The closest relatives of Khasi are the other languages in the Khasic group of the Shillong Plateau; these include Pnar, Lyngngam and War.

[1] Khasi has been an associate official language of some districts within Meghalaya since 2005, and as of 2012, was no longer considered endangered by UNESCO.

[5] A sizeable number of books have been published in Khasi, including novels, poetry, religious works, school textbooks and non-fiction.

The most famous Khasi poet is U Soso Tham (1873–1940),[6] whose death is commemorated annually as a regional holiday in the state of Meghalaya.

Khasi has significant dialectal variation, and this presents a challenge with regard to classifying the Khasic languages.

They are distinct enough from Standard Khasi to be sometimes considered separate languages,[9] with Bhoi sometimes classified as intermediate between Khasi and Pnar,[citation needed] and Nonglung being part of Mnar,[citation needed] variously classified as a type of War or of Pnar.

[citation needed] This section discusses mainly the phonology of Standard Khasi as spoken in and around the capital city, Shillong.

The Welsh missionary, Thomas Jones, arrived in Sohra on June 22, 1841, and proceeded to write down the local language in the Latin script.

[13][14][15] In 2017, it was reported that there is evidence of an undeciphered script, currently stored at the Kamarupa Anusandhan Samity Library in Guwahati, Assam, that is considered to be Khasi in origin.

[16] Khasi is an Austroasiatic language and has its distinct features of a large number of consonant conjuncts, with prefixing and infixing.

The order of elements in a Khasi noun phrase is (Case marker)-(Demonstrative)-(Numeral)-(Classifier)-(Article)-Noun-(Adjective)-(Prepositional phrase)-(Relative clause), as can be seen from the following examples: artwotylliCLkiPLsimbirdar tylli ki simtwo CL PL bird'two birds'katothat:FEMkaFEMkyntheigirlkabaFEM-relativewancomemynninyesterdaykato ka kynthei kaba wan mynninthat:FEM FEM girl FEM-relative come yesterday'that girl who came yesterday'kaFEMkmiemotherjongofphiyouka kmie jong phiFEM mother of you'your mother'Khasi has a pervasive gender system.

Khasi appears to have a well-developed group of prepositions, among them The following are examples of prepositional phrases: kaFEMkmiemotherjongofphiyouka kmie jong phiFEM mother of you'your mother'uMASCslaprainuMASCtherpournafromkaFEMbnengskyu slap u ther na ka bnengMASC rain MASC pour from FEM sky'Rain poured from the sky.

Khasi has a passive, but it involves removing the agent of the sentence without putting the patient in subject position.

Compare the following active-passive pair (Roberts 1891) where the patient continues to have accusative case and remains in the object position: KiPLdangcontintháwbuildïaACCkaFEMïinghousedawithkiPLdieng..woodKi dang tháw ïa ka ïing da ki dieng..PL contin build ACC FEM house with PL wood'They are building the house with wood.

'This type of passive is used, even when the passive agent is present in a prepositional phrase: LaPASTlahPFVpyniapkillïaACCkaFEMmasicowdabyU Míet.U‍ MietLa lah pyniap ïa ka masi da {U Míet}.PAST PFV kill ACC FEM cow by {U‍ Miet}'The cow was killed by U Miet.

Phin shim ka khoh, Til?Wh-questions don't involve moving the wh-element: uMASCleitgoshaei?whereu leit shaei?MASC go whereWhere is he going?

'Subordinate clauses follow the main verb that selects them (Roberts 1891:169): NgaItipknowbathatphiyoulaPASTlehdoiaACCkata.thatNga tip ba phi la leh ia kata.I know that you PAST do ACC that'I know that you have done that'Relative clauses follow the nouns that they modify and agree in gender: KaFEMsamla kyntheigirlka-baFEM-relativewancomemynhynninyesterdaykaFEMlaPASTiáp.dieKa {samla kynthei} ka-ba wan mynhynnin ka la iáp.FEM girl FEM-relative come yesterday FEM PAST die'The girl who came yesterday has died.

The reduced form of the word is still understood by its context of usage and since its last inner syllabus and letters (i.e. rhyme) are always preserved.

(Jinis 1 jong ka Jingpynbna-Ïar Satlak ïa ki Hok Longbriew-Manbriew) Assamese script যা কি বৃনৰ‌্যের বাৰহ লা খা লাচলোছ বাড কী যৰূঙ্কট হা কি বুৰম বাড ক হক.