Funny Tangkhul names: Literal and their actual meanings

In many tribal societies, names represent symbols, signs, nature of birth, social standing, place of birth, events of the time and many other things. Red Indians have very unique ways of naming their children. When some of these names are translated literally, they sound funny. However, there are deep underlying meanings even in names that sound really funny or silly. Red Indian names like, “Crow Mother Spirit, She plays all the time, All are at war, First to dance, etc,” are some names that come into my mind when thinking of funny names.

Tangkhuls mainly before the advent of Christianity have a peculiar naming convention. Though the names have their special meanings, they sometime are really funny if you just take the literal or face meaning of the names. Some of the names I can recall are listed below along with their literal and actual meanings.

Chapthai: Nightlong weeper. A very unbearable child who cries day and night.
Pheikhui: Crooked Leg. Named if the child is born with a bend or crooked leg
Shangkai: Broken Clan. Child born at a time when the clan has some conflict within or without
Yarshi: Ugly one. Named if born ugly.
Ringshi: Unhappy. Poor family condition both financial and social standing.
Yangshi: Envy/Jealous. If people are jealous of the parents for some reason.
Yuishi: Envy/jealous. Same as Yangshi
Saphei: Animal leg. Named if the father is a great hunter.
Mikrei: Big Eyes. Named if the child has big eyes.
Miksha: Thick eyes. A child born with thick eyelids
Mikying: Blue Eyes. A child is given this name if he is born with blue eyes.
Maringthei: One who struggles to live. Child born to a couple who live from hand to mouth.
Maringmi: Not alive. If many children have died before the birth of the child
Maransa: Totem Erector. Son of rich parents who have erected totems to showcase their prosperity
Pairala. Shit water. If the parents have fields close to the village that is fed by the fertile waste water and sewage of the village. This is considered to be a good name.
Phanitla: Festival. Child born at the time of festival.
Tatung. Dropped/lost. Orphaned child. Named so if the parents are dead or the child has been abandoned
Thisan: Fed up of dead. If many children have died before the birth of this child
Shongfala. Roadside. If the child is born on the road.
Shongzanla. Roadside. Same as Shongfala
Horhai: Abandoned. Orphaned or abandoned child
Khanei: One who brings bad luck: Named if the child is an orphane
Mara: Orphan. Orphaned or abandoned
Luimashom: No cultivation. If the child is born at the time of drought
Luishomla: Cultivation. The child is born at the time of cultivation
Luishom: Cultivation (male). Same as Luishomla
Vachin: Maternal Hatred. A child born to parents who are not in good terms with the mother’s side
Manganaophan: Not able to bring up: Either of the parents died when the child was so young.
Ningchung: Split mind/thought. A child born to confused parents
Luimalei: No field. Children born to poor parents or a child who is the youngest who has no more/little property share
Yarho: One Son. The only son in the family
Luikai: Broken field. Child born at the time of flood that has resulted in the loss of property
Khungsha: Short neck. Children born with short neck
Ningtheng: Dried mind/thought. Child born at the time of extreme hardship.
Manaothei: Late Fruit. A child born to aged couple
Maungthei: One who can't come. If either of the parents are good in postponing things.
Mashangthei: One who can't manage being rich. Child whose parents are rich but not altruistic.
Ningmalum: Doubtful conscience: The child's parents have some fear about the future of the child. Example, a sickly child.
Maihung: Red face. For a child born with a red face.

The Funny Planet.
A little Indian boy asked his father, the big chief and witch doctor of the tribe, “Papa, why is it that we always have long names, while the white men have shorter names – Bill, Tex or Sam, for example?”

His father replied, “Look, son, our names represent a symbol, a sign, or a poem for our culture not like the white men, who live all together and repeat their names from generation to generation. Also, it is part of our makeup that in spite of everything, we survive.”

“For example, your sister’s name is Small Romantic Moon Over The Lake, because on the night she was born, there was a beautiful moon reflected in the lake. Then there’s your brother, Big White Horse of the Prairies, because he was born on a day that the big white horse who gallops over the prairies of the world appeared near our camp and is a symbol of our capacity to live and the life force of our people.”
“It’s very simple and easy to understand. Do you have any other questions, Little Broken Condom Made in China?”

Disclaimer: This blogpost is not a piece of mockery, but written and posted in good faith that it reminds us of the past.

The Glorious Songs of Yore: Tangkhul Folk Songs

Tangkhul, one of the major sub-tribes within the Naga tribe, native inhabitants of present Ukhrul district in Manipur state, within the Union of India, has a very unique past. Blessed by the quiet and green surroundings, it is said that life used to be very pleasant and peaceful. The Tangkhul tribe, as it is said, was well known as one of the most hostile tribes among the Naga tribes, in the days when head hunting was considered a heroic sport.

Agriculture and hunting being the chief occupations, life is said to be hectic and busy. However, there always seem to be a special space for merriment, entertainment and healthy social interaction to grow, in spite of their busy daily chores. Every Old men in their octogenarian stage claim that life in the past was more calm and ideal and social life to be more robust than that of the present day. Looking at the youngsters of today, most of them lament, ‘You have missed so much fun and merriment as youths.’ Of course, what they perceive and what we have to say about the present are two different poles, which cannot be compared. However, the real problem lies in our inability to find the point where the past and the present converge.

Though I am a Tangkhul, I find it hard to reshape the past in my mind, listening to the tales of aged men, narrating their glorious past; their tales appear to me more like a fairytale. My fate of not being able to identify myself with the past is not an isolated case but is shared by all the younger generation. According to my perception, this sense of alienation is caused partly due to the absence of written History and our ignorance of oral literature as the equal alternate source. What strikes me most today is the oral tradition of my forefathers, through which they preserve history of all sorts, mainly in the form of folk songs.

In my venture to know more about Tangkhul folk-songs, I was really surprised, when I came across songs which were purely historical. These songs speak about, origin, identity, of war between villages, business dealings, marriage, death, and many other interesting facts, which are not in the least second to written history. Enlightened by the captivating facts buried within the content of various kinds of folk-songs, that I happen to come across, I decided that every possible means be explored to preserve these songs at least in print even if we might not be able to sing in their original tune and flavor.

Folksongs were part and parcel of life in the past, sung both in times of joy and sorrow. It is said that there used to be sixteen types, each having special occasions of its performance in the indigenous calendar. Out of the sixteen kinds, only six to seven can be heard sung today, that too by very few old people. Hence, it is a rational fear that these songs would be lost forever, with the passing away of the few aged sources.

The traditional harp which was the main accompaniment is rarely seen today, after being replaced by modern instruments. It is not an exaggeration to say that none among the youth of today, knows how to sing folk-songs. It is indeed a chance to pity ourselves of our own plight, being carried away, or charmed more by Western pop, heavy metal and such other songs at the cost of letting our indigenous songs to rust and rot. Like the steady extinction of endangered species of flora and fauna; culture, tradition, and customs of yesteryears are going away, along with the process of change.

The mountains which are said to be green and impenetrable once are now barren; the seasonal songs of both mirth and sorrow are no longer heard. The harp strings which used to twang are now rusted. It is true to say that ‘change is inevitable,’ and we at least feel fortunate to be living in a better world today, considering the positive sides of change. However, this must not make us forget our past. The days of head hunting are gone, but we are still known as head hunters, let it also be known that, our forefathers were great composers of verse, songs, poems, and great preservers of history through oral means, by preserving the precious lyrics of the folk-songs, which according to me are comparable to the finest works of literature.

Folk songs like the indigenous customs of the Tangkhul tribe slowly got discarded with the advent of Christianity in the late 19th century. Once converted, the converts were forbidden to drink wine, and were not allowed to sing folk songs as these things were perceived to be aligned to paganism. There was mass conversion, and as a result of this the popularity of folk songs diminished. Those Songs which have some occasional similarity with Christian rituals were retained (like, harvest, seed sowing, New Year etc,.) But, this also cannot uphold the popularity, so, very slowly these songs also got assimilated to western tunes.

Songs which are purely aligned to indigenous festivals are now forgotten forever. Songs said to be sung on auspicious occasions like, erection of Totems, birth, death anniversaries etc. can no longer be traced. Taking into account all the changes that have come about in a matter of a century, it won’t be surprising if the following generation forgets totally about yesterday, which we ourselves seem to be unaware today. By saying all these things it must not be misinterpreted that; I’m considering the past to be more glorious than the present. We know that in many ways we are privileged than the past. The customs, ways of life of yesteryear may not be applicable to us anymore, but that does not mean we can just throw away the past.
Documentation of all the existing Folk-songs of the said tribe, and translating the whole lot will not be a task so easy to be completed in a matter of months or years.

The main difficulties that any researcher is likely to face, pertaining to the aforesaid documentation, are manifold. There are no guidebooks, references, and other printed sources from which one will have direct and cooked information about the folk songs of this tribe. One interesting feature of the Tangkhul Naga tribe is every village has its own dialect, though they belong to the same language family. It is very difficult to communicate in one’s own dialect to a person from a different village, and the possibility of understanding each other become remote with distance of location of the scattered villages. The dialect, ‘Tangkhul,’ originally the dialect of Ukhrul/Hunphun village, now one of the district headquarters’ of Manipur, was made the lingua-franca by William Pettigrew, the first Baptist Missionary.

We need to understand that Folk songs of the tribe are not sung in the lingua-franca alone, every village has their own version and varieties. Owing to this fact, the effort to document all existing version would be a mammoth task, as there are about 300 villages inhabited by this tribe. As has been cited before, about absence of printed sources, the only way of documentation is hectic field work, which would include, recording the songs, getting to know the context and content of the songs, translating etc. Folk songs are sung mainly during Festivals, like the seed sowing festival (Luira/Luita), post cultivation festival (Mangkhap/Rishit), post harvest festival (Chumpha) etc. Since these festivals are now, in many ways, assimilated with Christian festivals, originality of the songs are said to be doubtful. Therefore, the most dependable sources for data collection are from the non-Christian aged grannies and grandpas, which again are hard to trace.

This could be the right moment to profess our pride for the long ignored past, which was once considered to be shameful and uncivilized. I have very high respect for the past, because it is the past which shaped our today. As a tribute to the past, and as our responsibility to the coming generation, we should shoulder the task of preserving folk-songs of the Tangkhul Naga tribe in print, and translating them into English, so as to showcase to the outside world that, we had a very rich oral tradition. This also will ensure that the coming generation would not feel lost and detached from their root. Let the songs which used to enlighten our forefathers be objects of marvel not oblivion.