ASSEB HSLC First Language Khasi (MIL) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Theme in Khasi prose

The central abstract idea a story explores, such as clan loyalty, land loss or religious change. Support it with at least one quoted incident from the text.

Narrative voice

The perspective from which a story is told, first person 'nga' or third person. Identifying it explains what the reader can and cannot know.

Characterisation by action

Revealing personality through what a character does and says rather than through labels. Cite two actions before claiming a trait.

Jingmut versus jingshisha

Jingmut is opinion or interpretation; jingshisha is fact or report. Questions about a writer's purpose often require separating the two.

Oral-tradition framing

Use of folktale openings, proverbs or phawar-style rhythm inside written Khasi prose, signalling a communal rather than individual narrator.

End-rhyme scheme

The pattern of rhyming line endings in a stanza, conventionally written aabb or abab. Scan aloud to detect it in Khasi verse.

Simile in Khasi

An explicit comparison using a comparison word, linking two unlike things to sharpen an image. Contrast with metaphor, which asserts identity directly.

Nature imagery as symbol

Hills, rivers, rain and seasons in Khasi poetry frequently stand for homeland, longing or faith rather than literal landscape.

Refrain

A repeated line or phrase in a poem, usually marking lament or emphasis. Note what stays fixed and what changes around it.

Tone justification

Naming the emotional quality of a poem and supporting it with the exact word or image that produces that feeling, not merely asserting it.

Personification of nature

Giving human qualities to natural elements such as the hill or the river, a common device in Khasi lyric poetry.

Plot timeline

A chapter-by-chapter list of main events and their causes, used to answer rapid reader recall and sequence questions accurately.

Main plot versus subplot

The central conflict against a secondary storyline. Examiners often ask how the subplot reinforces the main theme.

Motive question

A 'why did the character act' item answered from stated or clearly implied reasons in the reader, not from guesswork.

Closed resolution

An ending where the conflict is settled and loose ends tied. Contrast open endings, which leave questions for the reader.

Khasi plural marking

Plurality is shown by preposed particles such as 'ki' rather than by a suffix attached to the noun itself.

Tense marker 'la'

A preverbal particle signalling past or completed action in Khasi, corresponding roughly to English simple past or present perfect.

Tense marker 'yn'

A preverbal particle marking future time in Khasi. It precedes the verb and has no separate English-style auxiliary.

Progressive 'dang'

A preverbal particle showing ongoing action, equivalent to English '-ing' progressive forms such as 'is reading'.

Negation with 'ym'

'Ym' placed before the verb negates a Khasi sentence. The particle 'em' is a standalone negative answer, not a sentence negator.

Relative markers uba/kaba/kiba

Particles introducing relative clauses and agreeing with the head noun: 'uba' masculine singular, 'kaba' feminine singular, 'kiba' plural.

Adjective position

In normal Khasi order the adjective follows the noun it modifies, while numerals and classifiers precede the noun phrase.

Argumentative essay frame

Introduction stating a clear position, body paragraphs with one reason each, a counter-argument paragraph, then a conclusion restating the stand.

Khasi connectors

Linking words such as 'nalor kata' (besides), 'hynrei' (but), 'kumta ruh' (therefore) and 'hadien kata' (after that) that organise paragraphs.

Formal letter layout

Address, date, salutation, body, closing and signature in fixed positions. Register differs from informal letters in vocabulary and contraction use.

Verb-initial emphasis

Khasi often fronts the verb or predicate for emphasis, so literal English word order produces awkward, unidiomatic Khasi prose.

Idiom translation rule

Idioms are non-compositional, so render the whole expression by its equivalent in the target language rather than translating each word.

Transliteration of names

Personal and place names are carried across in sound, not meaning: Shillong remains Shillong in an English translation.

Classifier numerals

Khasi pairs numerals with classifier words, so a phrase like 'ar tylli' corresponds to the plain English numeral 'two'.

Back-checking a translation

Comparing the finished target text against the source clause by clause to confirm nothing was dropped and register is preserved.

Vocabulary in context

Deciding a word's meaning by substituting each option into the original sentence and keeping the one that preserves sense.

Inference answer pattern

State the textual clue, then the conclusion drawn from it, using the form 'because the passage says X, it follows that Y'.