Khasi is an
Austro-Asiatic languageThe Austro-Asiatic languages are a large language family of Southeast Asia, and also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The name comes from the Latin word for "south" and the Greek name of Asia, hence "South Asia." Among these languages, only Vietnamese, Khmer, and Mon have a long...
spoken primarily in
MeghalayaMeghalaya is a small state in north-eastern India. The word "Meghalaya" literally means "The Abode of Clouds" in Sanskrit and other Indic languages. Meghalaya is a hilly strip in the eastern part of the country about 300 km long and 100 km wide, with a total area of about 8,700 sq mi...
state in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. Khasi is part of the Khasi-Khmuic group of languages, and is distantly related to the
MundaThe Munda languages are a language family spoken by about nine million people in central and eastern India and Bangladesh. They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic language family, generally placed in opposition to the Mon-Khmer languages of Southeast Asia, which means they are distantly...
branch of the Austroasiatic family, which is found in east-central India.
Although most of the 865,000 Khasi speakers are found in Meghalaya state, the language is also spoken by a number of people in the hill districts of
AssamAssam ) is a northeastern state of India with its capital at Dispur located in the Guwahati city. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra and the Barak river valleys and the Karbi Anglong and the North Cachar Hills with an area of 30,285 square miles...
bordering with Meghalaya and by a sizable population of people living in
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, close to the Indian border.
Khasi is rich in folklore and folktale, and behind most of the names of hills, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, birds, flowers, and animals there is a story.
In the past, the Khasi language had no script of its own.
Khasi is an
Austro-Asiatic languageThe Austro-Asiatic languages are a large language family of Southeast Asia, and also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The name comes from the Latin word for "south" and the Greek name of Asia, hence "South Asia." Among these languages, only Vietnamese, Khmer, and Mon have a long...
spoken primarily in
MeghalayaMeghalaya is a small state in north-eastern India. The word "Meghalaya" literally means "The Abode of Clouds" in Sanskrit and other Indic languages. Meghalaya is a hilly strip in the eastern part of the country about 300 km long and 100 km wide, with a total area of about 8,700 sq mi...
state in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. Khasi is part of the Khasi-Khmuic group of languages, and is distantly related to the
MundaThe Munda languages are a language family spoken by about nine million people in central and eastern India and Bangladesh. They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic language family, generally placed in opposition to the Mon-Khmer languages of Southeast Asia, which means they are distantly...
branch of the Austroasiatic family, which is found in east-central India.
Although most of the 865,000 Khasi speakers are found in Meghalaya state, the language is also spoken by a number of people in the hill districts of
AssamAssam ) is a northeastern state of India with its capital at Dispur located in the Guwahati city. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra and the Barak river valleys and the Karbi Anglong and the North Cachar Hills with an area of 30,285 square miles...
bordering with Meghalaya and by a sizable population of people living in
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, close to the Indian border.
Khasi is rich in folklore and folktale, and behind most of the names of hills, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, birds, flowers, and animals there is a story.
Script
In the past, the Khasi language had no script of its own. William Carey attempted to write the language with the
Eastern Nagari scriptThe Eastern Nagari script is an Abugida system of writing belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts whose use is associated with the Assamese, Bengali, Maithili, Mising, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Meitei Manipuri, Sylheti, and Chittagonian languages...
between 1813 and 1838. A large number of Khasi books were written in the
Eastern Nagari scriptThe Eastern Nagari script is an Abugida system of writing belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts whose use is associated with the Assamese, Bengali, Maithili, Mising, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Meitei Manipuri, Sylheti, and Chittagonian languages...
, including the famous book
Ka Niyiom Jong Ka Khasi or
The Rule of the Khasis, which is an important manuscript of the Seng Khasi religion. The
WelshWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
missionaryA missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith;...
,
Thomas JonesThomas Jones was a Welsh missionary, best remembered for his work in recording the Khasi language in Roman script...
, in 1841 wrote the language in the Roman script. As a result, the
orthographyThe orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example for Kurdish, there can be more than one orthography. Orthography is derived from Greek ὀρθός orthós and γράφειν...
of the language in Roman script is quite similar to that of
Welsh orthographyWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh border and in the Welsh immigrant colony in the Chubut Valley in Argentine Patagonia....
. As it was more easily adapted to the Khasi language, the Roman script for Khasi was adopted.
Alphabet
- Capital letters A, B, K, D, E, G, Ng, H, I, Ï, J, L, M, N, Ñ, O, P, R, S, T, U, W, Y.
- Small letters a, b, k, d, e, g, ng, h, i, ï, j, l, m, n, ñ, o, p, r, s, t, u, w, y.
Khasi text sample
| Khasi language |
English |
| Khublei (khu-blei) |
is ‘Kyrkhu U Blei’ in Khasi and means ‘God Bless’. (Greeting equivalent to
Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening) |
| Phi long kumno? |
How are you? In short it is also used as “Kumno?” |
| Nga khlain |
I am fine. |
| Kumne |
Short form response to ‘Kumno?’ meaning ‘like this’. |
| Um |
Water |
| Ja |
(cooked) rice |
| Dohkha (doh-kha) |
fish (meat) |
| Dohsyiar (doh-syiar) |
chicken (meat) |
| Dohsniang (doh-sni-ang) |
pork |
| Dohblang (doh-bl-ang) |
mutton |
| Jyntah (jyn-tah) |
dish (meat/vegetable) |
| Jhur (jh-ur) |
vegetable |
| Dai |
dhal / lentils |
| Mluh (ml-uh) |
salt |
| Duna (du-na) |
less |
| Sohmynken (soh-myn-ken) |
chilly |
| Ai biang seh |
Please give again (serve again). |
| La biang |
enough |
| Ai um seh |
Please give water. |
| Ai ja seh |
Please give food (rice). |
| Ai jyntah seh |
Please give (side dish) vegetable / meat. |
| Ai aiu? |
Give what? |
| Ai kwai seh |
Please give ‘kwai’. |
| Aiu? |
What? |
| Mynno? |
When? |
| Hangno? / Shano? |
Where? |
| Kumno? |
How? |
| Khublei shibun. |
Thank you very much. |
| Thiah suk. |
Good Night. |
| Kumno ngan leit sha Ward’s Lake? |
How do I go to Ward’s Lake? |
| Katno ka dor une / kane? |
What is the price of this? (une is masculine gender, kane is feminine gender and ine
is neutral gender) |
| Leit suk. |
Happy Journey. |
| Reply is “Shong suk.” |
Literal meaning is “Stay happy.” |
Numbers
| 1 |
wei |
| 2 |
ar |
| 3 |
lai |
| 4 |
saw |
| 5 |
san |
| 6 |
hynriew |
| 7 |
hynniew |
| 8 |
phra |
| 9 |
khyndai |
| 10 |
shipew |
| 20 |
arphew |
| 30 |
laiphew |
| 40 |
sawphew |
| 50 |
sanphew |
| 60 |
hynriewphew |
| 70 |
hynniewphew |
| 80 |
phraphew |
| 90 |
khyndaiphew |
| 100 |
shispah |
| 200 |
arspah |
| 300 |
laispah |
| 400 |
sawspah |
| 500 |
sanspah |
| 600 |
hynriewspah |
| 700 |
hynniewspah |
| 800 |
phraspah |
| 900 |
khyndaispah |
| 1000 |
shihajar |