A·chik
Garo
Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman, Bodo-Garo)
Garo (A·chik) is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Bodo-Garo branch, spoken by ~1M in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya state in northeastern India and adjacent areas of Bangladesh. The Garo are notable for their matrilineal kinship system — among the few in mainland Asia — where property and clan identity descend through the mother's line. Tonal language with two contrasting tones. Latin orthography developed by American Baptist missionaries in the 1860s replacing earlier Bengali-based writing. Associate official language of Meghalaya since 2005.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Garo
Water
chi·
/tʃi/
Fire
wa·al
/waal/
Sun
sal
/sal/
Moon
ja·tong
/dʒatoŋ/
Star
a·ski
/aʔski/
Mother
ama
/ama/
Father
apa
/apa/
I
anga
/aŋa/
You
nang'a
/naŋʔa/
Name
bimung
/bimuŋ/
Eye
mikron
/mikron/
Hand
jak
/dʒak/
Heart
ja·rik
/dʒarik/
Love
ka·sa
/kasa/
Tree
bol
/bol/
House
nok
/nok/
Dog
atcha
/atʃa/
Cat
menggo
/meŋɡo/
Eat
cha·a
/tʃaa/
Drink
ring·a
/riŋa/
One
sa
/sa/
Two
gni
/ɡni/
Hello
namaste
/namaste/
Thank you
mittela
/mitːela/
Good
nama
/nama/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Burman, Bodo-Garo) languages
| Meaning | Garo | Bodo | Meitei | Sherpa | Limbu | Sikkimese | Thulung |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | chi· /tʃi/ | दै /dai/ | ꯏꯁꯤꯡ /isiŋ/ | ཆུ /tɕʰu/ | ᤇᤘᤠ /tʃʰwaː/ | ཆུ /tɕʰu/ | भु /bʱu/ |
| Fire | wa·al /waal/ | वाथार /watʰaɾ/ | ꯃꯩ /mei/ | མེ /me/ | ᤔᤡ /mi/ | མེ /me/ | मे /me/ |
| Sun | sal /sal/ | सान /san/ | ꯅꯨꯃꯤꯠ /numit/ | ཉི་མ /ɲima/ | ᤊᤠᤶᤑ /ɲaːmpʰʌ/ | ཉི་མ /ɲima/ | नाम /nam/ |
| Moon | ja·tong /dʒatoŋ/ | ओखाफोर /okʰapʰoɾ/ | ꯊꯥ /tʰaː/ | ཟླ་བ /dawa/ | ᤗᤠᤒᤠ /laːba/ | ཟླ་བ /dawa/ | लामी /lami/ |
| Star | a·ski /aʔski/ | हाथोरखि /hatʰorkʰi/ | ꯊꯋꯥꯟꯃꯤꯆꯥꯛ /tʰawanmitɕak/ | སྐར་མ /karma/ | ᤂᤧᤛᤧᤔᤡᤰ /kʰɛsɛmik/ | སྐར་མ་ /kaːma/ | सोर्लुग /sorlug/ |
| Mother | ama /ama/ | आय /aj/ | ꯏꯃꯥ /ima/ | ཨ་མ /ama/ | ᤔᤠᤔᤠ /maːmaː/ | ཨ་མ /ama/ | मामा /mama/ |
| Father | apa /apa/ | आफा /apʰa/ | ꯏꯄꯥ /ipa/ | ཨ་པ /apa/ | ᤀᤠᤒᤠ /aːbaː/ | ཨ་པ /apa/ | पापा /papa/ |
| I | anga /aŋa/ | आं /aŋ/ | ꯑꯩ /əi/ | ང /ŋa/ | ᤀᤠᤱᤃᤠ /aŋga/ | ང་ /ŋa/ | गो /go/ |
| You | nang'a /naŋʔa/ | नों /nɯŋ/ | ꯅꯪ /naŋ/ | ཁྱེད་རང /kʰeraŋ/ | ᤂᤧᤏᤧ᤹ /kʰɛnɛʔ/ | ཁྱེད་རང་ /kʰeraŋ/ | गन /gana/ |
| Name | bimung /bimuŋ/ | मुं /muŋ/ | ꯃꯤꯡ /miŋ/ | མིང /miŋ/ | ᤔᤡᤱ /miŋ/ | མིང་ /miŋ/ | नोङ /noŋ/ |
| Eye | mikron /mikron/ | मेगन /meɡon/ | ꯃꯤꯠ /mit/ | མིག /mik/ | ᤔᤡᤰ /mik/ | མིག /mik/ | मिक /mik/ |
| Hand | jak /dʒak/ | आखाइ /akʰai/ | ꯈꯨꯠ /kʰut/ | ལག་པ /lakpa/ | ᤜᤢᤰ /huk/ | ལག /lak/ | गुर /ɡur/ |
| Heart | ja·rik /dʒarik/ | फिथा /pʰitʰa/ | ꯊꯃꯣꯏ /tʰamoi/ | སྙིང /ɲiŋ/ | ᤛᤡᤰ /sik/ | སྙིང /ɲiŋ/ | सीक /siːk/ |
| Love | ka·sa /kasa/ | अननाय /onːai/ | ꯅꯨꯡꯁꯤꯕ /nuŋsiba/ | བློ་ཆོ /lotɕʰo/ | ᤔᤡᤌᤡ /mitʰi/ | དགའ /ɡa/ | सेय्यु /sejːu/ |
| Tree | bol /bol/ | बिजि /bidʒi/ | ꯐꯨꯂꯥꯡ /pʰulaŋ/ | སྡོང་པོ /dompo/ | ᤛᤡᤱ /siŋ/ | ཤིང /ɕiŋ/ | सीङ /siːŋ/ |
| House | nok /nok/ | नो /no/ | ꯌꯨꯝ /jum/ | ནང /naŋ/ | ᤜᤡᤶ /him/ | ཁྱིམ /tɕim/ | खिम /kʰim/ |
| Dog | atcha /atʃa/ | सैमा /saima/ | ꯍꯨꯏ /hui/ | ཁྱི /kʰi/ | ᤁᤣᤳᤇᤡ /keptʃi/ | ཁྱི /tɕʰi/ | ख्ली /kʰliː/ |
| Cat | menggo /meŋɡo/ | मौजि /maudʒi/ | ꯍꯧꯗꯣꯡ /houdoŋ/ | བྱི་ལ /bila/ | ᤐᤡᤛᤡ /pisi/ | ཞི་མི /ʑimi/ | पुसी /pusi/ |
| Eat | cha·a /tʃaa/ | जा /dʒa/ | ꯆꯥꯕ /tʃaːba/ | ཟ /za/ | ᤆᤠᤔᤠ /tʃaːmaː/ | ཟ /za/ | च- /tʃa/ |
| Drink | ring·a /riŋa/ | लोङ /loŋ/ | ꯊꯛꯄ /tʰakpa/ | འཐུང /tʰuŋ/ | ᤌᤢᤴᤔᤠ /tʰuŋmaː/ | འཐུང /tʰuŋ/ | तुङ- /tʰuŋ/ |
| One | sa /sa/ | से /se/ | ꯑꯃ /ama/ | ཅིག /tɕik/ | ᤌᤡᤰ /tʰik/ | གཅིག /tɕik/ | कोङ /koŋ/ |
| Two | gni /ɡni/ | नै /nɯi/ | ꯑꯅꯤ /əni/ | གཉིས /ɲi/ | ᤏᤧᤳᤇᤡ /nɛtɕːi/ | གཉིས་ /ɲiː/ | नि /ni/ |
| Hello | namaste /namaste/ | खुलुमबाय /kʰulumbai/ | ꯈꯨꯔꯨꯝꯖꯔꯤ /kʰuɾumdʒaɾi/ | ཏ་ཤེས་ཏེ་ལེ /ʈʰaɕi tɕʰele/ | ᤐᤣᤜᤢᤙᤣ /peːhuːje/ | ཁམས་བཟང /kʰamsaŋ/ | नमस्ते /nəməste/ |
| Thank you | mittela /mitːela/ | साबार /sabaɾ/ | ꯊꯥꯒꯠꯆꯔꯤ /tʰaːɡattʃaɾi/ | ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ /tʰuktɕetɕʰe/ | ᤐᤡᤍᤠᤱ /pidaːŋ/ | ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ /tʰuktɕetɕe/ | धन्यवाद /dʱənjəbaːd/ |
| Good | nama /nama/ | मोजां /modʒaŋ/ | ꯐꯕ /pʰaba/ | ཡག་པོ /jakpo/ | ᤏᤢᤒᤠ /nuba/ | ལེགས་པོ /lekpo/ | नुम्स /nums/ |
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