Linguistic Awareness Among the Khasis

Citation preview

Linguistic Awareness Among the Khasis

by

Sylvanus Lamare

A Dissertation Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirement of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Khasi

To

NORTH-EASTERN HILL UNIVERSITY SHILLONG - 793 014

1997

North - Eastern Hill University Mayurbhanj Complex,Noi.athyminai, Shillong- 793014 ( Meghalaya) Dr. M. B. Jyrwa Reader Department of Khasi

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify

that Shri Sylvanua Lamare had

worked and completed his Ph.D. thesis entitled "LINGUISTIC AWARENESS

AMONG

THE

KHASIS" under

the supervisorship

of

Late Professor H. W. Sten. Under the circumstances of the sudden demise of Professor H.W. Sten, I have been made the Joint Supervisor. I certify that the thesis contains his original findings and it has not been published or submitted to any University for any degree. I consider it worthy for the award of Ph.D. Degree.

SHILLONG THE il^

(M. B. Jyrwa) Joint Supervisor NOVEMBER 1997

r %,

y /^ ^

y "cs in the oourt of the Akademi are equal with Kli iM r Ii, I anil Oaio in terms of standard and level of •'ml. Wo know of the "-tatus of Khasi already; j hhp" .wni (i.iio will be subjects up to the MA level ' fH>ni ijif i.i n flc.idemtc session of the North Eastern liiil UniM-i, Assembly on'April 12,1995 gavp an accouQttoftM ^' book production in Khasi as far as the Oo^epifaien^ ' ' could collect as on that date stated th& step^lji'lh^ '^'goal. Here is an excerpt from the replytJ-beiieVei^ei'' ^ Government meant well: s '• • ^Vt •**•'«'*/, f.^^ ' To accomplish this task, Government could p^f^fijm \ (recourse to Article 345 which, read With Artiwers.the Stat^^MCi^ r,ernmenf to officially 'recognize'/any,^Jart^ ^ guage/languages u.sed in the State. , ^ ' • '' f^>^V ^"^ ' ' The Minister saw it clearly that the 'questiotii t. "'involves policy decision, and perhaps, legisl^lloli;.Jr*^ I wiH be decided upon by the Government"^ "^^€1^'^ i As a follow'Up action, the Government of t^ijh^t \ laya notified the constitution of the State AHntA^'toi i Literature, Fine Arts and Performing Arts on Augu ' 4.1995. Thti scope of the State Akademi is wide'^ Jow IS an excerpt from the notification: / i i^^^ ' The .scope ot the Akademi would extend tor **^{J*J|^:J 1 (a) To advise in formulation policy in incorporating in the Schedule to the Constitution, > v '!' \ (b) The formation ot strategies and progranum; fur' \ nromotion of fine arts, f6lk arts and crafts etc. ',-'„ M , (c) Formulation of strategies and programme fqi"". promotion, preservation, documentation, traioing>amI I propagation of music, dance and drama etc.' '/''^'.^ * ' The demand for recognition has taken both'V« and lateral forms. , •,. - ^V?^'^; " t ' l %i>

VOL VII NO. 57 He or languages to be used for all or any of | • the ofTiclal purposes of the Slate". Here "in > McglMrfaya, Hindi ranrtot be made an ofllcialj language. Therefore, by implication only.l Khasi and Garo could be made so. Since, w«| have not done so all these years, the provlEO? of this Article still serves the purpose though' not so well. Not so well V inough many of us had ' education In English, and have not experienced any disadvantage, the majority of our people does not understand our pre.scnt ofll-

' cial language.'Secondly, a poor state U k ^ Meghalaya. will be relieved ta a {preat txttat^ . of the burden of financing (in lac't Bubeldiz^.J \ Ing) the cost of production of^Khaiil'txiokf^J ^ There will be standard* laid down.t^e^'thel ^Stthitya Akademi for all literatures 'ln-,theople's Union Is' alncei^e \ > enough to its resolution, and exploit the is;- | sue m all the seven district* with 'fUtlherl support to its resolution, a sort of revolution *^w 1,^. belicVe. nqt think, that no actiqh ha^ jbcmmt I Pfc^ideot,. • 'V '" '- - V ^ . f ^ . , L.leithertheKASnorthe^asiI>qF«rttneiitof^EHr'' ^ ; involved by Desmond i,.. KharmAwphlang w a ^ b ^ ^.-jIndian Uleratuie by the AkademliTne'metnb(»fjjepK^f^pgn ^ n g Meghalaya in the AkadenU raised the Issue of reCQg«^ f f niiion in the laittwo.sessions of the Alfadoni'ftG^nca^^ piCouncil.'.\'''^ '-' .' >t-yi long already know this by now. What the people should keep in mind however, is that recognizing a language by the Sahitya Akademi does not mean that it enters in the Eight Schedule of our Con* stitution.l^e\enhe\ess it has a lot to do with linguistic and literary pursuits through Khusi and once recognized by the Sahitya Akademi, the language is equal with all other languages of India in literary importance. Khasi has been taught ia the primary schools of Alexander B.Lish in the Bengali script since 1831 -32. From 1842 to date the position in the present four districts of Meghalaya is as follows: a medium in (a) primary schools, (b) middle English schools, (c) honours level, and (d) M.A. and M. Phil level of the Khasi Department, NEHU. As a subject it is taught since 1900, at the high school and college levels. It was a political move which made Assamese supersede Khasi in 1960. Assamese, by virtue of the Assam Offi'Ual Language Act (1960), got a place both in the Sahitya Akademi and the Eight Schedule. If Khasi is now given recognition by the Akademi, Kliasi writers will get vaiious benefits from New Delhi in the form of awards seminars, workshops, symposia, through which they can interchange views with other writers of different languages.

190

Getting a representative of our liking and choice in the Akademi is different from getting a member of Parjliament, who makes promises only in hfc election manifesto. But all the same, the representative has got to have a lot of cooperation from this promise maker for after all, he can be instrumental when it comet to a political decision. Therefore whilejexpecting a lot from the representative to the Akademi we must also remember that he needs a good deal of support from people that count like the four members of Parliament (including Dr B.B. Dutta) from the state. It is hoped then that in New Delhi he is not left in the lurch by these influential political leaders but is ^iven what help he needs, for lobbying i$ an art that demands number. Q

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A?'- . Meghalaya can take recourse to article 345 of the Constitution of, be two such Sabhas. KAS can India. The article opens scope to ' function in respect of Khasi, and the Assembly to declare by an we wait for Garo scholars to oract that Khasi will be ofllcial ganize one and we channelize language in the p.esen' four dis- funds to them according to Rules tricts of the stale, and Garo in to be framed by the Government the other three. The term is "as- ne of the then • the issue in'l,9KKv'lnMi Khasi language. Mr Peter Khasi weekly, Hatenvm, said thati', ^various' organisutioitftTjn... G.Marbaniang, the Congress (I~i if elected he would speak in the ^ the Khasi Students' Unio%(IC${ candidate who carried the day, in Khasi language at the Lok Sabha. took up'the issue veheme,(^tl^ his Letter to the voters of the i i)yW,ii Shillong Parliamentary Constituency (m Khasi) wrote:"Katto katne tylli na ki kam kiha nga kham thrann ban The demand for the rccogni-,, .' • The Khasi languagj^^Jjip^Ji pyndep ki long " tion of the Khasi Language actij- ' . recognised by atleast four u/ityjd "Ban ioh kajingithuh (recog- ally came about with need so ex- sities: " Calcutta, ''Cai;|iaH nition) ia ka ktien Khasi. Halor pressed and pursued by the Khasi Dibrugarh and NEHU has i^adiq kane ka kam, ngan sa ia kren bad Authors Society as far back as rapid progress in the recent pas^ ki bar kiha iadei kynthup ia ka 1973 when the question of rec- . This can be seen froimhenumb Suliitya Akademi bad ngan sa ognising the Khasi language as of books brought out annuall^'i^ ia .syiiok fang ruh liad ki Seng one of the literary languages of' ^the Khasi language! In 1989;/q Nonv,tlwhkot Khasi ki (b) don ha India came under the considera- instance, around 70 such boonil rijong ngr. tion of the Akademi. Subse- • were released. Of thesis, 40 tit^ffl This in brief means that some quently, the Executive Board of were novels and fiction8,V7''vol3 of the few works that be ;,hall try the Sahitya Akademi constituted umes of poetry and other subjectsj to do IS to get recognition for the a Committee of experts to study including literary critici^mt'dr^ Khasi language. On this matter, the question. This Committee did I mas, translations etc, •*"'»'E*^fs;^ the MP affirmed that he would visit Shillong with its departure. One of the interesting deve^^.

Pascal Malngiang

195

i

oks brought out in other dia- kind of optimism is the nomin^J lects like the PnafmA the Bhoi. ^ tion of Prof. H.W, Stcn as a meovj The development in these two, • bcr of theSabityaAkademi ftom4.S of the Constitution of India " This is the fact from records for the citizens of Mcghalaya, especially the Khasis (Jaintias included) and the Garos The KAS IS a registered body We note, therefore, that while

Ihe KAS does not demand for the inclusion of Khasi in the Xth, Schedule it proceeds in a constitutional manner, especially when we refresh our memory that Manipuri. Nepali and Konkanesc cnlered in the Xth Schedule after the Manipur Assembly, the Sikkim Asseinbl> and the Goa A'scmbly had adopted those languages in their respective stales.?^ It must be noted also that Manipuri was recognized b\ the Sahil\a Akadcmi immediately aficrlhc Asscmbl> look step under aiiicic U.S ihoiigh the listing in Ihe 8lh Schedule was delayed for \ cars

The Implications The implications of taking legislative measure under article ?>4?> are spelt out already b>' Court decisions in respect of some other languages which were made associate official languages of the states after 1930. Nevertheless. 1 venture lo undcrtiikc an academic exercise for a belter opinion to come out. First. Soon after the Assembly of our state shall have taken measure under the article Meghalaya shall have four olTicial languages This is c.sactly what was intended by the makers of our Constitution. It docs not mean that we have to trasnslatc all letters from one language to the other three. The four languages 1 mentioned refer strictly to (i) Hindi, (ii) English, (iii) Khasi, and (iv) (Jaro. It docs not also mean that Garo and Khasi ', should be used in Courts of j higherjurisdiction under articles i

197

^i48 and U9. nor docs il mean that all laws need lo be (ranslalcd inio Kliasi and Ciaro, since English IS sill! Ihe binding force of India at the intellectual level Al ilic administralivc level Khasi lias since (he British regime lx;cn the language used "for official purposes'" in the present four districts of Mcghalaya and Garo 111 tlie present llircx districts riie s/rt/z/s qui) has been maintained without the force of law lake Kliasi as an example lo real I'c what I asserted This language has been in use in all ihecouilsof llic.SV;t'/;/.s. the !.\n{i(/i>h\ and traditional rulers in Khasi Hills, and when such courts as village courts sent reports to higher authorities, they used Khasi in Jaintia Hills also I he language has lx;en used in the Christian churches since the lime of Thomas Jones Tins is true Willi Garoalso I he first implication is, therefore, thai the use. of these language need legislatnc measures for their use for "ofTicial pur|X)ses" of Mcghalaya. Tlie phrase "by law"" w Inch appears twice in arlicic T4'i jxuntstosuch step. It does not mean also thai "proceedings done in English will be iinalid" according to Court decision in Dayabhai \TS Natuarlal, \'-)fil M PI The ruling has not been reviewed yet So, Megliah^a docs not have problems on this count Second II docs not also mean that we lia\ e lo teach all the subjects in Kliasi and Garo in Mcghalaya I he status quo shall con-

tinue Steps under article "^45 does not e\cn demand that the languages should be media of educations. Referring to this question is not necessary; because history has a ready made answer Khasi has been the medium of instruction al school levels since (he lime of Alexander Lish( 18.11-.!«). and Garo since 189"! prior Ic which the Garos were taught in Bengali since 1826 when David Scott opened one school at Singimari (its nev* nameisHallidavganj) MiltonS. Sangiiia has devoted chapters II.Ill and IV of his History of Education in Garo Hills(1985) lo the progress of education among the Garos. For those who imdcrst;ind only English, or with Khasi. a chapter. "Education and Social Change" in Khasi Poctrj: Origin and Development (1990) will give more information Fear of extra expenditure on the part of the stale exchequer should not have any mansion in any mind. We want a status for Khasi and Garo in our state since we arc in majority We continue to use English (and when we can. Hindi) for purposes specified by article 345, 346 and 347 of our Constitution. It is hoped that our law makers leali/c the implication of article .'47, and come together to formalize the use of Khasi in the present four districts and Garo in the three districts of the state siriclly within the letters and spirit of article 345.

apphira Daily News L

Vol. I No. 247 - Shillong, Saturday, April I, 1995

198

Nominal inorphologji ofKhasi H.W.Stenj

eciorious Marwcin, Ms. Aiuoincllc j tKhannaIki and Ms. Aniilalin Myrthong have studied the verbal morphology of Khasi to a preat cxiciil. Of the three uholars, Marwcin published his work, Ki Verb Khnsi (1990) Myrthong's research work, "I'he .Structure of Khasi Verbs" i.s still in the finalisation process. ' Hvidcnlly, the scholars look may theoretical statement that Khasi is a icnscless language. \l IS tmic now to direct our alicntion U> nominal , morphology. Wc cati designate the topic ,>s "Noun ' morphology" also when we take into consideration • that Pronoun represents a Noun; but because it is a possible to consider Pronouns also in the same excr- * cisc, the topic is given the present caption. 'Ihis will h«w that itouns-.uf W stract notioh expand (or branch) to the left b/.t^itigl the prefix jing-which has no mcanipg of its oWniJO can safely add that affixaimii makes mo>t nounn-! Khasi. . . • - . ' • , ' :.%i, 1 apologize if I have failed to mention this nattii% of Khasi notms in my previous works both in'.Bnfi glish and Khasi, especially, if 1 happened lo $tress;oi^ dr,rivation from other word clas.sei. Wha| I have'Xflt! add is this : without the word ka otheb like baip, dih), hit, wan, iap, itn, thiah, dcin cannot be nouns; because, they are verbs. We have such nouns in Khasi by mA ing ArrWhat is ka in this context? Well, it is an article] which marks on noun. So, when used in sentcncetri ka should be made to mtroducc nouns like thqse^ listed in (9) above though the presence of jing-'as a , bound morpheme.marks in most cases that they arel nouns ' '^ ,

199

(!()) K.I h.inijH

(Slice.lis rice) ({])K.iJihum

[

(She drinks water) (12) U Ictt -.Iwong , '

In the constructs like (10) to (13) all ihc roots in (9) arc verbs Such corpora have led us. to draw an imperfect conclusion that Khasi nouns of abstract notion are derived Irorn verbs when we now find that they dcuve from their fellow nouns also. Wc have to see more (14) K^ jingpynsltlur Jang phi k« pynJaiig briew 1.1 ngn U 'I iic cncour4gcment of you the made man of mc (You encouragement has made n)c a man). In our specimen sentence jingpynshlur is a noun of abstract notion. It deserves to be analysed. (15) .s/i/ur (Adjective ; courageous) pyriKhlur (Causative verb : encourage) jingshlur (Noun : courage) jiiifipynshlur (Noun : encouragement). I hough we believe that wc understand the derivalion.il morphology of Khasi nouns, the Appeal to allixation should reveal the problem in its true sense : the problem is that what is correct in one Ian-/ guage IS not always correct in another. ' " \ (16) courage - root (N) courageous - rool+suffi derived from N (Adjective) encourage - prefix plus root (CV) encouragement - prcf+rooi+suffix (N). What wc note is clear: In khasi the root is an adjective whereas in Hnglish it is a noun. A theory , cnicigcs : Khasi nouns of abstract notion derive from | .'idiectivcs iilso ' "5

If there is anything common to both languages,""' we can siiivey that commonness also. First, ;ouragcoiis and encourage answer to Khasi shIuT and • pynfhltir respectively. Second, both the verbs are derivative. 'I lie points of difference must alii< be noted. IMISI, the root in Khasi is an adjective while coinage, our root in Hnglish js a noun. Second, there is no suflix in the Khasi equivalent of encourage- ^ mcnt Third, the jingpyn!>hluT in (15) above has Prcl-*-lnf+rot)t as its affixational structure, bound+bouiul+free as its morphemic structure. To see that in hnglish, UK), an infix is serviceable, we may appeal to cnlighlcimient, and segment it to'affixational , slrucllirc

root(N.v,Adj.) '•'•^'Fr:i§

root^+suffiX (CVOdcrJ riveS frpm Adj.) • v , ^ ' ^ prcfrt-root+suff ix; (CV^Iilcw* r nvedfroinN).;';#^|| enlightenmeni pref+rool+inrix+Sufnc(NJ^ What we observe shows thai Ihc -ten'^whijh'i^m^ suffix in enhtthten become an infix bccaust-'lt ^ M ^ ^ be fixed in between one morpheme and fa^gUi^^f^ While this could, perhaps, be cunsidercci f>yi/n (cloth) root (N) \ Jainsem ( N ) • jainkup -(N) We do have many material nouns of this natuk« tn^ Khasi; but I have been holding the.view that ihosei nouns were given suffixes because of frequency of. use. A Theory : any phrase which is used frequently: gets contracted. Therefore, I do not accept thai such^ nouns take .si,ffixes, (hat is, m the true sense. • '^ 1

200

Wc may observe Ihc nature of Khasi prunbtink . also, since pronouns stand for nouns. ' ' I (23) nga (I) . ' ' ]' ngan(l will) „' . ngam (I will not) ',. Will we add -n, apd -m, to all pronouns, we get a\ real suffix, thouf h in each case of one letter each. '. Numberless, perhaps ' '» , I^t us observe ' ^ i (24) Singular Plural English •'^" briew bnew man - men icsew, " ksew dog - dogs "', huk

huk

hook - hooks

'

•

•/

The noun huk is bonowcd from English. Khasi' noun docs not have number. It has number markertij - (NM). When more than one noun ii referred to wc ^ have Jti (ihcy) like ki briew (persons), Jti ksew (dogs),'' ki ksew (dogs), ki huk (hooks). For exact number, ) the admi analogy ijpplies. From what we have ob- • served, we can say that Khasi has many function words (FW) which has not been studied. * (Dr. H.W. Sten is Professor and Head, Ocpait^'mcnt of Khasi, NEHUO • ''

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GUARDIA^ THE MEGHALAYA4^

VOL VI HO. 310 5^ r|llt>Ay • NOVtMBIR M,4«ff9

201

T

ate Academy has Wide Scope

heI formation formation of of thp the Stat,. State Arademy for Literatuie, Fine Arts and Peiforming Alls" was nolided by the Government ul Meghalaya in the Depaitment of Arts and Culture oil August 4 This academy has been given powers to spread its activilk's 111 iiioic tasks lliaii one. An exceipi from the notification will clarify what the matter IS about The first few lines read: The Go vei nor of Meghalaya • is pleased to constitute a "State Academy for Literature, Fine Alts and Performing Arts'' to ' advise on indigenous language development, promotion of fine arts in Ihe state and to maintain liaison with the Sahitya Academy, and Sangeet Natak Akademi at national level. The scope of the Academy would extend to: (a) To advice in formulating policy in the matter of develop- . mcnt ol Khasi and Garo languages in the matter of jetting iccogmlion in Sahitya Akadiirii and incoipoiadng in the 8lh Schedule ol the Constitution. (b) The formulation of strategies and programme for promotion ol line arts, folk arts and cialls etc (c) Formulation of strategies and programme of promotion, preservation, documentation, training and propagation of music, dance and drama etc. Two meetings were held belore the nolilication was publisheil The Inst one was presided by the Minister for Arts and Culture. Mr C B Mniak The second iiiecling was held at (he

" ., officers' level. After the draft notification was approved, it was sent to the Minister. T he notification say,s clearly . rtiat the headquarters of the Academy is Shillo.ig. Ucsides tlie functions as spelt out above, the Academy has been empowcied by the Government , of Meghnlaya to "extend special ; invitation to eminent persons representing these three fields of ' activities" and to makes rules,, regulations and byelaws I'or the , approval of the Government. The wordings arc clear 'that the Government of Meghalaya in the department of Arts and Cul- " ture under the care of Mr '•• C.B.Marak will guide, control,. , « finance and ensure that Khasi and i_ Garo will get a place in the list of literary languages of the country. In so far as the target for con- \ vincing Parliament to include j these languages in the eighth,^ schedule to our Constitution, the Academy has beeii assigned ad- '5 vi.sor^ powers. These-powers shoW that the present Government does not like to rush to a

region where even the angels fear ^ to tread. It wants to invplyc other J I experts than those iiv Us com-^ mand. Experts in political s c P ^ ence could advise us on w'hethcr| or not this is a democratic prin/T ciplc, which I believe it is. I wish to be proved, as I always did,^ wrong. '.), ..-jr}-;, Our Minister C.B'.Marak'] should be remembered for longi and should get a name in the his-^' tory of Khasi and Garo languages.'^ forhisunderstandingof theapa-J thy of the Sahitya Akademi in i recognizing Khasi language^ which has been in its.court:for>j twenty years now. ' N -.-- 'V"^J It appears from the notifica-4 'tion that the present AtSadcmy 4 will have four officials, and eighth non-officials, perhaps, till the *, byelaws are framed and approve^ by the Government of Megha-' laya. • ''] Under the leadership of Mr, C.B.Murak< the present Academy; is sure to succeed. We believe, that he got the approval of Mrj S.C.Marak for the steps taken! i otherwise the Governor Jacob' would have found it impossible to notify the constitution of the" Academy.a " " • ' " •'

apphira^

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Daily News Volln*^

- S^^,ill„„B, Wc, ' •'''/S (3) It lends and borrows^. A language which i«J used fot official smd TcUgioui ptsTpoiet V^dt ,»,{tw | x^ords or more to other language^ which borrow. Tb«, < borrowers take from the lenden moitly noutia.Vj V'^^l (4) It is long suffering. It suffers in the hand* o H native writers and of non-natives who talk about it. / Language like English has suffered most in lbe.wi$-3 dom and writings of traditional grammariat)i'whoi followed cither Greek or Latin grammar books. < By'| now many must have heard of structural, generative, •} transformational, case, and stratificational grammars to ^ name only a few. Only a language which is dead; that | is out of use, could be considered to have « final ;^, grammar. We cannot rule out the possibility o f the'^1 coming out of many new grammatical theories even J during our own life time. •' ''.i • "^'"^^^

Khasi language It is not easy to trace the origin of the Khasi lani.,'^ guage. The success or failure of a researcher to do so'Ij depends on proofs. Proving a question like the origipjs of the Khasi language which had literature only i n t h e ^ I9th century and of other languages which had liter-^"* atures touch later is time consuming. Though |ram our part as language teachers, we prefer linguistic d^' . for interpretation through in-depth analysis which i p ^ volves comparison, historical, cultural and m y t h i ^ ; data are sure to strengthen linguistic daU. Scbolawl, from western countries maintained that Khasi belopgti , to the Austric family of languages which is'veiy clos^^: > to the languages of the Mons and the Khmers, So,f«v^ no linguist from amongst the Khasis has been^de^ia ; puted to the F-ast to collect information and to,'en»'X lighten us on the hypothesis. When we rely on the bld''^ works, we miss many things whicl) a meaningful re-/.^ search demands. P R T Gordon relics on a secondary. ?^ • source and listed a number or words which have the t same meaning as those spoken in the Khasi^and :fi Jaintia Hills. ' , J I maintain that all languages have origins some* '^ where. Khasi must have originated from.the original homes of the users which is subject to research study. '"'^

203

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I grant that myths strive especially in poetry and fiction. Fable has something of its own: it conveys a moral lesson directly. One popular myth among the Khasis says that the , people came down from heaven. We have such • , myth in the hill area of Manipur, in Assam about the ascendance of the Ahom Kings and elsewhere which points to the divine origin of man; and if we subscribe to such myth, all languages of the world were given by God. the Creator himself. The Hebrews have it on record thnt languages multiplied when the children of • men built the lower of Babel to reach heaven. From , such account, we now have a phrase like 'Babel of tongues'. Soso Tham sings about a language origi- . nally understood by men, animals and all other creatures of God. In one of his scanty prose works he amuses us when he writes .hat such a language wasKhnsit Here is my translation of the operative sentences. It wai in that fair that man introduced Such a language. In that fair birds and animals forgot their own . languages. All spoke Khasi fluently as the nations of the world communicate m English. - "K.I lew Lunlura' Tham refers to the myth of animal fair which is still popular among the Khasis. I invoke him to invite more information about the origin of other languages according to myths. It is not intended to encroach on the tcmtoncs of the anthropologists and sociologists ' who have their own methods. Development > Development can have more meanings than one. It could mean an increase in the number of languages ' out of Khasi. Of this I cannot speak with confidence because my theory is: dialectal variations depend to a > great extent ort two factors. Fu-st, geographical situation. It is possible that people living in plains speak , faster than those who live in the hills. Second, human j design for survival. In term of survival people modi- *' fied and even inverted the words in a sentence. If we accept a theory that the Khasis came from the east, they mii";l have settled in the land now known as Jainlm Hills. Let us take the case oi inversion first if the fore-parents came from the Cast through Burma. (1) Kulci kynthai House female (Mnrc) (m many villages of Jaintia Hills) (2) Pyrthm ihymmei World new (New Wprld). Of difference in origin and geographical situation , we can take at least three specimens for further study. (3) Stone ' Maw (Standard Khasi) Moo (Pnar) Chmia (War Jaintia) (4) Bread Kpu (Khasi)

J',' —""iTi ^''^-rTji

Tpu (Pnar) Twcw (War Jaintia) (5) Door , Dwiir (Khasi) ' •/war(Pnar) ''y'' Shalo (Jirang) ' • I use the phrase further study for it reaio4%J hold valid till new light dawns. In the ^ u t th^«re^ people who got the names like Risng (ipe}ling night' be Wreang), could the people of Jirang have b e ^ pt that stock? I am aware of the existence of a olaif,j^f4 ten Wrcaug (Riang) in Khasi HiUt. Without ntearcb'^ study, any conclusion runs a risk of being reje^ied,.' \ Similarly, it is risky to conclude that the people we call! War (both in Khasi and Jaintia Hills) came from-the« Wa tribe in the east. I bring these Riang and Wa V\}S(n focus because future research may get a hint..'j'^4X*4/&|^ In tenns of Creoles and dialects Khasi hat a wide | scope for linguistic researchers. ^Researchers can.i study the War and Lyngngam for Creoles. I am sure, >\ their findings will be interestmg. I must reiterate that'' for communication all use standard Khasi; thelan^A* guage or literature. ' > - " • ' ; i ,>t"f It must have been known to non-Khasi readers-^ also that Roman script is the graphic substance of the "'' Khasi language. If it has developed in this sense also,')^) I could only record that William Carey used the Ben^ j gali script before Thomas Jones introduced the,pre'| sent script in his schools and books. A myth which is, still in circulation speaks of the lost-book''or| manuscript of the Khasis when one scholar longtime) ago swallowed his book while swimming or cn$s($rig' a sea of river. Another account says that the scljola^l dropped it while swimming. These are accounts of thej 1 past for which we do not have proof. We' will do.broi)crly and cxciiHcs arc few and can be dismissed by facts and ligurcs. So the academic exercise which has started since 1975 seems to give way lo a political one. That both the moves could go side by side; the s t u d e n t s , teachers, and organizations could be well advised to have a meaningful dialogue with the stale government. While itis constitutionally tri'e lo depend on the Government of India and fight a political battle; It would have been easier to take the state government meaning the ruling conglomeration In Meghaiaya into confidence. The leaders In the ruling group wlU be remembered for- long If they care to use their constltullonal authority. They can lor instance resolved that Wiasi is an associated official language of the state in respect of the Kliasl and Jalntia Hills districts (four In all), and Garo for the three distilcts of the-erstwhile Garo HlU district. The Government can also take a step which will last for ever. A bill can })C brought in the AriMcmbly iiinking Khasl and Gaio as ulllclal languages of Meghaiaya In addition to lingllsh. This will pave the way to both types of recognition. And no ministry can fail in this matter If such step Is taken. Weaklings may think that asking for recognition of languages will divide Meghaiaya; but our formula will rather make \he future generations remember any ministry with gratitude. Will a resolution or a bill to this elfect be introduced In the assembly ? Waiting for too long a tlrne to act always leads lo frustration. Apathy of the authorities and frustration of the masses were responsible for iiroblems like the ones we experience In Assam, Punjab and Nagaland. It Is time that we prevent 11 by positive step. And the present niinisUy In Meghaiaya must not fail even In this respect.

207

Khasi Language at the National level vis a vis the Sahitya Akademi

By Dr. R. S. Lyngdob. Member, Sahilya Akademi.

A r i o s e look at " A Select Bibliography" of books wriUcn in Indiim Languafrcs published by the Registrar-General of Census Oper-cUion, Government of I n d i a in 1961 clearly indicates that Khasi language has the richest collection of all types of literature among all the I n d i a n languages which are not emunerated in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of I n d i a . But till that time there h a d been no attempt to project this language to the national arena. I t was only during the seventies that such sincere attempt was made. I was selected as a member of the Sahitya Akademi (National Academy of Letters) late in 1972. I took the earliest 0|^portunily to move the following resolution at the meeting of the General Council of the Akademi on the 16th February 1973 :— "Whereas Khasi language wa.s recognised by the Calcutta University upto Degree standard as early as 1919, the same year that Assamese language was recognised by the same University u p t o the same standard ; whereas the G a u h a t i University, the D i b r u garh University and the Gambridge University have accorded similar recognition to that language ; whereas Khasi literature has reached more or less the same level of development as other I n d i a n languages; whereas Khasi literature is the richest a m o n s the tribal literatures ; whereas Khasi language is one of the richest among the Austro-Asiatic group of languages ; whereas Khasi language

is spoken by more than one-half of the people of the State of Mcghalaya ; whereas the said. language has produced great men of literature whose literary stature compares favourably with other great writers of the Country ; ' ' " ' And, whereas the basic a i m of the N a tional Academy of letters is 'to work actively for the development of I n d i a n letters a n d to set a high standard, to poster and Co-ordinate literary activities in all the I n d i a n languagtis* and that the Sahitya Akademi has power to recognise any other Indian languages whic^ are not enumerated in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India ; This General Council of the Sahitya Akademi meeting t o d a y , the 16th February 1973 at R a b i n d r a Bhavan do hereby resolve to recognise Khasi languagfe for all intents and purposes of the Sahitya A k a d e m i . " Besides the a b o v e resolution, I also furnished my answers to the five criteria laid down by the Akademi for consideratioii whether any language fulfills them o r not. It is better to r e p r o d u c e t h e m verbatim. ' "'• Question 1.

Whether structurally the Khasi Language is an independent language or is part of a system of a ^tvet^ language. ' ' ''

Answer: T h o u g h the Khasi r a c e has b e e n j ^ t l p , known outside t h e scheduled confines of" j};S hills, the Khasi language has an ancient lipfff' age, being a branch of the great Austroasiatic

lansjLiasTc, w'licli, .iccordiuij to accounts, sprcul from Central Asia through the Southcast Asia and and even dawn to M