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INTRODUCTION
1.
The People:
The Ao-Nagas are largely found dwelling on the high hills
of the Mokokchung District of Nagaland. They are the dominant
group in this district and the second largest linguistic group
in the state of Nagaland.The total population of Aos is about
64,462 (census:1971).The principal villages of the Ao community
are melongyimsen, Longpa, Mopangchukit, Ungma, Tuli and Changki.The
Ungma village is the largest Ao settelment. Most of the Aos
are Christians.The Impur Christian center near Mokokchung
(District Headquarters) is their main religious centre.Illiteracy
is relatively low among the Aos.
2.
The Language:
Ao is one of the Naga group of languages of the Tibeto-Burman
language family. It has several dialects of which Chungli,
Mongsen and Changki are the prominent ones.The chungli dialect
is spoken in Melongyimsen, Mopongchukit and Longpa more or
less exclusively. The Mongsen dialect is spoken in the Mokongtsu
village (about 2 km from the Mokokchung town).The Changki
dialect is spoken in the Changki village.In some villages
like Longsa, Longkong, Ungma, Tuli, Chakpa, etc., both Chungli
and Mongsen dialects are spoken. All the three dialects are
spoken in the Mokokchung town.
The Chungli dialect is accepted as the standard dialect of
Ao. All the printed works of the Ao language are in this dialect.
The present analysis is based on this dialect.
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