By Emidaka Rapsang
The mists and the folklore of the mountains always seem to entrance each passerby, each traveller as they set foot into the monsoon-clad hills. These folklores carry more than stories, they carry histories, origins, culture and most importantly, language. The language that has been passed down for centuries conveys its ontos by word of mouth with rarely any script to uphold it. Thus, our language is the biggest bearer of our culture. Hence language becomes important to the tribal dwellers in the Northeast, a region of India. The gravity of our language comes from understanding it—understanding not only its semantics but also its origin.
In the article, “Northeast India as a linguistic area” by Dipankar Moral, Guwahati University, taken from a part of the Mon Khmer Studies Journal, we learn the thread of languages of different tribes. The article does exceptionally well in studying the different families of language that cover the northeastern region of India. Dipankar Moral describes the different tribes and their linguistic links, painting the northeast as a region not only important to India but integral to the cultures of Southeast Asia as well.
The author articulated that we can begin to study the different languages of the different tribes through three linguistic lenses: Sino-Tibetan, Indo-European and Austroasiatic. The author further states the existence of smaller linguistic groups of Tai and Tibeto-Burman, represented by Tai-Ahom and Tai Khamti for the former and Meitei, Tripuri, Ao, Angami, Lotha and more Naga languages for the latter. Yet, the article states that “The sole representative of the Austric family is Khasi” (Moral).
The history of the Khasi people dates back to eons, to 3000-2000 BC, when Austric settlers created a home in what is now called Meghalaya. The influx of Asamiya and Sino-Tibetan speakers into the hills of Meghalaya caused a diffusion in their linguistic thread, tying them close to each other. The closest link in terms of linguistic family is the Mon-Khmer, one of the few early civilisations that covered an immense part of the Southeast Asian region and now primarily dwells in nation-states such as Cambodia, Laos and parts of Vietnam. In an article by Glen Kharkongor, it was mentioned that the Khasi language acts as a “missing link” between the Austro-Asiatic speakers of South Asia (Munda) and Southeast Asia (Mon-Khmer), making it a linguistic continuation of both families and placing it as distinct from the other languages within the Northeastern region.
The Khmer language is a complex linguistic system where the origins of the language revert closer to South China, yet the evolution of this language was predominantly influenced by Pallava and Indian Brahmic script. The language evolution was divided into three main periods: the first dating from the 7th to the 13th centuries, when the slow introduction of Sanskrit scripts was introduced to the speakers. The second was during the 14th to the 18th century, where parts of the language fragmented and gained their own momentum. And thirdly, the current Khmer language or rather semblances of it, has continued from the 19th century till today. Therefore, we can say that the Khasi language then emerged as a member of the Khmer language, influenced by both ancient Indian scripts and neighbouring Tibeto-Burman dialects.
Importantly, the Khasi people are only linked to the Mon-Khmer predecessors solely through language. This leads to the conclusion that the Khasi tribe, including language and ethnicity, is an odd mixture of centuries of cultural diffusions between the descendants of the Tibeto-Burmese and the Austro-Asiatic linguists. The megalithic culture of the Khasi is also tied to that of the Munda Tribe, as we see again in Glen Kharkongor’s article, where he placed two comparative pictures of the respective tribes to draw upon similarities. This brings us back to the circle of the vast Austro-Asiatic group of migrants where we can assume that these two tribes arose from the same tree but later branched into different areas of India. It is to say that the Munda tribe settled in the South of the region, leaving their language to be influenced even more heavily by Pallavi Scripts. Whereas, the Khasi tribe settled on the rainy hills of the Northeast and gained their dialect through other Southeast Asian languages.
To understand the complexities of the Khasi language, let’s look into a dissection of its grammar and conclude similarities with the age-old Mon-Khmer language. The Khasi language is not compiled of any tonal implications, rather it is made of shorter words that have verbal breaks between them. Although not as prominent in the languages of Southeast Asian countries now, this characteristic was present in the Mon-Khmer tribes prior to fragmentation into different branches. These words include: The Khasi word for “Tiger,” which is “Khla,” exactly the same in pronunciation and meaning as that of the Mon-Khmer language family. This is just one example, others include the words: “Stomach” (English), which would be “Kpoh” (Khasi) and “Poh” (Mon-Khmer), “Birds” (English), which would be “Sim” (Khasi) and “Chim” (Mon-Khmer).
However, it is also important to note that these similarities extend beyond just the Khasi language to a tribe that has more genetic connection with “Paleo-Mongoloids,” which is the Jaintia Tribe. These words would then include: “Children” (English), which would be “Khon” (Jaintia) and “Kaun/Kon” (Mon-Khmer), “Fingers;” (English) which would then be “Preamti” (Jaintia) and “Mreamdai” (Mon-Khmer) and finally, “Toes” (English), which would then be “Preamjat” (Jaintia) and “Mreamcheung” (Mon-Khmer). (CNE NEWS).
These relations are the few traces of our past that one can study and verify. These words are studied after years of interaction with other languages, cultures, dialects, and ethnicities. It is to assume, nay to say, that the Khasi language in itself is a marker of diversity, it is not merely of one kind, but a kaleidoscope of several centuries of co-existence between diverse cultures that eventually formed a whole of itself.
It is important to articulate our histories and our origins, to know where we have come from and to see our folklore with a little more nuance than we already do. It is also important that we know our people and their early histories in order to protect our heritage and to carry on more than just language but all the stories that have made our culture as our own.
CITATIONS: ● CNE NEWS. “Khmer Cousins? The Khasi People Of Meghalaya.” Community Events, https://cne.wtf/2020/12/13/khmer-cousins-the-khasi-people-of-meghalaya/. ● Haokip, T. “Northeast India: Linguistic Diversity and Language Politics.” https://idsa.demosl-03.rvsolutions.in/system/files/OcassionalPaper5.pdf. ● Kharkongor, Glennn. “Where did the Khasi people come from? Genetics tell the Story.” The Shillong Times, Where did the Khasi people come from? Genetics tell the Story. ● Kumar, Vikrant. “Asian and non-Asian origins of Mon-Khmer- and Mundari-speaking Austro-Asiatic populations of India.” Academia,
