Glossary
Mostly Burmese / Indian words (and occasional sets of initials) used by RK.
(if only I still had the elderly Hobson-Jobson that I sacrificed when we moved north ...)
| Word | Meaning (simple) | Meaning (extended) |
| alu chams | rissoles | |
| arak / arack | strong alcoholic drink | flavoured with anise (~liquorice flavour), clouds when water added (~Pernod) |
| ata | some sort of foodstuff? | |
| atebrin / atabran | proprietary term for quinacrine | treatment for malaria in 1930s / 1940s |
| badlis | IOU / chitty / voucher | |
| bakaura | some sort of foodstuff | |
| basti | military compound | |
| chindra | some sort of foodstuff | |
| dao | knife or hatchet | Chinese-made, various sizes |
| dirming | ceremony at a manan | |
| dooly | palanquin | |
| dumsa | priest at a manan | |
| durwan | doorkeeper | |
| Duwa | most senior headman of a district | |
| dzo | yak crossed with ox | |
| godown | accommodation | doss-house for coolies |
| goral | small goatlike antelope | |
| grm | abbreviation for 'grams' | or grammes |
| gyi | full-grown cow | |
| jangli admi | wild man, yahoo | |
| kangra and pashi | some sort of foodstuffs | |
| kichni | some sort of foodstuff | |
| lyep | unidentifiable hairy object | very hairy thing, plant or creature, maybe a nat (devil), RK specimen now lost. |
| machan | hunting platform in tree | |
| manan | religious festival | |
| Mashang Juwai | (possibly) ~ wild horses | |
| mimira | Kachin name for a high-altitude medicinal root, aka Kamtok, and Ningring, meaning Man, in Khanung | |
| mithun | ox | |
| naik | (lance) corporal | |
| nat | demon, god or both | |
| pangolin | the scaly anteater | |
| parates | flat-bread | |
| phorpas | drinking vessels | |
| piata | messenger | |
| pyada | postal courier | |
| quartan (fever) | form of malaria | |
| salaami | gift | must be reciprocated! |
| sambhur | large deer with impressive antlers | |
| serow | goat-antelope | a goat-antelope with short, sharp horns, long, coarse hair, and a beard |
| Sharow lai ai lam | (possibly) ~ tigers | |
| surra | big biting flies | |
| takin | large goatlike antelope | |
| Tanugok | village elde | |
| the A.P. | functionary | British? |
| the S. of I. | Survey of India | (1802-1852) completed by George Everest after whom mountain is named |