cold hands, warm them at the fire.

ka˙-sin-chip-chip vi. very cold, of things, people; very softly, quietly.

sin˙-a vi. personally cold, of people.

sin˙-chik-sin˙-chik adv. somewhat cool, of people.

sin˙-chip-a vi. cool off, of weather, as when clouds cover the sun.

3.682 Tastes

While the older Garo color terminology is considerably more restricted than that of English, I have had the impression that Mandis have at least Page  103as rich a vocabulary for tastes as we do, and perhaps an even richer one. They have words which are readily translatable as 'sweet, sour, bitter, fatty' and 'chili hot'. In addition there are several words whose meanings I have had trouble learning because, in the absence of edible or at least lickable samples, I have had trouble figuring out just how people use them. When told that bre-o-a and mel-a mean 'the taste of orange skins', do I take that to mean 'puckering"? They have words which they tell me describe the feeling of the teeth after eating sour foods, and others for the feeling in the throat after eating a particular kind of tuber. I have eaten this tuber and I have eaten sour things, but I do not have a clear sense of what the feeling is that I am supposed to attend to. There are words for bland and watery flavors, and for excessively strong flavors. This terminology deserves more study than I have been able to give it.

bre-o-a vi. an unpleasant taste like that of bel fruit or orange skins.

bre-o-bre-o adv. mildly bre-o-a, not strongly so.

cha˙-e ni-a vt. taste, test by tasting.

chi-rik-chi-rik adv. a bit sweet; a bit wet, of ground.

chi˙-a vi. sweet. n. sweets, candy.

chi˙-cheng-me-seng adv. sweet and sour.

chi˙-chik-chi˙-chik adv. a little sweet.

chi˙-chim-it-a vi. very sweet.

chi˙-ka-wak-a vi. very sweet, too sweet.

chi˙-rik-chi˙-rik adv. mildly sweet.

chi˙-rim-bak-a vi. very sweet.

chip-a vi. sufficient, enough, of cooking ingredients such as salt, soda, oil, etc.

gim-a, wa gim-a vi. feeling of the teeth after eating sour things.

ha˙-nem-a vi. tasting of dirt that is mixed into food.

jro-a, jru-a vi. spicy, chili-hot, burn from taste or touch of chilies.

jro-jro dak-a adv. a little chili-hot.

ka˙-a vi. bitter.

ka˙-brap-a vi. taste of too much salt or soda.

ka˙-bre-o-a vi. mixed bitter and bre-o-a taste.

ka˙-chi-a vi. taste that combines bitter and sweet.

ka˙-kim-a vi. a bit bitter, not very bitter. ka˙-kim-ka˙-kim adv.

ka˙-ku-ak-a vi. very bitter.

ka˙-me-seng vi. taste that combines bitter and sour.

ka˙-teng-gil-a vi. very bitter.

ka˙-teng-kil-ok-a vi. very bitter, too bitter to eat.

me-sak-a, mi-sak-a, git-dok me-sak-a vi. feeling in throat after eating arum ( ta˙-ring); itch, irritated, have an eruption on the skin, burn from touching the hairs of a mang-tip worm or mak-kal-ri-gi plant.

me-seng-a, mi-seng-a vi. sour.

mel˙-a vi. slightly rotten with a somewhat bitter or almost burning taste, like sap or citrus peel, of bad fruit or bad rice beer.

mit-im-a vi. fat, fatty tasting.

mit-im-mit-im dak-a adv. a little fatty.

rim˙-gek-a, rim˙-gek-gek-a vt. grab by the throat; feeling in the throat that comes from eating arum ( ta˙-ring), a tuber; grab and hold with force.

rim˙-sot-a vi. grab by the throat, kill by choking; feeling in the throat after eating arum ( ta˙-ring), a tuber.

ring-e ni-a vt. taste a liquid, test by tasting.

si-sa-a vi. burning feeling in the mouth and throat or on skin after eating or touching chilies.

so˙-so-a, su˙-su-a vi. painful, from chilies that burn when tasted, or esp. for burning in a wound.

spak-a vi. a bad puckering taste, as that of areca nut when eaten alone, like some very unripe fruits.

tap-a, tap-e ni-a vt. taste a bit in order to sample, test by licking from a finger or palm.

tap-seng-tap-seng adv. a little sour but good tasting.

to-a vi. good tasting: ja-ba to-be-a the curry tastes very good; to-e nik-a like the taste of. -to- aa. good for the senses: ni-to-a beautiful to look at; kin-a-to-a beautiful to hear; cha˙-to-a taste good to eat; ring-to-a taste good to drink; jak-kal-to-a good to use, comfortable to use.

to-nik-a, to-e nik-a vt. like the taste of.

wa wil˙-a vi. the feeling of one's teeth after eating sour things, (lit. sharpen the teeth).

wa-gim-a vi. the feeling of the teeth when eating sour things.

3.684 Strong Tastes, Excessive

I find it odd that a language needs three synonyms or near synonyms for 'tasting of too much salt or soda': brap-a, gek-a and nang-chrak-a. It may be that there are subtle difference of meaning among these words, but if so, they have escaped me. For no obvious reason, a single idea has attracted many alternative expressions.

brap-a vi. taste too strongly, esp. of salt or soda. -brap- aa. strong, excessive, uncontrolled: ka˙-brap-a taste badly, especially from too much salt; mik-brap-a be dazzled with glare; ching˙-brap-a shine, of a hurricane lamp, fire, etc.; go-brap-a throw, broadcast in an excessive or uncontrolled way.

bre-o-mi-si-a vi. very bre-o-a, not good to eat.

cha˙-nap-a vi. taste so-so, not very good to eat.

gek-a vi. taste too strongly of salt, soda, or chilies.

nang-chrak-a vi. taste badly because of too much soda or salt.

-wak- aa. soft, spoiled: ka˙-wak-a too strong in taste, too much pepper, salt, etc.: chi-wak-a cooked too soft, of tubers, etc.; re-wak-a soiled, dirty from ink, dust, etc.

3.686 Bland, Watery

-brok- aa. mess up, spoiled, rotten, dirty, unpleasant, tasteless, bland, faded: rim˙-brok-a mix with the hand; kit-brok-a stick the hand in and grab; su˙-brok-a stab with a spear; so-brok-a rotten, not good to eat; chi-brok-a tasteless, bland, insipid, watery, without enough sugar, salt, soda, etc., often used for rice beer; mik-brok-a fade, lose color, grow dull; at-chong-brok-a sit in a messy place.

chi-brek-a vi. watery, of rice beer; tasteless, bland, insipid.

chi-wak-a vi. cooked too soft, of tubers, etc.

mik-del-bok-bok n. soft, of a person, of someone who doesn't want to work; lacking strength or taste, of a curry without enough soda or spices.

3.688 Smell, Odors

Mandi has a word for 'stink' ( so-eng-a) and another for 'smell good' ( sim-il-a), but none for whatever it is that these two have in common. All smells, it seems, can be assigned to one of the two categories.

bo˙-ol-a vi. rotten, of eggs.

ging-si-mrang, ging-si-mrang-ging-si-mrang, ging-si-mrang-mrang adv. good smelling, fragrant, good smell enters the nose.

ging-sik-a vt. give a strong feeling in the nose from the smell of chilies or smoke or just before sneezing, (lit. penetrate the nose). ging-sik-ging-sik adv.

han˙-dil, an˙-dil n. bad odor of the body.

ka˙-mang-ka˙-mang, ka˙-mrang-ka˙-mrang adv. good smelling.

kal-ting-a vi. rotten and smelly, stinky, as of half bad meat; rancid.

sal-srip-a vt. check a smell, sniff with the nose for something that smells good; sniffle with a cold; suck water with trunk, by an elephant; slurp, suck.

se-eng-a vi. smell bad, stink, (A˙ pal, A˙ chik), (same as so-eng-a).

sim-il-a vi. smell pleasant, fragrant.

sim-il-e nik-a vph. like the smell of, notice the good smell of.

sim-il-ot-a vt. smell, test by smelling, sniff something.

sim-il-ot-e ni-a vt. test by smelling.

so-eng-a, su-eng-a vi. smell badly, stink, (A˙ chik: se-eng-a).

so-eng-kal-ting-a, su-eng-kal-ting-a, su-eng-a-kal-ting-a vi. rotten, smelly, of food or of someone who does not wash.