Tairong

      The Tairong who are also called Turung or Shan Turung inhabit the western part of the Sibsagar District of Assam.

        Alphabet- The Tairong alphabet is more or less same as that of Khamti, though a few variations seems to occur. In Tairong, the combination of ‘wa' as in Aiton, is attached all consonants. For example-the word for’servant’is written normally as khwa#.However it is interesting to note that khaw freely varies with kha.

        Noun- Number

                  The plural is formed by suffixing khau.

        Case-Ha#ng and ti are both used as prefixes for the Dative. HA#ng is also used for the Accusative. ka#-ti is used for the Ablative, as in Shan. For example-au ka#-ti man,(take from him). The suffix ‘ko’ is used with the nominative. The word sa# may apparently be prefixed to the Genitive and Dative.

        For Adjectives there is no special remarks. The Reflexive pronoun is pa#-chau.

        Verbs-The various persons have different suffixes. The ‘yo’is usually added to the third person. The only suffix ‘la’ is added to the second person of any tense, and is also suffix of the imperative. The past suffix is as in Khamti,ka# or you.Sometimes nai is also used without altering the meaning. The future prefix is ‘ti’. The suffix of the Imperative is ‘ta’and also ‘la#’.The participial suffix is si.

        There are several forms of Negative. The Khamti u_, pronounced n’. For example-n’pai,(not many).Ma# and mau is also occur.

        The Assertive suffix ho of Shan appears as yo.However, there are so many Tai words in Tairong language.