In everyday Life of K'Cho Society, the word " Mei Om Law" is a formal welcoming greeting of K'ChoLand. The Kcho people usually say this social greeting to their special guests when they are visited. The direct meaning is that someone is invited to come and join as a family and to make him/her comfortable with the fire at the fireplace because the weather is usually cool in K'ChoLand.
The informal term of "Mei Om Law" is "Om Law". The kcho people say "Om Law" to their close friends or relatives in a friendly way. There are lots of different ways of greeting in KCho Language which depends on occasions and customs.
You can see the difference of greeting of the world. It depends on the people's culture and custom, the special occasions or the weather.
Where is KChoLand ?
The K'cho land is the area of Mindat and Kanpetlet townships where the KCho people particularly live. Mindat and Kanpetlet Townships are situated in Southern Chin State Of Burma bordering with Thilin,Kyawk-htu, and Saw township of Yaw Valley in the east. Paletwa township in the West, Matupi township in the North, and Minpya township of Rakhine State in the South.
Who are K'Cho People?
"Kcho" or "Cho" people are the inhabited ethnic group around Mindat and Kanpellet from Southern Chin State Of Burma ( Myanmar ). There are three ethnic groups. They are "Müün, Dai and M'Kaang ". They call themselves K'Cho or KCho. K'Cho people speak Kcho dialect.
Among Chin Dialects in Myanmar, K'Cho dialect is unique. It stands uniquely and does not mixed with other Chin Languages. Commonly, one type of Chin dialects can be communicate with another type of Chin dialect ( Haka dialect can be understand by Htantlang, Tiddim dialect can be use to communicate with Ton Zang dialect etc...). For some reason Kcho dialect is hard to learn and it is a little bit similar hear and there with all other Chin dialects. K'Cho is their native language and they speak Myanmar as a second language.
The people of Mindat and Kampetlet are called K'Cho as well as their language is also called K'Cho. The K'Cho Chin group is composed of smaller linguistically diverse groups of Müün, Dai and M'Kaang. Although the K'Cho Chin group is composed of smaller linguistically diverse groups of Müün, Dai and M'Kaang , K'Cho language is used as a common language in the area of Mindat and Kampetlet.
The Kcho are known for their honesty and Braveness. During civil war K'Cho and Chin army saved the Country from Communism. Nevertheless, later when the military regain the power they remove, dislodge, take off the Chin Army so that they can contain their power. Chin state is the Only state that not having strong rebellious army, they all love Peace and Democracy. K'Cho people were well known for their fighting spirit and zeal as well as for their faithfulness.
K'cho People
The K'cho are a tribe of approximately 30, 000 people (Ethnologue 2006) who live in Southern Chin State Burma in and around the towns of Mindat and Kanpetlet, as well as in pockets in Paletwa and Matupi.
Even today Chin State is highly inaccessible - in the rainy season the rivers gush down steep valleys and the roads and tracks become nearly impassable. The K'cho have traditionally lived in scattered villages along the mountain tops in the south of the State. They have practiced swidden field agriculture there, and engaged in trade with surrounding areas.
The K'cho language, lifestyle and worldview have been tied in closely to the seasons and the land. Even now if you are to make a well constructed sentence in the language about where you are about to go, you must add to the verb a term which states whether it is upwards, downwards or away from your present location.
The people themselves are reknowned for their sense of family and clan, their hospitality, 'zu' beer drinking, and personal courage. In colonial days, K'cho men along with other Chin became prized by the British army for their physical consitution, bravery and loyalty.
Other Names for K'cho
K'cho is the main name used by the speakers of the language to refer to themselves. There are however other names which have been used in referring to them. These are listed up below.
- Müün
A term used by the K'cho to distinguish themselves from their immediate neighbours. It is pronounced like the word 'mern' would be in English.
- Ng'meenThis is the name of a particular village of K'cho speakers. The term has been used in some linguistic papers on the language but is too limited geographically to refer to the whole tribe.
- Yawdwin ChinA term meaning the 'Chin from the Yawdwin River'. Other tribes live in the same vicinity so this is not the most precise of names.
- ChinmeAn uncomplimentary term meaning 'black Chin' perhaps denoting the facial tatoos of the women. Some of the tattoo patterns could appear black.
- ChinbokA derogatory term from Burmese meaning 'rotten Chin'. It goes without saying that such terms should be avoided. It is only mentioned here because of its usage in older langauge and tribal surveys of the region.
Our Objection to The Name "Chinbok"
We all were born in Mindat and Kapetlet Townships. We have never heard of Chinbok. There is no sub-ethnic group as Chinbok or there is no village named as Chinbok. For this reason, we strongly give objection to the Name "Chinbok" to Mindat K'Cho Chin People. We are not Chinbok but We are the KCho.
General Meaning of KCho
In our kcho daily speaking, KCho can be the high rank, in the high position, in the high place, the noble people, the noble position and the North direction.
What is K'Cho?
The K'Cho is a proper noun meaning "Royal". The kcho people believe that they come from a Royal family or community.
( Müün Lady with Pipe )
A brief K'Cho Generation background
Many Years ago, K'Cho developed their Language. In the late century, their migration to other part of the world, that made them lost their main language because of natural disasters, the people and the war.
For this reasons, K'Cho People never try to write down the very important facts or history on the paper and start reading by heart generation to generation. We the new generation are asked by our grandparents to take all history by heart. Most of the time, the important history are made as a story called "Bu Ma" , it is like a bed time story. So the generation can learn very easily. Some kcho people noted down as a song all along history or their background history, those songs are like "Rap or Hip-hop" today. Anyhow, those kind of history are very different from normal daily kcho speaking.We need to know the terms they use the words in the story or songs so that we can understand what they mean. In this way, their background history is protected using special terms of usage.
Here is some facts of K'Cho Generation
In the 1st Generation, there were maily three ethnic groups such as Kan Khaw Ngkhang ( the people born from Heaven ) , Twie Li NgKhang from Pai Tha Li ( The people born from the Sea or Water ), the kcho people seem to call the Sea asPai Tha Li and Kom Ma Ket ( the people related to Bear or the deep forest ).
Among these three groups, Kom Ma Ket, one of the three had no more generation in the history. The rest two groups make K'Cho Generation continuously.
In 2nd generation, the kcho people are divided into three groups again such as Phaw Lon , Phaw Htun and Phaw Ma.
The generation of Phaw Lon became two groups as Lon and Ma, nowadays they are named themselves as the K'Cho.
The generation of Phaw Htun are now the people from Yaw Villages, Yaw Valley such as Taung Thar and Yaw Thar. Yaw Valley is situated around Pondaung and Ponnyar Mountains.
The generation of Phaw Mar was known as Mar Htat but this generation is no longer in the history.
New Generation as K'Cho
Nowadays, the K'Cho become the newest third generation. K'Cho is a proper name for the whole chin called by Mindat and Kanpetlet chin people, southern Chin State of Burma, Myanmar.
The K'Cho is composed mainly of three clans as Müün, Dai , Makang. The ways we speak and our accents are slightly different among us. The Muum language is used as a common language among these tree clans.
Müün Clan is again composed of many sub-clans such as Lung Du , Ni Du , Ki Hlaw, Daihlaw and so on.
In KCho Language, the generation is called " Pakhui", therefore, the Müün is composed of Lung Du Pakhui ( Lung Du generation ), Ni Du Pakhui ( Ni Du Generation ) and so on.
( Note : In this field, the more studies on Clans and the more delta collection is needed )
