Khasi love poem
Ka Ïit Khmih
Ka dur jong phi ha iit
Kadei ka phawar ba bha tam jong nga.
Hynrei kloi ka jah.
Ka long kaba khaduh "nga ieit ia phi".
→ French poem ←
Alone woman and Khasi language
Here it's for her, alone woman in the midst of her family, that my love poem is translated into Khasi (Bhoi-Khasi, Khashi, Khasie, Cherrapunji, Khassee, Khuchia, Cossyah, Kahasi, Kassi, Khasa, Khasiyas, Khynrium, Kyi, Sohra, War).
This Khasi poetry is in the Austro-Asian language, of the Mon-Khmer group, spoken by the Khasi people, in the states of Meghalaya and Assam, in India, as well as in Bangladesh.
Khasi is the language of less than a million aborigines who speak one of its dialects, it can be written with the modified Latin alphabet and sometimes with the Bengali script.
The written language was developed through contact with missionaries, previously Khasi was only oral. In addition to the Latin alphabet, other attempts have been made to write the language, for example religious manuscripts have been written with the Eastern Nagari Script.
Today the written language embraces all genres, novels, theater, and poetry of course.
Moreover, the first Khasi poems were Christian poems, the objective of which was to promote the values of Christian morality. This poetry which, moreover, was of a very good content, paved the way for poetic genres other than the religious.
Today poetry is surely the most practiced literary art among the Khasis.
Of the many dialects of Khasi, it is the one spoken around cherrapunji (cherrapunjee, sohra), south of Meghalaya, which has been taken as the standard, for literature, newspapers, radio, TV and teaching in schools.
In Meghalaya, if English is the language of administration, Khasi is the everyday language for the Khasis.
Their language is a compulsory subject in their schools, and this is very important, because this standard also serves as a lingua franca between the different villages.
Despite this, Khasi is a language that UNESCO considers endangered.
The Khasis
The Khasis (Khassis, Khassias) are a collection of different tribes of the same family, who live in the Khasi and Jaintia hills in Meghalaya. These are the Khynriam, the Bhoi, the Lyngngams and the Syntengs (Pnars).
They are organized in a matriarchal society, with an important role dedicated to the youngest daughter. Their cultural traditions still retain all their importance, and these customs which are specific to them, are expressed through an important musical tradition.
Their organization into exogamous matrilineal and matrilocal clans are subdivided into castes. The affairs of the village are settled during the durbar. The Khasis are animists.
The Khasis well organized and keep their own customs, the Indian constitution recognizing them. These are hunters and blacksmiths who mainly practice slash-and-burn agriculture.