Assamese (), also Asamiya ( ), is an
Indo-Aryan language
The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...
spoken mainly in the north-east Indian state of
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, where it is an official language, and it serves as a ''
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
'' of the wider region. The easternmost
Indo-Iranian language
The Indo-Iranian languages (also Indo-Iranic languages or Aryan languages) constitute the largest and southeasternmost extant branch of the Indo-European language family (with over 400 languages), predominantly spoken in the geographical subre ...
, it has over 23 million speakers.
Nefamese
Nefamese or ''Arunamese'' is a pidgin of Arunachal Pradesh (formerly NEFA), India. Its classification is unclear; ''Ethnologue'' states that it is based on the Assamese language, but also that it is most closely related to the Sino-Tibetan Ga ...
, an Assamese-based
pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...
, is used in
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...
, and
Nagamese, an Assamese-based
Creole language
A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. ...
, is widely used in
Nagaland
Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...
. The
Kamtapuri language
Rangpuri is an eastern Indo-Aryan language of the
Bengali-Assamese branch, spoken in northern West Bengal, western Goalpara of Assam in India and Rangpur Division in Bangladesh. Many are bilingual in Bengali and Assamese in their respecti ...
of
Rangpur division
Rangpur Division ( bn, রংপুর বিভাগ) is one of the Divisions in Bangladesh. It was formed on 25 January 2010, as Bangladesh's 7th division. Before that, it was under Rajshahi Division. The Rangpur division consists of eight di ...
of Bangladesh and the
Cooch Behar
Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in the ...
and
Jalpaiguri
Jalpaiguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is loca ...
districts of India are linguistically closer to Assamese, though the speakers identify with the Bengali culture and the literary language. In the past, it was the court language of the
Ahom kingdom from the 17th century.
Along with other
Eastern Indo-Aryan languages
The Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Māgadhan languages, are spoken throughout the eastern Indian subcontinent (East India and Assam, Bangladesh), including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bengal, Tripura, Assam, and Odisha; alongs ...
, Assamese evolved at least before the 7th century CE from the middle Indo-Aryan
Magadhi Prakrit
Magadhi Prakrit (''Māgadhī'') is of one of the three Dramatic Prakrits, the written languages of Ancient India following the decline of Pali and Sanskrit. It was a vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan language, replacing earlier Vedic Sanskrit.
Hist ...
.
Its sister languages include
Angika
Angika (also known as ''Anga'', ''Angikar'' or ''Chhika-Chhiki'') is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken in some parts of the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand, as well as in parts of Nepal.
It is closely related to languages such as Mai ...
,
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
,
Bishnupriya Manipuri
Bishnupriya Manipuri, also known as simply Bishnupriya, is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Bengali–Assamese languages, Bengali–Assamese linguistic sub-branch. It is a creole language, creole of Bengali language and Meitei languag ...
,
Chakma,
Chittagonian,
Hajong,
Rajbangsi,
Maithili,
Rohingya
The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...
and
Sylheti
Sylheti may refer to:
* Sylhetis, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group in the Sylhet division and South Assam
* Sylheti language, a language of the Sylheti region
* Sylheti Nagri
Sylheti Nagri or Sylheti Nagari ( syl, , ISO: , ), known in cla ...
. It is written in the
Assamese alphabet
The Assamese alphabet ( as, অসমীয়া বৰ্ণমালা, ''Oxomiya bornomala'') is a writing system of the Assamese language and is a part of the Bengali-Assamese script. This script was also used in Assam and nearby reg ...
, an
abugida
An abugida (, from Ge'ez language, Ge'ez: ), sometimes known as alphasyllabary, neosyllabary or pseudo-alphabet, is a segmental Writing systems#Segmental writing system, writing system in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as units; ...
system, from left to right, with many
typographic ligature
In writing and typography, a ligature occurs where two or more graphemes or letters are joined to form a single glyph. Examples are the characters æ and œ used in English and French, in which the letters 'a' and 'e' are joined for the first li ...
s.
History
![East-magadhan-proto-languages](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/East-magadhan-proto-languages.png)
Assamese originated in
Old Indo-Aryan
The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...
dialects, though the exact nature of its origin and growth is not clear yet. It is generally believed that Assamese and the
Kamatapuri lects derive from the
Kamarupi dialect of Eastern
Magadhi Prakrit
Magadhi Prakrit (''Māgadhī'') is of one of the three Dramatic Prakrits, the written languages of Ancient India following the decline of Pali and Sanskrit. It was a vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan language, replacing earlier Vedic Sanskrit.
Hist ...
["Dr. S. K. Chatterji basing his conclusions on the materials accumulated in LSI, Part I, and other monographs on the Bengali dialects, divides Eastern Mag. Pkt. and Ap. into four dialect groups. (1) Raddha dialects which comprehend Western Bengali which gives standard Bengali colloquial and Oriya in the South West. (2) Varendra dialects of North Central Bengal. (3) Kumarupa dialects which comprehend Assamese and the dialects of North Bengal. (4) Vanga dialects which comprehend the dialects of East Bengal (ODBL VolI p140)." ] though some authors contest a close connection of Assamese with Magadhi Prakrit. The Indo-Aryan, which appeared in the 4th-5th century in Assam,
was probably spoken in the new settlements of
Kamarupa
Kamarupa (; also called Pragjyotisha or Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa), an early state during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was (along with Davaka) the first historical kingdom of Assam.
Though Kamarupa prevailed from 350 to 11 ...
—in urban centers and along the Brahmaputra river—surrounded by Tibeto-Burman and Austroasiatic communities. Kakati's (1941) assertion that Assamese has an
Austroasiatic
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The te ...
substrate is generally accepted – which suggests that when the Indo-Aryan centers formed in the 4th-5th centuries CE, there were substantial Austroasiatic speakers that later accepted the Indo-Aryan
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
.
["While Kakati's assertion of an Austroasiatic substrate needs to be re-established on the basis of more systematic evidence, it is consistent with the general assumption that the lower Brahmaputra drainage was originally Austroasiatic speaking. It also implies the existence of a substantial Austroasiatic speaking population till the time of spread of Aryan culture into Assam, i.e. it implies that up until the 4th-5th centuries CE and probably much later Tibeto-Burman languages had not completely supplanted Austroasiatic languages." ] Based on the 7th-century Chinese traveler
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
's observations, suggests that the Indo-Aryan vernacular differentiated itself in
Kamarupa
Kamarupa (; also called Pragjyotisha or Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa), an early state during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was (along with Davaka) the first historical kingdom of Assam.
Though Kamarupa prevailed from 350 to 11 ...
before it did in Bengal, and that these differences could be attributed to non-Indo-Aryan speakers adopting the language. The newly differentiated vernacular, from which Assamese eventually emerged, is evident in the
Prakritisms present in the Sanskrit of the
Kamarupa inscriptions
The Kamarupa inscriptions are a number of 5th-century to early 13th-century rock, copper plate and clay seal inscriptions associated with the rulers and their subordinates of the Kamarupa region. The common language of these inscriptions is Sansk ...
.
Magadhan and Gauda-Kamarupa stages
The earliest forms of Assamese in literature are found in the 9th-century Buddhist verses called
Charyapada
The Charyapada (IAST: Caryapāda, Assamese language, Assamese/Bengali language, Bengali: চর্যাপদ) is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantra, tantric tradition in ...
the language of which bear
affinities with Assamese (as well as Bengali and Odia) and which belongs to a period when the Prakrit was at the cusp of differentiating into regional languages. The spirit and expressiveness of the ''Charyadas'' are today found in the folk songs called ''Deh-Bicarar Git''.
In the 12th-14th century works of Ramai Pundit (''Sunya Puran''), Boru Chandidas (''Krishna Kirtan''), Sukur Mamud (''Gopichandrar Gan''), Durllava Mullik (''Gobindachandrar Git'') and Bhavani Das (''Mainamatir Gan'') Assamese grammatical peculiarities coexist with features from
Bengali language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...
. Though the Gauda-Kamarupa stage is generally accepted and partially supported by recent linguistic research, it has not been fully reconstructed.
Early Assamese
A distinctly Assamese literary form appeared first in the 13th-century in the courts of the
Kamata kingdom
The Kamata Kingdom (pron: ˈkʌmətɑ) emerged in western Kamarupa probably when Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupanagara, moved his capital west to Kamatapur sometime after 1257 CE. Since it originated in the old seat of the Kamarupa kingdom, a ...
when Hema Sarasvati composed the poem ''Prahrāda Carita''. In the 14th-century,
Madhava Kandali
Kaviraja Madhava Kandali ( as, মাধৱ কন্দলি) (circa. 14th century) was an Indian poet from the state of Assam. He is one of the renowned poets pertaining to the Pre- Shankara era. His Saptakanda Ramayana is considered the earl ...
translated the
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
into Assamese (
Saptakanda Ramayana ''Saptakanda Ramayana'' (Assamese: সপ্তকাণ্ড ৰামায়ণ) is the 14th-15th century Assamese version of the ''Ramayana'' attributed to the famous assamese poet Madhava Kandali. It is considered to be the second translati ...
) in the court of
Mahamanikya
Mahamanikya (also Manikpha) was a Borahi-Kachari king of Barāha: "It may also be noted that the Assamese rendition of the Ramayana (next only to Kampana’s Tamil to be rendered to a modern Indian language) by Madhab Kandali in the 14th centur ...
, a
Kachari king from central Assam. Though the Assamese idiom in these works are fully individualised, some archaic forms and conjunctive particles too are found.
This period corresponds to the common stage of
proto-Kamta and early Assamese.
The emergence of
Sankardev
Srimanta Sankardev( শ্ৰীমন্ত শংকৰদেৱ )(; ; 1449–1568) was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of im ...
's
Ekasarana Dharma
Ekasarana Dharma (literally: ''Shelter-in-One religion'') is a neo-Vaishnavite monolithic religion propagated by Srimanta Sankardeva in the 15th-16th century in the Indian state of Assam. It reduced focus on vedic ritualism and focuses on d ...
in the 15th-century triggered a
revival in language and literature. Sankardev produced many translated works and created new literary forms—''
Borgeet
Borgeets ( as, বৰগীত, lit=songs celestial, translit=Borgeet) are a collection of lyrical songs that are set to specific ragas but not necessarily to any tala. These songs, composed by Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhavdeva in the 15th- ...
s'' (songs), ''
Ankia Naat
Ankia Naats ( as, অংকীয়া নাট) are a class of one act plays performed in Assam, India. The invention of the Ankia Naat is usually attributed to the medieval saint and social reformer Srimanta Sankardeva. These plays were writt ...
'' (one-act plays)—infusing them with
Brajavali
Brajavali ( Assamese: ''Brôzawôli'') was a literary language used by Sankardev (1449–1568) for some of his compositions (Borgeets and Ankia Naats) in the context of his Vaishnavite religion, Ekasarana Dharma, in Assam. Though similar langua ...
idioms; and these were sustained by his followers
Madhavdev
Madhavdev (1489–1596) (Pron: ˈʃrɪ ˈʃrɪ ˈmɑ:dəbˌdeɪv) is an important preceptor of the Ekasarana Dharma known for his loyalty to his guru, Srimanta Sankardev as well as his artistic brilliance. Initially a sakta worshipper, he was ...
and others in the 15th and subsequent centuries. In these writings the 13th/14th-century archaic forms are no longer found. Sankardev pioneered a prose-style of writing in the ''Ankia Naat''. This was further developed by
Bhattadeva
Bhattadeva (1558–1638)( অসমীয়া: বৈকুণ্ঠনাথ ভাগৱত ভট্টাচাৰ্য), (Baikunthanatha Bhagavata Bhattacharya) is acknowledged as the father of Assamese prose. Though ''Bhaktiratnakar-kat ...
who translated the
Bhagavata Purana
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...
and
Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...
into Assamese prose. Bhattadev's prose was classical and restrained, with a high usage of Sanskrit forms and expressions in an Assamese syntax; and though subsequent authors tried to follow this style, it soon fell into disuse.
In this writing the first person future tense ending ''-m'' (''korim'': "will do"; ''kham'': "will eat") is seen for the first time.
Middle Assamese
The language moved to the court of the
Ahom kingdom in the seventeenth century,
["Incidentally, literate Ahoms retained the Tai language and script well until the end of the 17th century. In that century of Ahom-Mughal conflicts, this language first coexisted with and then was progressively replaced by Assamese (Asamiya) at and outside the Court." ] where it became the state language. In parallel, the proselytising
Ekasarana dharma
Ekasarana Dharma (literally: ''Shelter-in-One religion'') is a neo-Vaishnavite monolithic religion propagated by Srimanta Sankardeva in the 15th-16th century in the Indian state of Assam. It reduced focus on vedic ritualism and focuses on d ...
converted many Bodo-Kachari peoples and there emerged many new Assamese speakers who were speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages. This period saw the emergence of different styles of secular prose in medicine, astrology, arithmetic, dance, music, besides religious biographies and the archaic prose of magical charms.
Most importantly this was also when Assamese developed a standardized prose in the
Buranji
Buranjis (Ahom language: ''ancient writings'') are a class of historical chronicles and manuscripts associated with the Ahom kingdom written initially in Ahom Language and later in Assamese language as well. The Buranjis are an example of histor ...
s—documents related to the
Ahom state dealing with diplomatic writings, administrative records and general history.
The language of the Buranjis is nearly modern with some minor differences in grammar and with a pre-modern orthography. The Assamese plural suffixes (''-bor'', ''-hat'') and the conjunctive participles (''-gai'': ''dharile-gai''; ''-hi'': ''pale-hi'', ''baril-hi'') become well established.
The Buranjis, dealing with statecraft, was also the vehicle by which Arabic and Persian elements crept into the language in abundance.
Due to the influence of the Ahom state the speech in eastern Assam took a homogeneous and standard form. The general
schwa deletion
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English ...
that occurs in the final position of words came into use in this period.
Modern Assamese
The modern period of Assamese begins with printing—the publication of the Assamese Bible in 1813 from the
Serampore Mission Press
The Serampur Mission Press was a book and newspaper publisher that operated in Serampur, Danish India, from 1800 to 1837.
The Press was founded by William Carey, William Ward, and other British Baptist missionaries at the Serampur Mission. It b ...
. But after the British
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
(EIC)
removed the Burmese in 1826 and took complete administrative control of Assam in 1836, it filled administrative positions with people from Bengal, and introduced
Bengali language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...
in its offices, schools and courts. The EIC had earlier promoted the development of Bengali to replace Persian, the language of administration in Mughal India, and maintained that Assamese was a dialect of Bengali.
Amidst this loss of status the
American Baptist Mission
International Ministries is an international Baptist Christian missionary society. It is a constituent board affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. The headquarters is in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States.
History
The so ...
(ABM) established a press in Sibsagar in 1846 leading to publications of an Assamese periodical (''
Orunodoi
''Orunodoi'' or ''Arunodoi'' (Assamese language, Assamese: অৰুণোদই, English language, English: "Sunrise") was the first Assamese-language magazine published monthly from Sibsagar, Assam, in 1846. The magazine created a new era in ...
''), the first Assamese grammar by
Nathan Brown (1846), and the first Assamese-English dictionary by
Miles Bronson
Miles Bronson (1812–1883), was one of the first American Baptist Churches USA, American Baptist missionaries who worked in the state of Assam in northeastern India.
Mission Work
Assam
Bronson arrived at Sadiya in Assam on July 8, 1838. Previo ...
(1863).
The ABM argued strongly with the EIC officials in an intense debate in the 1850s to reinstate Assamese. Among the local personalities
Anandaram Dhekial Phukan
Anandaram Dhekial Phukan ( as, আনন্দৰাম ঢেকিয়াল ফুকন ; 1829–1859) was one of the pioneers of Assamese literature in the ''Orunodoi'' era who joined in the literary revolution initiated by missionaries. H ...
drew up an extensive catalog of medieval Assamese literature (among other works) and pioneered the effort among the natives to reinstate Assamese in Assam. Though this effort was not immediately successful the administration eventually declared Assamese the official vernacular in 1873 on the eve of Assam becoming a
Chief Commissioner's Province
Chief Commissioner's Province refers to middle-level and minor type of provinces of India and in the post-colonial successor states, not headed by a ( lieutenant-)governor but by a Chief commissioner, notably :
* in present India :
** Chief Commi ...
in 1874.
Standardisation
In the extant medieval Assamese manuscripts the orthography was not uniform. The ABM had evolved a
phonemic orthography
A phonemic orthography is an orthography (system for writing a language) in which the graphemes (written symbols) correspond to the phonemes (significant spoken sounds) of the language. Natural languages rarely have perfectly phonemic orthographi ...
based on a contracted set of characters. Working independently
Hemchandra Barua
Hemchandra Barua ( as, হেমচন্দ্ৰ বৰুৱা; ''Hêmsôndrô Bôruwa''), also known as Hem Barua was a prominent writer, social reformer of Assamese of the 19th century. He hailed from Sibsagar District of Assam. His fat ...
provided an etymological orthography and his etymological dictionary, ''
Hemkosh
Hemkosh ( as, হেমকোষ, ) is the first etymological dictionary of the Assamese language based on Sanskrit spellings, compiled by Hemchandra Barua. It was first published in the early 20th century under the supervision of Capt. P. R. G ...
'', was published posthumously. He also provided a Sanskritised approach to the language in his ''Asamiya Bhaxar Byakaran'' ("Grammar of the Assamese Language") (1859, 1873). Barua's approach was adopted by the ''
Oxomiya Bhaxa Unnati Xadhini Xobha
Axomiya Bhaxa Unnati Xadhini Xobha ( as, অসমীয়া ভাষা উন্নতি সাধিনী সভা, en, Assamese Language Development Society) was a lite organization formed on Saturday 25 August 1888 (1810 Saka). It is ...
'' (1888, "Assamese Language Development Society") that emerged in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
among Assamese students led by
Lakshminath Bezbaroa
'
Lakshminath Bezbarua (, 14 October 1864), was an Assamese poet, novelist and playwright of modern Assamese literature. He was one of the literary stalwarts of the Jonaki Era, the age of romanticism in Assamese literature when through his e ...
. The ''Society'' published a periodical ''
Jonaki'' and the period of its publication, ''Jonaki era'', saw spirited negotiations on language standardization. What emerged at the end of those negotiations was a standard close to the language of the Buranjis with the Sanskritised orthography of Hemchandra Barua.
As the political and commercial center moved to
Guwahati
Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...
in the mid-twentieth century, of which
Dispur
Dispur (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Assam and is a suburb at Guwahati.
It became the capital in 1973, when Shillong the erstwhile capital, became the capital of the state of Meghalaya that was carved out of Assam.
Dispur is the ...
the capital of Assam is a suburb and which is situated at the border between the western and central dialect speaking regions, standard Assamese used in media and communications today is a neutral blend of the eastern variety without its distinctive features. This core is further embellished with
Goalpariya and
Kamrupi idioms and forms.
Geographical distribution
Assamese is native to
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
. It is also spoken in states of
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...
and
Nagaland
Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...
. The Assamese script can be found in of present-day
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
. The
Pashupatinath Temple
Pashupatinath Temple ( ne, श्री पशुपतिनाथ मन्दिर) is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, and is located in Kathmandu, Nepal.
This temple was classified as a World Heritage Site in 1979. This "extensive ...
in
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
also has inscriptions in Assamese showing its influence in the past.
There is a significant Assamese-speaking diaspora worldwide.
Official status
Assamese is the
official
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...
language of Assam, and one of the 22
official languages
An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
recognised by the
Republic of India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The Assam Secretariat functions in Assamese.
Phonology
The Assamese phonemic inventory consists of eight
vowel
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
s, ten
diphthongs
A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
, and twenty-three
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...
s (including two
semivowel
In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel, glide or semiconsonant is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as the nucleus of a syllable. Examples of semivowels in English are the ...
s).
[Assamese](_blank)
, Resource Centre for Indian Language Technology Solutions, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati.
Consonant clusters
Alveolar stops
The Assamese
phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...
inventory is unique in the group of
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...
as it lacks a dental-retroflex distinction among the
coronal stops as well as the lack of postalveolar affricates and fricatives. Historically, the
dental and
retroflex
A retroflex ( /ˈɹɛtʃɹoːflɛks/), apico-domal ( /əpɪkoːˈdɔmɪnəl/), or cacuminal () consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the ha ...
series merged into
alveolar stops. This makes Assamese resemble non-Indic languages of
Northeast India
, native_name_lang = mni
, settlement_type =
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, motto =
, image_map = Northeast india.png
, ...
(such as
Austroasiatic
The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The te ...
and
Sino-Tibetan languages
Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...
). The only other language to have fronted retroflex stops into alveolars is the closely related group of eastern
dialects
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
of
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
(although a contrast with dental stops remains in those dialects). Note that is normally realised as or as a
retroflex approximant
The voiced retroflex approximant is a type of consonant used in some languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r\`. The IPA symbol is a turned lowercase lett ...
.
Voiceless velar fricative
Assamese is unusual among Eastern Indo-Aryan languages for the presence of the (it varies between velar () and a uvular () pronunciations, depending on the speaker and speech register), due historically to the MIA sibilants'
lenition
In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them more sonority hierarchy, sonorous. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronic analysis, s ...
to (initially) and (non-initially). The use of the voiceless velar fricative is heavy in the eastern Assamese dialects and decreases progressively to the west—from
Kamrupi to eastern
Goalparia, and disappears completely in western Goalpariya. The change of to and then to has been attributed to Tibeto-Burman influence by
Dr. Chatterjee.
Velar nasal
Assamese,
Odia
Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to:
* Odia people in Odisha, India
* Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family
* Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...
, and
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
, in contrast to other
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...
, use the
velar nasal
The voiced velar nasal, also known as agma, from the Greek word for 'fragment', is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is the sound of ''ng'' in English ''sing'' as well as ''n'' before velar consonants as in ''Englis ...
(the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
''ng'' in ''sing'') extensively. In many languages, while the velar nasal is commonly restricted to preceding
velar
Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (known also as the velum).
Since the velar region of the roof of the mouth is relatively extensive an ...
sounds, in Assamese it can occur intervocalically.
This is another feature it shares with other languages of
Northeast India
, native_name_lang = mni
, settlement_type =
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, motto =
, image_map = Northeast india.png
, ...
, though in Assamese the velar nasal never occurs word-initially.
Vowel inventory
Eastern Indic languages
The Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Māgadhan languages, are spoken throughout the eastern Indian subcontinent (East India and Assam, Bangladesh), including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bengal, Tripura, Assam, and Odisha; alongs ...
like Assamese, Bengali,
Sylheti
Sylheti may refer to:
* Sylhetis, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group in the Sylhet division and South Assam
* Sylheti language, a language of the Sylheti region
* Sylheti Nagri
Sylheti Nagri or Sylheti Nagari ( syl, , ISO: , ), known in cla ...
, and Odia do not have a vowel length distinction, but have a wide set of
back rounded vowels. In the case of Assamese, there are four back rounded vowels that contrast phonemically, as demonstrated by the minimal set: ''kola'' ('deaf'), ''kóla'' ('black'), ''kwla'' ('lap'), and ''kula'' ('winnowing fan'). The
near-close near-back rounded vowel
The near-close near-back rounded vowel, or near-high near-back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some vocal languages. The IPA symbol that represents this sound is . It is informally called "horseshoe u". Prior to 1989, there was ...
is unique in this branch of the language family. But in lower Assam, ও is pronounced same as অ' (ó). ''kwla'' ''mwr''
Vowel harmony
Assamese has
vowel harmony
In phonology, vowel harmony is an Assimilation (linguistics), assimilatory process in which the vowels of a given domain – typically a phonological word – have to be members of the same natural class (thus "in harmony"). Vowel harmony is t ...
. The vowels
and
cause the preceding mid vowels and the high back vowels to change to
and
and
respectively. Assamese is one of the few languages spoken in India which exhibit a systematic process of vowel harmony
Schwa deletion
The
schwa
In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...
in modern Assamese, represented by //, is generally
deleted in the final position unless it is (1) /w/ (); or (2) /y/ () after higher vowels like /i/ () or /u/ (). The final schwa was not deleted in
Early Assamese
Early Assamese ( as, পুৰণী অসমীয়া, translit=Puroni Oxomiya) or Proto-Eastern Kamarupa is an ancestor of the modern Assamese language. It is found in the literature from the 14th century to the end of 16th century in Kam ...
. The initial schwa is never deleted.
Writing system
![Asamiya Rô](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Asamiya_R%C3%B4.png)
Modern Assamese uses the
Assamese script
Assamese may refer to:
* Assamese people, a socio-ethnolinguistic identity of north-eastern India
* People of Assam, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious people of Assam
* Assamese language, one of the easternmost Indo-Aryan language ...
. In medieval times, the script came in three varieties: ''Bamuniya'', ''Garhgaya'', and ''Kaitheli/Lakhari'', which developed from the
Kamarupi script
Kamarupi script (Kamrupi script, ancient Assamese script) was the script used in ancient Kamarupa from as early as 5th century to 13th century, from which the modern Assamese script eventually evolved. In the development of the Assamese script, ...
. It very closely resembles the
Mithilakshar script of the
Maithili language
Maithili () is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of Languages of India, India and Languages of Nepal, Nepal. It is native to the Mithila region, which encompasses parts of the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand as well as Nepal's easte ...
, as well as the
Bengali script
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
. There is a strong literary tradition from early times. Examples can be seen in edicts, land grants and copper plates of medieval kings. Assam had its own manuscript writing system on the bark of the ''
saanchi'' tree in which religious texts and chronicles were written, as opposed to the pan-Indian system of
Palm leaf manuscript
Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia reportedly dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in South Asia and sp ...
writing. The present-day spellings in Assamese are not necessarily phonetic. ''
Hemkosh
Hemkosh ( as, হেমকোষ, ) is the first etymological dictionary of the Assamese language based on Sanskrit spellings, compiled by Hemchandra Barua. It was first published in the early 20th century under the supervision of Capt. P. R. G ...
'' ( ), the second Assamese dictionary, introduced spellings based on
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
, which are now the standard.
In the early 1970s, it was agreed upon that the Roman script was to be the standard writing system for
Nagamese Creole.
Sample text
The following is a sample text in Assamese of Article 1 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...
:
Assamese in
Assamese alphabet
The Assamese alphabet ( as, অসমীয়া বৰ্ণমালা, ''Oxomiya bornomala'') is a writing system of the Assamese language and is a part of the Bengali-Assamese script. This script was also used in Assam and nearby reg ...
:
Assamese in WRA Romanisation
:Prôthôm ônussêd: Zônmôgôtôbhawê xôkôlû manuh môrjyôda aru ôdhikarôt xôman aru sôtôntrô. Têû̃lûkôr bibêk asê, buddhi asê. Têû̃lûkê prôittêkê prôittêkôk bhratribhawê byôwôhar kôra usit.
Assamese in SRA Romanisation
:Prothom onussed: Jonmogotobhabe xokolü manuh moirjjoda aru odhikarot xoman aru sotontro. Teü̃lükor bibek ase, buddhi ase. Teü̃lüke proitteke proittekok bhratribhawe bebohar kora usit.
Assamese in SRA2 Romanisation
:Prothom onussed: Jonmogotovawe xokolu' manuh morjjoda aru odhikarot xoman aru sotontro. Teulu'kor bibek ase, buddhi ase. Teulu'ke proitteke proittekok vratrivawe bewohar kora usit.
Assamese in CCRA Romanisation
:Prothom onussed: Jonmogotobhawe xokolu manuh morjyoda aru odhikarot xoman aru sotontro. Teulukor bibek ase, buddhi ase. Teuluke proitteke proittekok bhratribhawe byowohar kora usit.
Assamese in IAST Romanisation
:Prathama anucchēda: Janmagatabhāve sakalo mānuha maryadā āru adhikārata samāna āru svatantra. Tēõlokara bibēka āchē, buddhi āchē. Tēõlokē pratyēkē pratyēkaka bhrātribhāvē byavahāra karā ucita.
Assamese in the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...
:
Gloss
:1st Article: Congenitally all human dignity and right-in equal and free. their conscience exists, intellect exists. They everyone everyone-to brotherly behaviour to-do should.
Translation
:Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience. Therefore, they should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Morphology and grammar
The Assamese language has the following characteristic morphological features:
* Gender and number are not grammatically marked.
* There is a lexical distinction of gender in the third person pronoun.
* Transitive verbs are distinguished from intransitive.
* The agentive case is overtly marked as distinct from the accusative.
* Kinship nouns are inflected for personal pronominal possession.
* Adverbs can be derived from the verb roots.
* A passive construction may be employed idiomatically.
Negation process
Verbs in Assamese are negated by adding before the verb, with picking up the initial vowel of the verb. For example:
* 'do(es) not want' (1st, 2nd and 3rd persons)
* 'will not write' (1st person)
* 'will not nibble' (1st person)
* 'does not count' (3rd person)
* 'do not do' (2nd person)
Classifiers
Assamese has a large collection of
classifiers, which are used extensively for different kinds of objects, acquired from the
Sino-Tibetan languages
Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...
. A few examples of the most extensive and elaborate use of classifiers are given below:
*"''zɔn''" is used to signify a person, male with some amount of respect
**E.g., manuh-''zɔn'' – "the man"
*"''zɔni''" (female) is used after a noun or pronoun to indicate human beings
**E.g., manuh-''zɔni'' – "the woman"
*"''zɔni''" is also used to express the non-human feminine
**E.g., sɔɹai ''zɔni'' – "the bird", pɔɹuwa-''zɔni'' – "the ant"
*"''zɔna''" and "''gɔɹaki''" are used to express high respect for both man and woman
**E.g., kɔbi-''zɔna'' – "the poet", gʊxaɪ-''zɔna'' – "the goddess", rastrapati-''gɔɹaki'' – "the president", tiɹʊta-''gɔɹaki'' – "the woman"
*"''tʊ''" has three forms: ''tʊ'', ''ta'', ''ti''
**(a) tʊ: is used to specify something, although the case of someone, e.g., loɹa-''tʊ'' – "the particular boy", is impolite
**(b) ta: is used only after numerals, e.g., ɛ''ta'', du''ta'', tini''ta'' – "one, two, three"
**(c) ti: is the diminutive form, e.g., kesua-''ti'' – "the infant, besides expressing more affection or attachment to
*"''kɔsa''", "''mɔtʰa''" and "''taɹ''" are used for things in bunches
**E.g., sabi-''kɔsa'' - "the bunch of key", saul-''mɔtʰa'' – "a handful of rice", suli-''taɹi'' or suli ''kɔsa'' – "the bunch of hair"
*''dal'', ''dali'', are used after nouns to indicate something long but round and solid
**E.g., bãʱ-''dal'' - "the bamboo", katʰ-''dal'' – "the piece of wood", bãʱ-''dali'' – "the piece of bamboo"
In Assamese, classifiers are generally used in the ''numeral + classifier + noun'' (e.g. ejon manuh 'one man') or the ''noun + numeral + classifier'' (e.g. manuh ejon 'one man') forms.
Nominalization
Most verbs can be converted into nouns by the addition of the suffix . For example, ('to eat') can be converted to khaon ('good eating').
Grammatical cases
Assamese has 8
grammatical case
A grammatical case is a category of nouns and noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and Numeral (linguistics), numerals), which corresponds to one or more potential grammatical functions for a nominal group in a wording. In vari ...
s:
Pronouns
m=''male'', f=''female'', n=''neuter.'', *=''the person or object is near.'', **=''the person or object is far.'', v =''very familiar, inferior'', f=''familiar'', p=''polite'', e=''ergative form''.
Tense
With consonant ending verb likh (write) and vowel ending verb kha (eat, drink, consume).
For different types of verbs.
{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" align="center" style="font-size:80%;
, -
!rowspan="2", Tense
!rowspan="2", Person
!colspan="2", tho "put"
!colspan="2", kha "consume"
!colspan="2", pi "drink"
!colspan="2", de "give"
!colspan="2", dhu "wash"
!colspan="2", kor "do"
!colspan="2", randh "cook"
!colspan="2", ah "come"
, -
!+
!-
!+
!-
!+
!-
!+
!-
!+
!-
!+
!-
!+
!-
!+
!-
, -
!rowspan="4", Simple Present
!1stper.
, thow
, nothow
, khaw
, nakhaw ~ nekhaw
, piw
, nipiw
, diw
, nidiw
, dhw
, nudhw
, korw
, nokorw
, randhw
, narandhw ~ nerandhw
, ahw
, nahw
, -
!2ndper.inf.
, thwa
, nothwa
, khwa
, nakhwa ~ nekhwa
, piua
, nipiua
, dia
, nidia
, dhua
, nudhua
, kora
, nokora
, randha
, narandha ~ nerandha
, aha
, naha
, -
!2ndper.pol.
, thwa
, nwthwa
, khwa
, nwkhwa
, piua
, nipiua
, dia
, nidia
, dhwa
, nwdhwa
, kora
, nokora
, randha
, narandha ~ nerandha
, aha
, naha
, -
!2ndper.hon.&3rdper.
, thoe
, nothoe
, khae
, nakhae ~ nekhae
, pie
, nipie
, die
, nidie
, dhwe
, nudhwe
, kore
, nokore
, randhe
, narandhe ~ nerandhe
, ahe
, nahe
, -
!rowspan="4", Present continuous
!1st per.
, thói asw
, rowspan="4", thoi thoka nai
, khai asw
, rowspan="4", khai thoka nai
, pi asu
, rowspan="4", pi thoka nai
, di asw
, rowspan="4", di thoka nai
, dhui asw
, rowspan="4", dhui thoka nai
, kori asw
, rowspan="4", kóri thoka nai
, randhi asw
, rowspan="4", randhi thoka nai
, ahi asw
, rowspan="4", ahi thoka nai
, -
!2ndper.inf.
, thoi aso
, khai aso
, pi aso
, di aso
, dhui aso
, kori aso
, randhi aso
, ahi aso
, -
!2ndper.pol.
, thoi asa
, khai asa
, pi asa
, di asa
, dhui asa
, kori asa
, randhi asa
, ahi asa
, -
!2ndper.hon.&3rdper.
, thoi ase
, khai ase
, pi ase
, di ase
, dhui ase
, kori ase
, randhi ase
, ahi ase
, -
!rowspan="4", Present Perfect
!1st per.
, thoisw
, rowspan="4", thwa nai
, khaisw
, rowspan="4", khwa nai
, pisw
, rowspan="4", pia nai
, disw
, rowspan="4", dia nai
, dhui asw
, rowspan="4", dhwa nai
, korisw
, rowspan="4", kora nai
, randhisw
, rowspan="4", rondha nai
, ahi asw
, rowspan="4", oha nai
, -
!2ndper.inf.
, thóisó
, khaisó
, pisó
, disó
, dhuisó
, kórisó
, randhisó
, ahisó
, -
!2nd per. pol.
, thoisa
, khaisa
, pisa
, disa
, dhuisa
, korisa
, randhisa
, ahisa
, -
!2nd per. hon. & 3rd per.
, thoise
, khaise
, pise
, dise
, dhuise
, korise
, randhise
, ahise
, -
!rowspan="4", Recent Past
!1st per.
, thölw
, nothölw
, khalw
, nakhalw ~ nekhalw
, pilw
, nipilw
, dilw
, nidilw
, dhulw
, nudhulw
, korilw
, nokórilw
, randhilw
, narandhilw ~ nerandhilw
, ahilw
, nahilw
, -
!2nd per. inf.
, thöli
, nothöli
, khali
, nakhali ~ nekhali
, pili
, nipili
, dili
, nidili
, dhuli
, nudhuli
, kórili
, nókórili
, randhili
, narandhili ~ nerandhili
, ahilw
, nahilw
, -
!2nd per. pol.
, thöla
, nothöla
, khala
, nakhala ~ nekhala
, pila
, nipila
, dila
, nidila
, dhula
, nudhula
, kórila
, nókórila
, randhila
, narandhila ~ nerandhila
, ahila
, nahila
, -
!2ndper.hon.&3rdper.
, thöle
, nothöle
, khale
, nakhale ~ nekhale
, pile
, nipile
, dile
, nidile
, dhule
, nudhule
, kórile
, nókórile
, randhile
, narandhile ~ nerandhile
, ahile / ahil
tr
, nahile / nahil
tr
, -
!rowspan="4", Distant Past
!1st per.
, thoisilw
, nothoisilw ~ thwa nasilw
, khaisilw
, nakhaisilw ~ nekhaisilw ~ khwa nasilw
, pisilw
, nipisilw ~ pia nasilw
, disilw
, nidisilw ~ dia nasilw
, dhuisilw
, nudhuisilw ~ dhüa nasilw
, kórisilw
, nókórisilw ~ kora nasilw
, randhisilw
, narandhisilw ~ nerandhisilw ~ rondha nasilw
, ahisilw
, nahisilw ~ oha nasilw
, -
!2nd per. inf.
, thoisili
, nothóisili ~ thwa nasili
, khaisili
, nakhaisili ~ nekhaisili ~ khwa nasili
, pisili
, nipisili ~ pia nasili
, disili
, nidisili ~ dia nasili
, dhuisili
, nudhuisili ~ dhwa nasili
, korisili
, nokorisili ~ kora nasili
, randhisili
, narandhisili ~ nerandhisili ~ rondha nasili
, ahisili
, nahisili ~ oha nasili
, -
!2nd per. pol.
, thoisila
, nothóisila ~ thwa nasila
, khaisila
, nakhaisila ~ nekhaisila ~ khüa nasila
, pisila
, nipisila ~ pia nasila
, disila
, nidisila ~ dia nasila
, dhuisila
, nudhuisila ~ dhwa nasila
, korisila
, nokorisila ~ kora nasila
, randhisila
, narandhisila ~ nerandhisila ~ rondha nasila
, ahisila
, nahisila ~ oha nasila
, -
!2nd per. hon. & 3rd per.
, thoisile
, nothoisile ~ thwa nasile
, khaisile
, nakhaisile ~ nekhaisile ~ khwa nasile
, pisile
, nipisile ~ pia nasile
, disile
, nidisile ~ dia nasile
, dhuisile
, nudhuisile ~ dhüa nasile
, korisile
, nokorisile ~ kora nasile
, randhisile
, narandhisile ~ nerandhisile ~ rondha nasile
, ahisile
, nahisile ~ oha nasile
, -
, -
!rowspan="4", Past continuous
!1st per.
, thoi asilw
, thoi thoka nasilw
, khai asilw
, khai thoka nasilw
, pi asilw
, pi thoka nasilw
, di asilw
, di thoka nasilw
, dhui asils
, dhui thoka nasils
, kori asils
, kori thoka nasils
, randhi asils
, randhi thoka nasils
, ahi asils
, ahi thoka nasils
, -
!2nd per. inf.
, thoi asili
, thoi thoka nasili
, khai asili
, khai thoka nasili
, pi asili
, pi thoka nasili
, di asili
, di thoka nasili
, dhui asili
, dhui thoka nasili
, kori asili
, kori thoka nasili
, randhi asili
, randhi thoka nasili
, ahi asili
, ahi thoka nasili
, -
!2nd per. pol.
, thoi asila
, thoi thoka nasila
, khai asila
, khai thoka nasila
, pi asila
, pi thoka nasila
, di asila
, di thoka nasila
, dhui asila
, dhui thoka nasila
, kori asila
, kori thoka nasila
, randhi asila
, randhi thoka nasila
, ahi asila
, ahi thoka nasila
, -
!2nd per. hon. & 3rd per.
, thoi asil(e)
, thoi thoka nasil(e)
, khai asil(e)
, khai thoka nasil(e)
, pi asil(e)
, pi thoka nasil(e)
, di asil(e)
, di thoka nasil(e)
, dhui asil(e)
, dhui thoka nasil(e)
, kori asil(e)
, kori thoka nasil(e)
, randhi asil(e)
, randhi thoka nasil(e)
, ahi asil{e)
, ahi thoka nasil(e)
, -
!rowspan="4", Simple Future
!1st per.
, thöm
, nothöm
, kham
, nakham ~ nekham
, pim
, nipim
, dim
, nidim
, dhum
, nudhum
, korim
, nokorim
, randhim
, narandhim ~ nerandhim
, ahim
, nahim
, -
!2nd per. inf.
, thöbi
, nothöbi
, khabi
, nakhabi ~ nekhabi
, pibi
, nipibi
, dibi
, nidibi
, dhubi
, nudhubi
, koribi
, nokoribi
, randhibi
, narandhibi ~ nerandhibi
, ahibi
, nahibi
, -
!2nd per. pol.
, thöba
, nothöba
, khaba
, nakhaba ~ nekhaba
, piba
, nipiba
, diba
, nidiba
, dhuba
, nudhuba
, koriba
, nókóriba
, randhiba
, narandhiba ~ nerandhiba
, ahiba
, nahiba
, -
!2ndper.hon.&3rdper.
, thöbo
, nothöbo
, khabo
, nakhabo ~ nekhabo
, pibo
, nipibo
, dibo
, nidibo
, dhubo
, nudhubo
, koribo
, nokoribo
, randhibo
, narandhibo ~ nerandhibo
, ahibo
, nahibo
, -
!rowspan="4", Future continuous
!1st per.
, thoi thakim
, thoi nathakim/nethakim
, khai thakim
, khai nathakim/nethakim
, pi thakim
, pi nathakim/nethakim
, di thakim
, di nathakim/nethakim
, dhui thakim
, dhui nathakim/nethakim
, kori thakim
, kori nathakim/nethakim
, randhi thakim
, randhi nathakim/nethakim
, ahi thakim
, ahi nathakim/nethakim
, -
!2nd per. inf.
, thoi thakibi
, thoi nathakibi/nethakibi
, khai thakibi
, khai nathakibi/nethakibi
, pi thakibi
, pi nathakibi/nethakibi
, di thakibi
, di nathakibi/nethakibi
, dhui thakibi
, dhui nathakibi/nethakibi
, kori thakibi
, kori nathakibi/nethakibi
, randhi thakibi
, randhi nathakibi/nethakibi
, ahi thakibi
, ahi nathakibi/nethakibi
, -
!2nd per. pol.
, thoi thakiba
, thoi nathakiba/nethakiba
, khai thakiba
, khai nathakiba/nethakiba
, pi thakiba
, pi nathakiba/nethakiba
, di thakiba
, di nathakiba/nethakiba
, dhui thakiba
, dhui nathakiba/nethakiba
, kori thakiba
, kori nathakiba/nethakiba
, randhi thakiba
, randhi nathakiba/nethakiba
, ahi thakiba
, ahi nathakiba/nethakiba
, -
!2ndper.hon.&3rdper.
, thoi thakibo
, thoi nathakibo/nethakibo
, khai thakibo
, khai nathakibo/nethakibo
, pi thakibo
, pi nathakibo/nethakibo
, di thakibo
, di nathakibo/nethakibo
, dhui thakibo
, dhui nathakibo/nethakibo
, kori thakibo
, kori nathakibo/nethakibo
, randhi thakibo
, randhi nathakibo/nethakibo
, ahi thakibo
, ahi nathakibo/nethakibo
, -
Relationship suffixes
{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" align="center" style="font-size:80%;
, -
! Persons !! Suffix !! Example !! English translation
, -
! 1st person
, none
, Mwr/Amar ma, bap, kokai, vai, ba, voni
, My/Our mother, father, elder-brother, younger-brother, elder-sister, younger-sister
, -
! 2nd person
(very familiar; inferior)
, -(e)r
, Twr/Tohõtor mar, baper, kokaier, vaier, bar, vonier
, Your/Your(pl) mother, father, elder-brother, younger-brother, elder-sister, younger-sister
, -
! 2nd person
familiar
, -(e)ra
, Twmar/Twmalwkor mara, bapera, kokaiera, vaiera, bara, voniera
, Your/Your(pl) mother, father, elder-brother, younger-brother, elder-sister, younger-sister
, -
! 2nd person
formal;
3rd person
, -(e)k
, Apwnar/Apwnalwkor/Tar/Tair/Xihotõr/Tewr mak, bapek, kokaiek, bhaiek, bak, voniek
, Your/Your(pl)/His/Her/Their/His~Her(formal) mother, father, elder-brother, younger-brother, elder-sister, younger-sister
Dialects
Regional dialects
The language has quite a few regional variations. Banikanta Kakati identified two broad
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
s which he named (1) Eastern and (2) Western dialects, of which the eastern dialect is homogeneous, and prevalent to the east of Guwahati, and the western dialect is heterogeneous. However, recent linguistic studies have identified four dialect groups listed below from east to west:
* Eastern group in and around the undivided Sivasagar district (
Golaghat
Golaghat ( ''Gʊlaɡʱat'' ) one of the largest subdivisions of the Indian state of Assam, later elevated to the position of a full–fledged district headquarter on 5 October 1987, is a city and a municipality and the seat of administrative ...
,
Jorhat
Jorhat ( ) is one of the important cities and a growing urban centre in the state of Assam in India.
Etymology
Jorhat ("jor" means twin and "hat" means market) means two hats or mandis - "Masorhaat" and "Sowkihat" which existed on the opposite ...
,
Majuli
Mājuli or Majuli () is a river island in the Brahmaputra River, Assam and in 2016 it became the first island to be made a district in India. It had an area of at the beginning of the 20th century, but having lost significantly to erosion it c ...
,
Charaideo
Charaideo or Che-Rai-Doi (Literally: ''the shining city on the hills'' in Ahom language) is a town in Charaideo district, Assam, India and was also the first capital of the Ahom kingdom established by the first Ahom king Chao Lung Siu-Ka-Pha ...
and
Sivasagar
Sivasagar (Pron: or ) ("the sea of Shiva"), is a city in and headquarters of the Sivasagar district, Assam. Sivasagar is situated about 360 kilometers (224 mi) northeast of Guwahati. It is well known for its Ahom palaces and monuments. S ...
) and the former undivided Lakhimpur district (
Dibrugarh
Dibrugarh (pron: ˌdɪbru:ˈgɑ:) is an industrial city in Upper Assam with sprawling tea gardens. It is located 435 kms East from the state capital of Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of Dibrugarh district in the state of Assam in ...
,
Tinsukia
Tinsukia (Pron: ˌtɪnˈsʊkiə) is an industrial town. It is situated north-east of Guwahati and away from the border with Arunachal Pradesh.
It is the administrative headquarters of Tinsukia District of Assam, India.
History
During th ...
,
Lakhimpur and
Dhemaji
Dhemaji (Pron: deɪˈmɑ:ʤi or di:ˈmɑ:ʤi) is a City in Assam and it is the headquarters of Dhemaji district, Assam, India.
Etymology
The district's name ''Dhemaji'' is derived from the Deori word ''Dema-ji'' which means ''great water'' indi ...
. Standard Assamese is based on the Eastern group.
* Central group spoken in
Nagaon
Nagaon (previously Nowgong; Assamese নগাঁও), is a town and a municipal board in Nagaon district in the Indian state of Assam. It is situated east of Guwahati.
History
This division was organised on the both banks of Kalang river by ...
,
Sonitpur
Sonitpur district ron: ˌsə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə or ˌʃə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊəis an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezpur.
Etymology
The name of the is derived from a mythological story fo ...
,
Morigaon
Morigaon (pron: mʌrɪˈgãʊ) is a town of town area committee and the district headquarters of Morigaon district in the Indian state of Assam and including the headquarters of the Tiwa Autonomous Council (TAC), Tiwashong, Assam which was con ...
districts and adjoining areas
*
Kamrupi group in the
Kamrup region
Kamrup is the modern region situated between two rivers, the Manas and the Barnadi in Western Assam, with the same territorial extent as the Colonial and post-Colonial "Undivided Kamrup district". It was the capital region of two of the thr ...
: (
Barpetia,
Nalbariya, Palasbaria)
*
Goalpariya group in the
Goalpara region
Goalpara region, largely congruous to the historical undivided Goalpara district, is a region that is associated with the people and culture of Goalpara. It is bounded on the north by Bhutan, on the east by the Kamrup region, in the south by Meg ...
: (Ghulliya, Jharuwa, Caruwa)
Samples
Collected from the book, ''Assamese – Its formation and development''.
The translations are of different versions of the English translations:
Non-regional dialects
Assamese does not have many caste- or occupation-based dialects. In the nineteenth century, the Eastern dialect became the standard dialect because it witnessed more literary activity and it was more uniform from east of Guwahati to Sadiya, whereas the western dialects were more heterogeneous. Since the nineteenth century, the center of literary activity (as well as of politics and commerce) has shifted to Guwahati; as a result, the standard dialect has evolved considerably away from the largely rural Eastern dialects and has become more urban and acquired western dialectal elements.
Most literary activity takes place in this dialect, and is often called the ''likhito-bhaxa'', though regional dialects are often used in novels and other creative works.
In addition to the regional variants, sub-regional, community-based dialects are also prevalent, namely:
* Standard dialect influenced by surrounding centers.
* ''Bhakatiya'' dialect highly polite, a sattra-based dialect with a different set of nominals, pronominals, and verbal forms, as well as a preference for euphemism; indirect and passive expressions. Some of these features are used in the standard dialect on very formal occasions.
* The fisherman community has a dialect that is used in the central and eastern region.
* The astrologer community of Darrang district has a dialect called ''thar'' that is coded and secretive. The ''ratikhowa'' and ''bhitarpanthiya'' secretive cult-based Vaisnava groups too have their own dialects.
* The Muslim community have their own dialectal preference, with their own kinship, custom, and religious terms, with those in east Assam having distinct phonetic features.
* The urban adolescent and youth communities (for example, Guwahati) have exotic, hybrid and local slangs.
* Ethnic speech communities that use Assamese as a second language, often use dialects that are influenced heavily by the pronunciation, intonation, stress, vocabulary and syntax of their respective first languages (''Mising Eastern Assamese'', ''Bodo Central Kamrupi'', ''Rabha Eastern Goalpariya'' etc.).
Two independent pidgins/creoles, associated with the Assamese language, are
Nagamese (used by
Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:
Mythology
* Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions
* Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata''
* Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong Riv ...
groups) and
Nefamese
Nefamese or ''Arunamese'' is a pidgin of Arunachal Pradesh (formerly NEFA), India. Its classification is unclear; ''Ethnologue'' states that it is based on the Assamese language, but also that it is most closely related to the Sino-Tibetan Ga ...
(used in Arunachal Pradesh).
Literature
There is a growing and strong body of literature in this language.
The first characteristics of this language are seen in the
Charyapada
The Charyapada (IAST: Caryapāda, Assamese language, Assamese/Bengali language, Bengali: চর্যাপদ) is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantra, tantric tradition in ...
s composed in between the eighth and twelfth centuries. The first examples emerged in writings of court poets in the fourteenth century, the finest example of which is Madhav Kandali's
Saptakanda Ramayana ''Saptakanda Ramayana'' (Assamese: সপ্তকাণ্ড ৰামায়ণ) is the 14th-15th century Assamese version of the ''Ramayana'' attributed to the famous assamese poet Madhava Kandali. It is considered to be the second translati ...
. The popular ballad in the form of Ojapali is also regarded as well-crafted. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw a flourishing of
Vaishnavite
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
literature, leading up to the emergence of modern forms of literature in the late nineteenth century.
See also
*
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...
*
Languages of India
Languages spoken in India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-European languages spoken by 78.05% of Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 19.64% of Indians, both families together are sometimes known ...
*
Languages with official status in India
There is no national language in India. However, article 343(1) of the Indian constitution specifically mentions that, "The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official pur ...
*
List of Indian languages by total speakers
India is home to several hundred languages. Most Indians speak a language belonging to the families of the Indo-Aryan branch of Indo-European (c. 77%), the Dravidian (c. 20.61%), the Austroasiatic ( Munda) (c. 1.2%), or the Sino-Tibetan (c. 0.8 ...
*
List of languages by number of native speakers
This article ranks human languages by their number of native speakers.
However, all such rankings should be used with caution, because it is not possible to devise a coherent set of linguistic criteria for distinguishing languages in a dialect ...
*
Kamrupi litterateurs
*
Assamese Language Movement
The Assamese Language Movement () refers to a series of political activities demanding the recognition of the Assamese Language as the only sole official language and medium of instruction in the educational institutions of Assam, India.
The st ...
*
Assamese people
The Assamese people are a socio- ethnic linguistic identity that has been described at various times as nationalistic or micro-nationalistic. This group is often associated with the Assamese language, the easternmost Indo-Aryan language, a ...
Notes
References
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External links
Assamese languageat ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
''
Axamiyaa Bhaaxaar Moulik Bisar by Mr Devananda Bharali (PDF)Candrakānta abhidhāna : Asamiyi sabdara butpatti aru udaharanere Asamiya-Ingraji dui bhashara artha thaka abhidhana.second ed. Guwahati : Guwahati Bisbabidyalaya, 1962.
A Dictionary in Assamese and English(1867) First Assamese dictionary by
Miles Bronson
Miles Bronson (1812–1883), was one of the first American Baptist Churches USA, American Baptist missionaries who worked in the state of Assam in northeastern India.
Mission Work
Assam
Bronson arrived at Sadiya in Assam on July 8, 1838. Previo ...
from (books.google.com)
Assamese proverbs, published 1896
{{DEFAULTSORT:Assamese Language
Eastern Indo-Aryan languages
Official languages of India
Languages of Bangladesh
Languages of Assam
Subject–object–verb languages
Indo-Aryan languages
Sahitya Akademi recognised languages