Of the second class Mikir, in common with most of the Assam family, is an example; in one and two the prefix ke- (representing the Tibetan g-) has been abraded to i- and hi-: in three it persists; in these numbers the prefix may be dropped in composition, leaving si, ni, and thòm remaining. In four and five we have the prefix phi- (for pi-) and pho- (for po- or pa-), representing the b- of Tibetan, but now no longer separable. In six the prefix the- represents the original d-, and has similarly become inseparable. In ten, the form kre represents an original kera, answering to the Kuki-Chin pö-ra and ma-ra and the Meithei ta-ra. We notice that in Mikir, as in the Naga and Kuki-Chin languages, the hard consonants k, p, t (ph, th) have replaced the soft g, b, and d of the Tibetan. In the Boro languages, on the other hand, the original soft consonants of Tibetan are retained, as will be seen from the forms below:--
one se, sui shi sa two ni, nui gini gni three tham gatam gitam four brè, brui bri bri five ba bonga bongga six ro, do do dok
In these changes Mikir follows the phonetic laws obtaining in Naga and Kuki-Chin, not those which obtain in Boro.
It has been pointed out already (p. 78) that generic determinatives are used in Mikir when numbers are joined to nouns. This practice is common to the Boro languages and to the Kuki-Chin group (as well as Burmese), but does not appear to be prevalent in the Western Naga group. A list of the words used in Darrang Kachari is given at p. 13 of Mr. Endle's grammar; for Garo, a list will be found at p. 6 of Mr. Phillips's grammar; it much resembles the Darrang list, but neither contains any forms coinciding with those of Mikir except the Garo pat, used for leaves and other flat things, which resembles the Mikir pàk. On the other hand, in Kuki-Chin we have in Lai pum for globular things, [49] the same as in Mikir, and in Shö (Chin) we have for persons pün, the Mikir bàng (bàng in Mikir and pang in Lushei mean body), and for animals zün, the Mikir jòn (Mr. Houghton's grammar, p. 20). Here again the affinity of the Arleng is with the Kuki-Chin group, and especially with its southernmost member, rather than with the Boro.
Turning now to the pronouns, the Mikir ne for the first person singular finds it exact equivalent only in the two Old Kuki dialects Anal and Hiroi, spoken in Manipur, where the corresponding pronoun is ni (Anal) and nai (Hiroi). In Boro the form is ang, in Angami a, in Sema ngi, in Ao ni, in Lhota a, in Kachcha Naga anui. In the majority of the Kuki-Chin family another stem, kei or ke, is used. Here Mikir agrees with the two Kuki dialects mentioned and with some of the Naga forms, rather than with Boro.