We at Cherrapunjee Holiday
Resort have been observing the tourism scenario in and
around Cherrapunjee and in the state of Meghalaya as a whole.
Tourism is still at its nascent stage here.
It has been our endeavour to use the abundant tourism
potential of the place as a vehicle for ushering in development in a
way that the benefits percolate to the people inhabiting the place
and the disadvantages are kept to the minimum. One of our initiatives has been to introduce in our brochures
some useful Khasi words and a guide to pronounce local names
correctly that a tourist might find it handy to use.
The response of the tourists has proven it to be a successful
experiment.
The thinking behind this initiative
is that language opens up hearts.
A tourist when he or she tries to talk a few words of the
local language in any part of the world, see the total change coming
over the person addressed to. You
pass on a vibe that very often strikes an emotional chord in the
respondent. You make yourself welcomer and the person addressed to
becomes more receptive and is more eager to help you.
The service provider is encouraged to give you better service
while enjoying the act of giving the service itself and the tourist
feels well taken care of and the feel good factor helps him or her
to have a great holiday in the host country or amidst the hosts.
This in a way helps in building brotherhood and better
understanding in the world.
We appreciate that in a country
like India, with hundreds of languages, it may be impossible for
anyone to know a few words of all languages especially for a tourist
sojourning for a short while. That
is why we have kept only a few words here for making your attempt
easy and successful. The
easy part of Khasi language is that the script used is Roman
alphabets; so, go and give a try please and note the difference.
Take out a print of these words as a handy reference.
Some
Useful Khasi Words
| Khublei (khu-blei) |
|
is ‘Kyrkhu U Blei’ in Khasi and
means ‘God Bless’.
Greeting
equivalent to Good Morning,
Good Afternoon, Good Evening |
Phi long kumno?
In short it is also used as “Kumno?” |
|
How are you? |
| Nga khlain |
|
I am fine. |
| Kumne |
|
Short form response to ‘Kumno?’
meaning ‘like this’. |
| Um |
|
Water |
| Ja |
|
(cooked) rice |
| Dohkha (doh-kha) |
|
fish (meat) |
| Dohsyiar (doh-syiar) |
|
chicken (meat) |
| Dohsniang (doh-sni-ang) |
|
pork
|
| Dohblang (doh-bl-ang) |
|
mutton
|
| Jyntah (jyn-tah) |
|
dish (meat/vegetable) |
| Jhur (jh-ur) |
|
vegetable
|
| Dai |
|
dhal / lentils |
| Mluh (ml-uh) |
|
salt
|
| Duna (du-na) |
|
less
|
| Sohmynken (soh-myn-ken) |
|
chilly
|
| Ai biang seh |
|
Please give again (serve again). |
| La biang |
|
enough |
| Ai um seh |
|
Please give water. |
| Ai ja seh |
|
Please give food (rice). |
| Ai jyntah seh
- |
|
Please give (side dish) vegetable /
meat. |
| Ai aiu? |
|
Give what? |
| Ai kwai seh |
|
Please give ‘kwai’. |
| Aiu? |
|
What? |
| Mynno? |
|
When? |
| Hangno? / Shano? |
|
Where? |
| Kumno? |
|
How? |
| Khublei shibun. |
|
Thank
you very much. |
| Thiah suk. |
|
Good Night. |
| Kumno ngan leit sha Ward’s Lake? |
|
How do I go to Ward’s Lake? |
|
Katno ka dor une / kane?
(une is masculine gender,
kane is feminine gender
and ine is neutral gender) |
|
What is the price of this? |
| Leit suk. |
|
Happy Journey. |
| Reply is “Shong suk.” |
|
Literal meaning is “Stay
happy.” |
|
|
|
Numerals
| 1 – wei |
10 – shiphew |
100 – shispah |
|
|
| 2 – ar |
20 – arphew |
200 – arspah |
|
|
| 3 – lai |
30 – laiphew |
300 – laispah |
|
|
| 4 – saw |
40 – sawphew |
400 – sawspah |
|
|
| 5 – san |
50 – sanphew |
500 – sanspah |
|
|
| 6 – hynriew |
60 – hynriewphew |
600 – hynriewspah |
|
|
| 7 – hynńiew |
70 – hynńiewphew |
700 – hynńiewspah |
|
|
| 8 – phra |
80 – phraphew |
800 – phraspah |
|
|
| 9 – khyndai |
90 – khyndaiphew |
900 – khyndaispah |
|
|
| 10 – shipew |
100 – shispah |
1000 – shihajar |
|
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Tips
to pronounce some Khasi names correctly
Umiam
-
Um-iam
Mylliem -
Myl-liem
Umtyngar -
Um-tyn-gar
Mawkdok -
Maw-kdok
Umdiengpoh -
Um-di-eng-poh
Ladmawphlang
-
Lad-maw-ph-lang
Sohrarim -
Soh-ra-rim
Mawmihthied -
Maw-mih-th-ied
Laitryngew -
Lait-ryn-gew
Nohkalikai
- Noh-ka-li-kai
Mawsmai -
Maw-smai
Nohsngithiang -
Noh-sngi-thi-ang
Thangkharang
-
Thang-kha-rang
Kynrem
-
Kyn-rem
Daińthlen -
Daiń-thlen
Mawmluh -
Maw-mluh
Laitkynsew -
Lait-kyn-sew (sew pronounced as save)
Mawjymbuin -
Maw-jym-bu-in
Kshaid
-
Ksh-aid ( a in aid pronounced as aah)
Krong Krong -
Kr-ong Kr-ong
Arwah
-
ar-wah
Wah Kaba -
Wah Ka-ba
Latara bad Iap Khnai- La-ta-ra bad (pronounced ‘bud’) iap
kh-nai
|
