Khasi Alphabet

Khasi uses 23 base Latin letters ^[1] in its native orthography — all standard letters except C, F, Q, V, X, and Z, which appear only in loanwords.

In addition, Khasi uses several digraphs (two-letter combinations) including kh, ph, th, sh, ng, and ngi to represent sounds not covered by single Latin letters.

Khasi is spoken by approximately 1.4 million people ^[2], primarily in the Khasi Hills and East Khasi Hills districts of Meghalaya state, Northeast India. It is an official language of Meghalaya.

Smaller communities also live in Assam, Manipur, and across the border in Bangladesh. Khasi is used in state government, education, and local media.

Khasi belongs to the Khasian sub-branch of Mon-Khmer within the Austroasiatic language family ^[3], placing it in the same family as Vietnamese, Khmer, Mon, and the Munda languages of India.

Khasi is geographically isolated from most Austroasiatic relatives, making it significant for understanding how these languages spread across South and Southeast Asia.

The Khasi Latin script was developed by Reverend Thomas Jones ^[1], a Welsh missionary who arrived in Meghalaya in 1841. He created the first Khasi alphabet and translated portions of the Bible into Khasi.

The Welsh Calvinistic Methodist mission had a profound influence on Khasi society, contributing to high literacy rates and a strong tradition of written Khasi literature.

A matrilineal society is one where descent, clan membership, and inheritance pass through the mother's line ^[2]. The Khasi are among the world's best-known examples — the youngest daughter typically inherits the home, and children take their mother's clan name.

This social structure is deeply embedded in Khasi language, with kinship terms and cultural concepts reflecting matrilineal values throughout the community.

In Khasi, aspiration is phonemically distinctive ^[1] — aspirated consonants and unaspirated consonants are completely different sounds that change word meaning. For example, pa and pha are two different words.

The digraphs ph, th, and kh mark aspirated versions of p, t, and k respectively — mirroring the aspiration distinction found in Sanskrit and Hindi.

Khasi belongs to the Austroasiatic family, not the Indo-Aryan or Dravidian families ^[3] that make up most Indian languages. Within Austroasiatic, its closest Indian relatives are the Munda languages — Santali, Mundari, and Ho.

More distant relatives include Mon and Khmer in Southeast Asia, and Vietnamese — all part of the same ancient Austroasiatic family that spread widely across South and Southeast Asia.

The Khasi language is called "Ktien Khasi" ^[2] in Khasi itself — literally "the Khasi language/speech". The word "Ktien" means language or speech.

The name "Khasi" is sometimes said to derive from a term meaning "born of woman" — reflecting the matrilineal identity of the community and their traditional homeland, the Khasi Hills.