By HH Mohrmen
State governments come and go but the demand for inclusion of Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule is yet to be fulfilled. But more than the recognition, Khasi language needs to be strengthen at the core. As a matter of fact even if Khasi language achieves the dream of getting recognition by the Central Government, the language still has many challenges to overcome which are both internal and external in nature.
It is a blessing to be able to speak and write in Khasi, Pnar and War Jañtia which in turn helps one to understand the nuances between these three major dialects of the Austro Asiatic Monkhmer languages spoken in the region. Although the dialects fall in the same Monkhmer language group, but it cannot be denied that they are different from one another. A native War Jiañtia speaking person can understand Pnar and Khasi, but War Jañtia is Greek to most Pnar and Khasi section of the population. And although the dialects fall in the same language group, but the fact remains that there is a huge variation between the dialects. This is the reason why people who speak the other dialects are trying to put it in writing by using the same Roman script albeit with addition of few more alphabets to represent sounds which are not found in the Khasi language.
There are however certain sections of the Hynñiew Trep population which is against the idea that the speakers of the dialects (not Khasi) start writing their language, because they fail to realise that the dialects are like streams which feeds water to the major river which is Sohra Khasi. The other problem is that one cannot write the other dialects using only the alphabets that the Welsh used to write the Sohra Khasi language. To write the two other dialects there is a need to incorporate few more alphabets in the list of Khasi alphabets which of course is not practical. Besides, to write in Pnar, one needs to include an alphabet which represents ‘chi’ and ‘æ or ae’ sound which is not required in writing Khasi. In addition to ‘æ’ and ‘chi’ to reduce the War Jañtia dialect into writing one also needs to include ‘tj’ sound and ‘fs’ sound which again is not needed by the Pnar and Khasi speakers.
The need to support the speakers of others dialects to write their language is because this will not only help keep the spoken language of the section of the Hynñew Trep population alive, but more importantly, the dialects will help enrich and strengthen Khasi language itself. Dialects are also a medium by which culture and traditions are transmitted from one generation to the next and from one person to another. If dialects die, stories, cultures and traditions of the people will also die. For example rites and passages, rituals and prayers and chanting used in different sacrifices are not translatable and can only be done using native languages, hence the need to put the dialect in writing to protect and preserve these traditions.
In fact the situation with regards to Khasi and other dialects in today’s context is similar to English and its relationship to other languages. In fact we can look at the relationship of Khasi language with other AA dialects as that of English and Greek, Latin or even French from which English borrowed many words and terms. Khasi too can borrow words from the dialects which are not available in Khasi to enrich the language. Hence for Khasi writing to continue to develop, the other major dialects of the language too need to stay alive.
The imminent problem to Khasi language is not only the issue of not being able to get it included in the eight schedule or that young urban population prefers to speak in English more than Khasi, or for that matter because speakers of other dialects start writing their spoken dialects, the major challenge is the reluctance of authors or even common writers to use the not so popular alphabets in the language namely ‘ñ’ and ‘ï’. The unwillingness of the writers in Khasi to use the two important alphabets not only gives wrong sound of the words but it also contributes to not having an accepted standard in the use of the two alphabets.
In spite of the fact that writing Khasi using the Roman script is more than hundred years now, writers are yet to agree on the use of the alphabets in spelling some words. It was Dr Glenn Kharkongor, Chancellor, Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong who pointed out the fact that there is no consistency in using the ‘ny’ sound sign in writing Khasi language. For example there are writers who spell cloth as ‘jain’ without using ‘ñ’ and even those who spell it ‘jaiñ’ with ‘ny’ sound still use ‘i’ before ‘ñ’. The question is whether there is need to use ‘i’ before ‘ñ’ when it is supposed to represent the ‘ny’ sound? Or is the correct way to spell cloth is Khasi as ‘jañ’ because ‘i’ is redundant here. Similarly is the correct way to spell the erstwhile kingdom is ‘Jañtia’ and not ‘Jaiñtia’, enough is ‘keñ’ not ‘keiñ’ because the ‘i’ here is of no use. Calculate is ‘kheñ’ instead of ‘kheiñ’ or fat is ‘khleñ’ not ‘khleiñ’ because in all the above cases, ‘i’ which is pronounced as ‘e’ in English is not required if we are to use it before the ‘ñ’ sound.
‘I’ sound is also of no use even after the ‘ñ’ sound for example sacrifice is ‘kña’ not ‘kñia’, count is ‘ñew’ not ‘ñiew’ and in fact the correct spelling is Hynñew Trep not Hynniew or Hynñiew Trep because ‘i’ is not only not required before ‘ñ’ it is also of no use after it. Similarly writers are reluctant to use the ‘ï’ and use ‘i’ instead like for example praise is spelt as ‘iaroh’ instead of ‘ïaroh’ and walk or go is spelt as ‘iaid’ instead of ‘ïaid’. House or home is wrongly spelt as ‘iing’ and even if it is spelled with ‘ï’ sometime it is spelt as ‘ïing’ in which case the use of alphabet ‘i’ here is also redundant. The correct spelling of house or home should be ‘ïng’ without ‘i’ and in fact ‘ing’ is to burn.
The external challenge to the language is the bombardment of new terms from within the country or from the Western world in the day to day communication of the people. Till today there is no authority which is being assigned the responsibility for providing Khasi translation of new terms that have become common usage in everyday communication of the people. For instance it is not clear whether it is the Khasi Authors’ Society or the Khasi Department of the North Eastern Hills University which is supposed to supply writers with Khasi translation of new terms that become common usage, say for example terms like social media, artificial intelligence, coding etc.
In the past because there were no such arrangements, so the writers took upon themselves the responsibility to translate terms of common usage which are new and do not have corresponding translations in Khasi. Or rather the writers were compelled to come up with their own translation or have to coin new Khasi words to translate new popular English terms. Few years back this writer coined the word ‘korputar’ to have a Khasi translation of the term Computer, and similarly ‘ilekshon’ becomes a Khasi translation of election but sadly we have no Khasi translation for laptop or even mobile or smart phones for that matter. Very recently when lockdown was imposed to control the spread of COVID-19, this writer came up with ‘khangdam’ as a Khasi translation of lockdown. There are some who translated quarantine as ‘set slung’ which sounds rude, but the alternative translation is ‘pynsah-salajong ne pynsah kyrpang,’ which is more polite.
The threat to the Khasi language is not only because young people are more comfortable speaking in English than Khasi, but it is also the bombardment of new terms and our failure to come up with Khasi translations of the same. Writing in Khasi is a challenge and the immediate challenges are not external but internal. That is what needs attention.
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