Review of "A grammar of Mongsen Ao"

Abstract

This splendid grammar describes the variety of Ao Naga spoken in Mangmetong ("Upright Corpse‟), a village of about 2000 people in Mokokchung District of Nagaland. The Ao are the dominant tribe of Nagaland, with a population of over 170,000, divided into two major dialect groups. Chungli, spoken by about 50% of the Ao, has greater prestige, and is always used in church services; Mongsen, to which the Mangmetong subdialect belongs, is spoken by 40%, while 10% speak other dialects.1 As with many other Tibeto-Burman (TB) groups like Nungish or Tangkhulic, Ao shows great dialectal variation from village to village, so that the safest way to identify a dialect is by a loconym, or village name. Ao is not really endangered at present, although it is facing increasing competition from Nagamese, the Indo-Aryan based pidgin widely used for inter-group communication in Nagaland.