An Introductory Primer and Grammar of Ahom Tai ... - Khamkoo

e) nM 'many'
kunq nM rw tukq nM y]
Our many men fell in water.
To indicate definite plurality of nouns to which references have already been made, xo]
or xo] t[q lj is prefixed to a noun.
xo] kunq pj k;
The men went.
xo] fU co] m; l] cw fa el]
The messengers came and informed the king.
xo] xunq rM] mE[q m; y]
The frontier kings arrived at
cw tj pu[q cM c[q pnq mE[q h] tI xo] pI no[q
Chao Tai-Pong divided the kingdom amongst his brothers.
xo] t[q lj f[q k; pj y]
All the Bangals fled away.
Plurality, when left undefinite, is often without the addition of any word :
kunq rw
Our men.
kunq rw pj yU k; fkq tI l]
Our men went and stayed on the bank of the Ti-Lao.
f[q c[q r[q knq el]
The Bangals had consulted (among themselves).
For definite plural number, a numeral classifier is suffixed to the number.
Consequently, the order is :
noun + (adjective +) number + classifier
kunq sM eka / kunq
Three persons
c[q rukq pj
Six tusked elephants
mukq rU citq lukq
Seven caps
c[q lu[q sM pj
Three big tusked elephants
kw hnq ma sI tU k;
I saw four horses
Numeral classifiers
The numeral classifiers occupy a very important place in the Ahom language. Every
noun expressed in definite number must, as a rule, accompany by a numeral classifier. For