Khasi
Austroasiatic (Khasian)
Khasi is the principal language of Meghalaya state in northeast India, with ~1.6M speakers, plus communities in Bangladesh's Sylhet division. It is one of only two Austroasiatic groups with substantial speaker populations outside Southeast Asia (the other being Munda) — the Khasians are descendants of an early Austroasiatic migration into eastern India. Khasi society is matrilineal (one of the few major matrilineal societies in the world), with property and kinship traced through women. The Latin orthography was developed by Welsh missionaries in the early 19th century. Khasi is co-official in Meghalaya alongside Garo and English. Has SVO order, no tones (unusual for Austroasiatic), and rich derivational morphology.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Khasi
Water
um
/um/
Fire
ding
/diŋ/
Sun
ka sngi
/ka sŋi/
Moon
bnai
/bnai/
Mother
mei
/mei/
Father
kpa
/kpa/
Eat
bam
/bam/
Drink
dih
/dih/
Love
ieid
/iəid/
Heart
ka jingmut
/ka dʒiŋmut/
Tree
u dieng
/u diəŋ/
House
ka ïing
/ka jiŋ/
Dog
u ksew
/u ksew/
Cat
u miaw
/u miau/
Hand
ka kti
/ka kti/
Eye
ka khmat
/ka kʰmat/
Hello
khublei
/kʰublei/
Thank you
khublei shibun
/kʰublei ʃibun/
One
wei
/wei/
Good
bha
/bʱa/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Austroasiatic (Khasian) languages
| Meaning | Khasi | Kurtöp | Eastern Bru | Ladakhi | Hakha Chin | Mizo | Bahnar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | um /um/ | khwe /kʰwe/ | daak /daːk/ | ཆུ /tɕʰu/ | ti /ti/ | tui /tui/ | dak /dak/ |
| Fire | ding /diŋ/ | mi /mi/ | oih /ʔoiʔ/ | མེ /me/ | mei /mei/ | mei /mei/ | unh /uɲ/ |
| Sun | ka sngi /ka sŋi/ | ningpe /niŋpe/ | mat plei /mat plei/ | ཉི་མ /ɲima/ | ni /ni/ | ni /ni/ | mat trơ /mat trə/ |
| Moon | bnai /bnai/ | lai /lai/ | kasai /kasai/ | ཟླ་བ /zlawa/ | thla /tʰla/ | thla /tʰla/ | khe /kʰe/ |
| Mother | mei /mei/ | amai /amai/ | amey /amej/ | ཨ་མ /ama/ | nu /nu/ | nu /nu/ | mei /mei/ |
| Father | kpa /kpa/ | apai /apai/ | amung /amuŋ/ | ཨ་པ /apa/ | pa /pa/ | pa /pa/ | bă /bə/ |
| Eat | bam /bam/ | za /za/ | cha /tʃa/ | ཟ /za/ | ei /ei/ | ei /ei/ | sa /sa/ |
| Drink | dih /dih/ | thung /tʰuŋ/ | ngoot /ŋoːt/ | འཐུང /tʰuŋ/ | din /din/ | in /in/ | ngoah /ŋoah/ |
| Love | ieid /iəid/ | ga /ɡa/ | hong /hoŋ/ | དགའ /ɡa/ | daw /daw/ | hmangaih /hmaŋai/ | rơngư /rəŋɨ/ |
| Heart | ka jingmut /ka dʒiŋmut/ | nying /ɲiŋ/ | plong /ploŋ/ | སྙིང /ɲiŋ/ | lung /luŋ/ | thinlung /tʰinluŋ/ | blei /blei/ |
| Tree | u dieng /u diəŋ/ | shing /ɕiŋ/ | aleng /aleŋ/ | ཤིང /ʃiŋ/ | thingkung /tʰiŋkuŋ/ | thingkung /tʰiŋkuŋ/ | lông /loŋ/ |
| House | ka ïing /ka jiŋ/ | khim /kʰim/ | dung /duŋ/ | ཁང་པ /kʰaŋpa/ | inn /in/ | in /in/ | hnam /hnam/ |
| Dog | u ksew /u ksew/ | khwi /kʰwi/ | acho /atʃo/ | ཁྱི /kʰi/ | ui /ui/ | ui /ui/ | cho /tʃo/ |
| Cat | u miaw /u miau/ | byila /bila/ | miew /mieu/ | བྱི་ལ /pila/ | minu /minu/ | zawhte /zɔʔte/ | miao /miao/ |
| Hand | ka kti /ka kti/ | lak /lak/ | ati /ati/ | ལག་པ /lakpa/ | kut /kut/ | kut /kut/ | ti /ti/ |
| Eye | ka khmat /ka kʰmat/ | mik /mik/ | mat /mat/ | མིག /mik/ | mit /mit/ | mit /mit/ | mat /mat/ |
| Hello | khublei /kʰublei/ | kuzu zangpo /kuzu zaŋpo/ | te /te/ | ཇུ་ལེ /dʑule/ | na dam maw /na dam maw/ | chibai /tʃibai/ | ô /o/ |
| Thank you | khublei shibun /kʰublei ʃibun/ | kadrinche /kadrintɕe/ | kuhng /kuhŋ/ | ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ /tʰuktɕetɕʰe/ | ka lawm /ka lawm/ | ka lawm e /ka lɔːm e/ | kơbi /kəbi/ |
| One | wei /wei/ | thê /tʰe/ | muoi /muoi/ | གཅིག /tɕik/ | pakhat /pakʰat/ | pakhat /pakʰat/ | minh /miɲ/ |
| Good | bha /bʱa/ | lekpo /lekpo/ | huom /huom/ | ཡག་པོ /jakpo/ | tha /tʰa/ | tha /tʰa/ | ling /liŋ/ |
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