tise on the language; for this students are referred to the
excellent grammar compiled by the Rev. H. Roberts.

_The Article_.--There are four articles in Khasi; three in the
singular, _u_, (masculine), _ka_ (feminine), and _i_ (diminutive of
both genders); and one in the plural for both genders, _ki_.

All Khasi nouns take a pronominal prefix to denote the gender,
i.e. the third personal pronoun, _u_ (masculine), _ka_ (feminine), _i_
(diminutive). The great majority of inanimate nouns are feminine, and
all abstract nouns. The sun (day), _ka sngi_, is feminine, the moon
(month), _u b'nai_, is masculine. Sometimes the word varies in meaning
according to the gender, e,g. _u ngap_, a bee; _ka ngap_, honey.

_Genders_.--Names of mountains, stones, plants, fruits, stem, and
the moon, are masculine, e.g.:--

_U kyllang_, the Kyllang rock.
_U mawlein_, quartz.
_U phan_, potato.
_U soh niamtra_, orange.
_U'lur duti_, the morning star.
_U'tiw kulap_, rose.
_U b'nai_, the moon.

Names of rivers, lakes, books, places, the sun, and' all abstract
nouns are feminine, e.g.:--

_Ka wah_, river.
_Ka nan_, lake.
_Ka kitap_, book.
_Ka Shillong_, Shillong.
_Ka sngi_, sun
_Ka jingsneng_, advice.

The article _i_ is used either as a diminutive, as _i khunlung_,
a baby, or for denoting endearment, as _i mei_, mother.

_Number_.--_U, ka_, and _i_ stand for the singular number, e.g. _u
khla_ (a tiger), _ka khoh_ (a Khasi basket), _i khun_ (a child). _Ki_
is the sign of the plural, as _Ki maw_, the stones. _Ki_ in some few
instances is used honorifically, as _ki Siem_, the king, _ki kthaw_,
the father-in-law.

_Cases_ are eight in number, and are denoted by prefixes. The
declension of the noun _lum_ (hill) is given below by way of example:--

Singular. Plural
Nominative _u lum_ _ki lum_
Accusative _ia u lum_ _ia ki lum_
Instrumental _da u lum_ _da ki lum_
Dative _ia, ha_, or _ia, ha_, or
_sha u lum_ _sha ki lum_
Ablative _na u lum_ _na ki lum_
Genitive _jong u lum_ _jong ki lum_
Locative _ha u lum_ _ha ki lum_
Vocative _ko lum_ _ko phi ki lum_

The sign of the genitive case, _jong_, is sometimes omitted for the
sake of brevity, e.g. _u ksew nga_ (my dog) for _u ks