Khasi language
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| Khasi | ||
|---|---|---|
| Khasi | ||
| Spoken in | India, Bangladesh | |
| Total speakers | 865,000 mainly in Meghalaya, India (1997) | |
| Language family | Austro-Asiatic
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| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1 | None | |
| ISO 639-2 | kha | |
| ISO 639-3 | kha | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Khasi is an Austro-Asiatic language spoken primarily in Meghalaya state in India by the Khasi people. Khasi is part of the Khasi-Khmuic group of languages, and is distantly related to the Munda 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 Assam bordering with Meghalaya and by a sizable population of people living in Bangladesh, 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.
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[edit] Script
In the past, the Khasi language had no script of its own. William Carey attempted to write the language with the Eastern Nagari script between 1813 and 1838. A large number of Khasi books were written in the Eastern Nagari script, 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 Welsh missionary, Thomas Jones, in 1841 wrote the language in the Roman script. As a result, the orthography of the language in Roman script is quite similar to that of Welsh orthography. As it was more easily adapted to the Khasi language, the Roman script for Khasi was adopted.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.” |
[edit] 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 |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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