Hemkosh ( as, হেমকোষ, ) is the first

etymological Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words and ...

dictionary of the

Assamese language Assamese (), also Asamiya ( ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-east Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language, and it serves as a ''lingua franca'' of the wider region. The easternmost Indo-Iranian language, ...

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 ...

spellings, compiled by

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 ...

. It was first published in the early 20th century under the supervision of Capt. P. R. Gordon, ISC and

Hemchandra Goswami Hemchandra Goswami (1872–1928) was an Indian writer, poet, historian, teacher and a linguist from Assam in the early part of modern Assamese literature. He was the fourth president of the Asom Sahitya Sabha in 1920 held at Tezpur. He retired ...

, 33 years after the publication of Bronson's dictionary. It contained about 22,346 words. This dictionary still published by ''Hemkosh Printers'' is considered to be the "standard" reference of the Assamese

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...

.RCILTS, IIT Guwahati
An English-Assamese-Bodo Trilingual Dictionary Hemkosh is the second dictionary of Assamese language. The first Assamese dictionary was compiled by Dr.

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 ...

, an American Baptist Missionary. His dictionary, published in 1867 at the American Baptist Mission Press,

Sibsagar 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. Si ...

, is out of print. Bronson's work did not pretend to be an etymological dictionary but contained a very considerable collection of words from the people themselves without recording derivations.

References

{{Reflist Assamese language Books from Assam Assamese-language books