- Khasi language
language
name=Khasi
nativename=Khasi
familycolor=Austro-Asiatic
states=India ,Bangladesh
speakers=865,000 mainly inMeghalaya ,India (1997)
fam2=Mon-Khmer
fam3=Northern Mon-Khmer
fam4=Khasian
iso2=kha|iso3=khaKhasi is an Austro-Asiatic language spoken primarily in
Meghalaya state inIndia . Khasi is part of theMon-Khmer 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 inBangladesh , 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.
cript
In the past, the Khasi language had no script of its own. William Carey attempted to write the language with the
Eastern Nagari script between1813 and1838 . A large number of Khasi books were written in theEastern Nagari script , including the famous book "Ka Niyiom Jong Ka Khasi" or "The Rule of the Khasis", which is an important manuscript of theSeng Khasi religion. The Welshmissionary , Thomas Jones, in1841 wrote the language in theRoman script . As a result, theorthography 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.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.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.