Table Of Content-
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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
OF THE
PEABODY MUSEUM
GIFT OF
JOHN B. STETSON, JR.
(Class of 1906)
OF PHILADELPHIA
DEPOSITED IN THE COLLEGE LIBRARY
A
9
/S*f /ft
i
INTRODUCTION
TO THE
KHASIA LANGUAGE;
COMPRISING
A GRAMMAR, SELECTIONS FOR READING,
AND A VOCABULARY.
BY THE REV. W. PRYSE.
CALCUTTA:
PRINTED AT THE CALCUTTA SCHOOL-BOOK SOCIETY'S PRESSJ AND SOLD
AT THEIR DEPOSITORY, CIRCULAR ROAD.
"* . 1855.
li"";ec"i-
Eteteo:" fv.
PREFACE.
THE Khasiaor Cossyah is the dialect of a small tribe, reckon
ingperhapsfrom thirty-five to forty thousand families, or some
what under 200,000 souls, situated on a range ofhills, between
25°and 25° 407 north latitude, and 90° and 91° east longitude.
This little compilation originated in the desire ofthe compiler
to learn that dialect, with a view to try to disseminate a little
elementary knowledge amongst the tribe; there being no ele
mentary books of this kind previously prepared in the language.
It is hoped that such an unpretending performance may ren
der some assistance, not only to those Europeans and others,
who may desire to acquire the dialect through the medium of
the English, but alsoto those Khasiswho,havingacquired some
knowledge of the English, may be desirous of composing ele
mentary books in their own language.
The principal sources, from which the compiler drew the little
information which he has ventured to offer to the public in the
following sheets, were the following. Conversing with the
natives, and analysing the few books previously published in the
dialect. The youthful widow of the late Rev. Thomas Jones
(now Mrs. Mackey) very kindly allowed him free access to the
various Khasia fragments left by her lamented husband.
Amongst them was a skeleton of a Khasia-Anglo Vocabulary,
which unfortunately came to hand too late to be ofmuchusefor
the present compilation.
The .compiler is also deeply indebted to the Rev. W. Lewis,
for readily and kindly undertaking the task of reading the
manuscript. If the work be found to contain any merit, it is
principally owing to his suggestions and revisions. But what
ever faults it has are attributable to the deficiencies of its
compiler.
IV
To J. Sykes, Esq., and to the Committee of the Calcutta
School-Book Society, the compiler is also laid under deep
obligations : to the former, for the great care taken in superin
tending the press, (a task ofno ordinary difficulty in printing an
unknown language,) and also in re-arranging a large number of
the words in the Vocabulary, in order to make the alphabetical
list more complete: and to the latter, for undertaking the risk
ofpublishing at its own expense sounpretending a performance,
with the wonted promptness of that excellent Committee, when
the object is to do good to the people of India.
To all these, and several other gentlemen who most readily
and obligingly gavetheir assistancein various ways,the compiler
embraces this opportunity to offer his sincere thanks.
W. P.
Sylhet, 18th April, 1855.
PREFATORY NOTE TO THE VOCABULARY.
Many considerations might be urged as a plea for indulgence,
for any deficiencies and faults that might be observed in the fol
lowing Vocabulary.
The Khasis had no literature, no books, no marksto indicate
sound, no standard by which either their orthography or their
pronunciation might be tested. Hence the same words are pro
nounced in various ways in different villages. The variety of
words used to express the same thought is also great.
The dialect of Cherrapunji is generallyconsidered the purest
by the natives. The orthography adopted in the Vocabulary is
intended to be a representation of the pronunciation of the
natives: how far it represents native sounds must be left to the
judgment of those who may have opportunities to test it. The
orthography is still unsettled; and must continue to be so for a
long series of years, from the nature of the case, unless some
native genius should rise to settle it.
The Roman characters have been adopted in preference to the
Bengali characters; not from a conviction of the superior utility
of the former, but simply because they were found already in
use amongst the natives. It is obvious that such a small and
uninfluential tribe will not be able to retain characters different
from those of the larger nations of the plains which surround
their hills. Should the Khasia tribe be ever brought under the
influence of education, civilization, and commercial intercourse,
the Bengali character must supplant the Roman at a not very
distant day. For the sake of the Khasis that would be very
desirable. Nor would it be less desirable for the Bengali lan
guage to supplant all the hill dialects on the northeast frontier.
VI
It is hoped that the majority ofthe Khasia words in common
use at Cherra will be found in the Vocabulary. Should the
enquirer fail to find a root-word in its alphabetical order, he
would do well to look for it under its compound forms : if a
verb, under 'la/ or 'Pyn;" and if a noun, under ' Jing/ or
'Nong:' as, for example, 'Wad/ (to seek,) ifit cannotbe found
under W, itshould be sought forunder 'lawad/ or 'Pynwad/ or
*Pyniawad/ or, ifanoun,under ' Jingwad/ or 'Nongwad.' The
signification of root-words can be elicited, without much diffi
culty, from their compounds. Some ofthese omissions occur,
owing to native usages, and some owing to the deficiencies of
the compiler.
Explanation ofthe Abbreviations used in the Vocabulary.
art. signifies article.
.v substantive ornoun.
a adjective.
p pronoun.
v verb.
ad adverb.
pr. orprep... preposition.
conj conjunction.
interj interjection.
num. a numeral adjective.
relat./won... relative pronoun.
pers.pron. .. personalpronoun.
interrog.pron. interrogativepronoun.
masc masculine gender.
fern feminine gender.
sing singularnumber.
pi. orplu. .. pluralnumber.
1st, 2nd, 3rd, the first, second, or third person.
Note.—The articles written afternouns, thus, 'u,' 'ka,' and sometimes
'u orka,' are to be expressed always beforethe substantives or nouns to
whichthey areattached: as,"Nongleh, u, orka,"should beread, "u nong-
leh,orkanongleh,"aworkerorlabourer, (male orfemale). So, "Ksew,uor
ka," shouldbe read, "u ksew," (a dog), or "kaksew," (abitch). "Wah,
ka," read "kawah;" "Liun, u," read "ulum," amountain, &c. &c.
