Nagamese

language
name=Nagamese
familycolor=Creole
states=India
speakers=30,000
fam1=Creole language
fam2=Assamese Creole
iso1=
iso2=
iso3=nag
notice=nonotice

Nagamese is a creole used in Nagaland. Since Nagaland is inhabited by people belonging to different Naga tribes speaking languages which are mutually unintelligible, Nagamese is the preferred form of communication for all. It is used in the Nagaland Legislature, as a means of explanation in Nagaland schools and in mixed households. It has been described as a creole, which was stable by 1936 and which is unlikely to decreolize. English is the official language of Nagaland and 67.11% of the population is educated.Fact|date=November 2007

Nagamese has two cases, two tenses, three aspectual distinctions and no gender. It shares a large part of its lexicon with Assamese.

External links

* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/messeas/handouts/nagamese/nagamese.htm Review of Bhattacharya's "Nagamese: Pidgin, Creole or Creoloid?"]
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=nag Ethnologue report on Nagamese]