Native to Northeast India Native speakers (30,000 cited 1989) ISO 639-3 nag | Ethnicity Naga people Language family Assamese-based creole Glottolog naga1394 | |
Nagamese ("Naga Pidgin") is a creole used in Nagaland. It has its origin from the interaction of the hill tribesman with the Assamese in the plains and developed primarily as a market language to communicate for trade. Since Nagaland is inhabited by people belonging to different Naga tribes speaking languages which are mutually unintelligible, it has now come to serve as the more common lingua franca of the state, though English is the official language of the state. Nagamese is the preferred form of communication for extension works in rural areas 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.
Nagamese has two cases, two tenses, three aspectual distinctions and no gender. It shares a large part of its lexicon with Assamese.