Assamese language

Assamese, Asamiya or Oxomiya (অসমীয়া [ɔˈxɔmija] ⓘ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. It has long served as a lingua franca in parts of Northeast India. It has over 15 million native speakers and 8.3 million second language speakers according to Ethnologue, although this claim is widely disputed.[by whom?]

Nefamese, an Assamese-based pidgin in Arunachal Pradesh, was used as a lingua franca before being replaced by Hindi; and Nagamese, an Assamese-based Creole language, continues to be widely used in Nagaland. The Kamtapuri language of Rangpur Division of Bangladesh and the Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri districts of India is 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, Assamese evolved at least before the 7th century CE from the middle Indo-Aryan Magadhi Prakrit. Its sister languages include Angika, Bengali, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Chakma, Chittagonian, Hajong, Rajbangsi, Surjapuri, Maithili, Rohingya and Sylheti. It is written in the Assamese alphabet, an abugida system, from left to right, with many typographic ligatures.

Assamese was designated as a classical Indian language by the Government of India on 3 October 2024 on account of its antiquity and literary traditions.

History

Assamese originated in Old Indo-Aryan 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 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—in urban centers and along the Brahmaputra River—surrounded by Tibeto-Burman and Austroasiatic communities. Kakati's (1941) assertion that Assamese has an Austroasiatic substrate is generally assumed—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. Based on the 7th-century Chinese traveller Xuanzang's observations, Chatterji (1926) suggests that the Indo-Aryan vernacular differentiated itself in Kamarupa 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.

Magadhan and Gauda-Kamarupa stages

The earliest forms of Assamese in literature are found in the 9th-century Buddhist verses called Charyapada the language of which bear affinities with Assamese (as well as Bengali, Maithili 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 Pandit (Sunya Puran), Boru Chandidas (Krishna Kirtan), Sukur Mamud (Gopichandrar Gan), Durlabha Mallik (Gobindachandrar Git) and Bhavani Das (Mainamatir Gan) Assamese grammatical peculiarities coexist with features from Bengali language. 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 when Hema Sarasvati composed the poem Prahlāda Carita. In the 14th-century, Madhava Kandali translated the Ramayana into Assamese (Saptakanda Ramayana) in the court of Mahamanikya, a Kachari king from central Assam. Though the Assamese idiom in these works is 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's Ekasarana Dharma in the 15th century triggered a revival in language and literature. Sankardev produced many translated works and created new literary forms—Borgeets (songs), Ankia Naat (one-act plays)—infusing them with Brajavali idioms; and these were sustained by his followers Madhavdev 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 who translated the Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad Gita 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, where it became the state language. In parallel, the proselytising Ekasarana dharma 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 standardised prose in the Buranjis—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 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. But after the British East India Company (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 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 (ABM) established a press in Sibsagar in 1846 leading to publications of an Assamese periodical (Orunodoi), the first Assamese grammar by Nathan Brown (1846), and the first Assamese-English dictionary by Miles Bronson (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 drew up an extensive catalogue 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 in 1874.

Standardisation

In the extant medieval Assamese manuscripts the orthography was not uniform. The ABM had evolved a phonemic orthography based on a contracted set of characters. Working independently Hemchandra Barua provided an etymological orthography and his etymological dictionary, Hemkosh, 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 Asamiya Bhasa Unnati Sadhini Sabha (1888, "Assamese Language Development Society") that emerged in Kolkata among Assamese students led by Lakshminath Bezbaroa. The Society published a periodical Jonaki and the period of its publication, Jonaki era, saw spirited negotiations on language standardisation. 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 in the mid-twentieth century, of which Dispur 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. It is also spoken in states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland. The Bengali-Assamese script can be found in of present-day Burma. The Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal also has inscriptions in Bengali-Assamese script showing its influence in the past.

There is a significant Assamese-speaking diaspora worldwide.

Official status

Assamese is the official language of Assam, and one of the 22 official languages recognised by the Republic of India. The Assam Secretariat functions in Assamese.

Phonology

The Assamese phonemic inventory consists of eight vowels, ten diphthongs, and twenty-three consonants (including two semivowels).

Consonant clusters

Alveolar stops

The Assamese phoneme inventory is unique among Indo-Aryan languages as it lacks both postalveolar affricates and fricatives and also a dental-retroflex distinction among the coronal stops. Historically, the dental and retroflex series merged into alveolar stops. This makes Assamese resemble non-Indic languages of Northeast India (such as Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan languages). The only other language to have fronted retroflex stops into alveolars is the closely related group of eastern dialects of Bengali (although a contrast with dental stops remains in those dialects). /r/ is normally realised as [ɹ] or [ɻ].

Voiceless velar fricative

Assamese is unusual among Eastern Indo-Aryan languages for the presence of /x/ (realised as [x] or [χ], depending on the speaker and speech register), due historically to the lenition of Middle Indo-Aryan sibilants to /x/ (initially) and /h/ (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 /s/ to /h/ and then to /x/ has been attributed to Tibeto-Burman influence by Suniti Kumar Chatterjee.

In some cases, /kʰ/ can even merge with /χ/ or /x/ (akhɔr → axɔr "a letter (of an alphabet)").

Velar nasal

In contrast to other Indo-Aryan languages, Assamese, as well as Odia and Bengali, uses the velar nasal /ŋ/ (the English ng in sing) extensively. While in many languages, the velar nasal is commonly restricted to preceding velar sounds, in Assamese it can occur intervocalically. This is another feature it shares with other languages of Northeast India, though in Assamese the velar nasal never occurs word-initially.

Vowel inventory

Eastern Indic languages like Assamese, Bengali, Sylheti, 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: কলা kola [kɔla] ('deaf'), ক'লা kóla [kola] ('black'), কোলা kwla [kʊla] ('lap'), and কুলা kula [kula] ('winnowing fan'). The near-close near-back rounded vowel /ʊ/ is unique in this branch of the language family. However, in lower Assam, ও is pronounced the same as অ' (ó): compare কোলা kwla [kóla] and মোৰ mwr [mór].

According to linguist Shakuntala Mahanta, phonemic nasals vowel /ã/ and /ʊ̃/ are present in Assamese, contrasting with /a/ and /ʊ/. They are the only nasal vowel phonemes in the language.

Vowel harmony

Assamese has vowel harmony. The vowels [i] and [u] cause the vowels [ɛ], [ɔ] and [ʊ] in a preceding syllable to change to [e], [o] and [u] respectively. Assamese is one of the few languages spoken in India which exhibit systematic vowel harmony.

Schwa deletion

The inherent vowel in standard Assamese, /ɔ/, undergoes deletion in certain environments; this is known as schwa deletion. This means that, even though the orthography indicates the presence of an [ɔ], the vowel may not be pronounced. In the modern standard, /ɔ/ is generally deleted at the end of a word, except when following /w/ and when following the sequences /ij/ or /uj/. It is retained at the end of honorific words. /ɔ/ is deleted word-internally when it is followed by another vowel and at morphological boundaries. The rule for deleting the final /ɔ/ was not followed in Early Assamese.

Writing system

Modern Assamese uses the Assamese alphabet. In medieval times, the script came in three varieties: Bamuniya, Garhgaya, and Kaitheli/Lakhari, which developed from the Kamarupi script. It very closely resembles the Mithilakshar script of the Maithili language, as well as the Bengali alphabet. 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 writing. The present-day spellings in Assamese are not necessarily phonetic. Hemkosh (হেমকোষ [ɦɛmkʊx]), the second Assamese dictionary, introduced spellings based on Sanskrit, which are now the standard.

Assamese has also historically been written using the Arabic script by Assamese Muslims. One example is Tariqul Haq Fi Bayane Nurul Haq by Zulqad Ali (1796–1891) of Sivasagar, which is one of the oldest works in modern Assamese prose.

In the early 1970s, it was agreed upon that the Roman script was to be the standard writing system for Nagamese Creole. In January 2020, the Assam government announced that Assamese would be a mandatory language for government job eligibility.

Sample text

The following is a portion from the story Silonir ziekor xadhu (The tale of the kite's daughter), written by Lakshminath Bezbaruah in his book Burhi Aair Xadhu:

চৰুটো

sörutü

so̞ɹutʊ

pot-the

নৈত

nöit

no̞it

river-in

উটি

uti

uti

floating

গৈ

göi

go̞i

going

আছে,

ase,

asɛ,

being,

এনেতে

enete

ɛnɛtɛ

such-in

নৈৰ

nöir

no̞iɹ

river's

পাৰত

parot

paɹɔ̞t

bank-on

কাপোৰ

kapür

kapʊɹ

clothe(s)

ধুই

dhui

dʱui

washing

থকা

thoka

thɔ̞ka

staying

ধোবা

dhüba

dʱʊba

washerman

এটাই

etai

ɛtai

one-cʟs-ᴇʀɢ

চৰুটো

sörutü

so̞ɹutʊ

pot-the

দেখি

dëkhi

dekʰi

seeing

তাত

tat

tat

there-in

কি

ki

ki

what

আছে

ase

asɛ

exists

চাওঁ

saü̃

saʊ̃

see-1ᴘ

বুলি

buli

buli

saying/thinking

সাঁতুৰি

xãturi

x̟ãtuɹi

swimming

গৈ

göi

go̞i

going

সাঁফৰটো

xãphortü

x̟ãpʰɔ̞ɹtʊ

lid-the

মেলি

mëli

meli

opening

দেখিলে,

dëkhile,

dekʰilɛ,

saw,

নকৈ

noköi

nɔ̞ːko̞i

new-ly

হোৱা

hüa

hʊa

being

কেঁচুৱা

kẽsua

kẽsua

baby

ছোৱালী

süali

sʊali

girl

এজনী

ezoni

ɛzɔ̞ni

one-cʟs

তাতে

tate

tatɛ

there-in-ᴇᴍᴘʜ

ভৰাই

bhorai

bhɔ̞ɹai

inserting

কোনোবাই

künübai

kʊnʊbai

someone-ᴇʀɢ

উটাই

utai

utai

floating

দিছে।

dise.

disɛ.

gave.

ধোবাটোৱে

dhübatüe

dʱʊbatʊɛ

Washerman-the

ছোৱালীজনী

süalizoni

sʊalizɔ̞ni

girl-cʟs

তুলি

tuli

tuli

lifting

ল’বৰ

löbor

lo̞bɔ̞ɹ

taking-of

মনেৰে

monere

mɔ̞nɛɹɛ

mind-with

সাঁফৰটো

xãphortü

x̟ãpʰɔ̞ɹtʊ

lid-the

গুচাই

gusai

gusai

removing

চৰুটো

sorutü

sɔ̞ɹutʊ

pot-the

ধৰি

dhori

dʱo̞ɹi

holding

লাহে

lahe

lahɛ

slow-with

লাহে

lahe

lahɛ

slow-with

সাঁতুৰি

xãturi

x̟ãtuɹi

swimming

বামৰ

bamor

bamɔ̞ɹ

shallow-of

ফালে

phale

pʰalɛ

side-in

টানি

tani

tani

pulling

আনোতেই,

anü̃tëi,

anʊ̃tei,

bring-while-ᴇᴍᴘʜ,

হঠাৎ

hothat‌

hɔ̞that‌

suddenly

এজনী

ezoni

ɛzɔ̞ni

one-cʟs

চিলনীয়ে

silonie

silɔ̞niɛ

kite-ᴇʀɢ

থাপ

thap

thap

snatch

মাৰি

mari

maɹi

doing

চৰুটোৰ

sörutür

so̞ɹutʊɹ

pot-the-of

পৰা

pora

pɔ̞ɹa

from

ছোৱালীজনী

süalizoni

sʊalizɔ̞ni

girl-cʟs

লৈ

löi

lo̞i

taking

গুচি

gusi

gusi

removing

গ’ল।

göl.

go̞l.

went.

এজোপা

ezüpa

ɛzʊpa

One-cʟs

আঁহত

ãhot

ãhɔ̞t

peepul

গছৰ

gosor

gɔ̞sɔ̞ɹ

tree's

আগত

agot

agɔ̞t

top-in

চিলনীজনীৰ

silonizonir

silɔ̞nizɔ̞niɹ

kite-the-of

বাহ

bah

bah

nest

আছিল।

asil.

asil.

existed.

তাই

tai

tai

She

ছোৱালীজনী

süalizoni

sʊalizɔ̞ni

girl-the

সেই

xëi

x̟ei

that

বাহতে

bahote

bahɔ̞tɛ

nest-in-ᴇᴍᴘʜ

থ’লেগৈ।

thölegöi.

tho̞lɛgɔ̞̞i.

put-going.

কণমান

konman

kɔ̞nman

Little

ৰূপহ

rupoh

ɹupɔ̞h

beauty

ছোৱালীটি

süaliti

sʊaliti

girl-the

দেখি

dëkhi

dekʰi

seeing

চিলনীৰ

silonir

silɔ̞niɹ

kite's

বৰ

bor

bɔ̞ɹ

very

মৰম

morom

mɔ̞ɹɔ̞m

love

লাগিল।

lagil.

lagil.

attached.

সেইদেখি

xëidëkhi

x̟eidekʰi

That-seeing

তাই

tai

tai

she

ছোৱালীজনী

süalizoni

sʊalizɔ̞ni

girl-the

তুলি-তালি

tuli-tali

tuli-tali

lifting

ডাঙৰ-দীঘল

daṅor-dighol

daŋɔ̞ɹ-digʱɔ̞l

big-long

কৰিবলৈ

köribolöi

ko̞ɹibɔ̞lo̞i

doing-for

মনতে

monote

mɔ̞nɔ̞tɛ

mind-in-ᴇᴍᴘʜ

ঠিক

thik

thik

fix

কৰিলে।

körile.

ko̞ɹilɛ.

did.

চৰুটো নৈত উটি গৈ আছে, এনেতে নৈৰ পাৰত কাপোৰ ধুই থকা ধোবা এটাই চৰুটো দেখি তাত কি আছে চাওঁ বুলি সাঁতুৰি গৈ সাঁফৰটো মেলি দেখিলে, নকৈ হোৱা কেঁচুৱা ছোৱালী এজনী তাতে ভৰাই কোনোবাই উটাই দিছে। ধোবাটোৱে ছোৱালীজনী তুলি ল’বৰ মনেৰে সাঁফৰটো গুচাই চৰুটো ধৰি লাহে লাহে সাঁতুৰি বামৰ ফালে টানি আনোতেই, হঠাৎ এজনী চিলনীয়ে থাপ মাৰি চৰুটোৰ পৰা ছোৱালীজনী লৈ গুচি গ’ল। এজোপা আঁহত গছৰ আগত চিলনীজনীৰ বাহ আছিল। তাই ছোৱালীজনী সেই বাহতে থ’লেগৈ। কণমান ৰূপহ ছোৱালীটি দেখি চিলনীৰ বৰ মৰম লাগিল। সেইদেখি তাই ছোৱালীজনী তুলি-তালি ডাঙৰ-দীঘল কৰিবলৈ মনতে ঠিক কৰিলে।

sörutü nöit uti göi ase, enete nöir parot kapür dhui thoka dhüba etai sörutü dëkhi tat ki ase saü̃ buli xãturi göi xãphortü mëli dëkhile, noköi hüa kẽsua süali ezoni tate bhorai künübai utai dise. dhübatüe süalizoni tuli löbor monere xãphortü gusai sorutü dhori lahe lahe xãturi bamor phale tani anü̃tëi, hothat‌ ezoni silonie thap mari sörutür pora süalizoni löi gusi göl. ezüpa ãhot gosor agot silonizonir bah asil. tai süalizoni xëi bahote thölegöi. konman rupoh süaliti dëkhi silonir bor morom lagil. xëidëkhi tai süalizoni tuli-tali daṅor-dighol köribolöi monote thik körile.

so̞ɹutʊ no̞it uti go̞i asɛ, ɛnɛtɛ no̞iɹ paɹɔ̞t kapʊɹ dʱui thɔ̞ka dʱʊba ɛtai so̞ɹutʊ dekʰi tat ki asɛ saʊ̃ buli x̟ãtuɹi go̞i x̟ãpʰɔ̞ɹtʊ meli dekʰilɛ, nɔ̞ːko̞i hʊa kẽsua sʊali ɛzɔ̞ni tatɛ bhɔ̞ɹai kʊnʊbai utai disɛ. dʱʊbatʊɛ sʊalizɔ̞ni tuli lo̞bɔ̞ɹ mɔ̞nɛɹɛ x̟ãpʰɔ̞ɹtʊ gusai sɔ̞ɹutʊ dʱo̞ɹi lahɛ lahɛ x̟ãtuɹi bamɔ̞ɹ pʰalɛ tani anʊ̃tei, hɔ̞that‌ ɛzɔ̞ni silɔ̞niɛ thap maɹi so̞ɹutʊɹ pɔ̞ɹa sʊalizɔ̞ni lo̞i gusi go̞l. ɛzʊpa ãhɔ̞t gɔ̞sɔ̞ɹ agɔ̞t silɔ̞nizɔ̞niɹ bah asil. tai sʊalizɔ̞ni x̟ei bahɔ̞tɛ tho̞lɛgɔ̞̞i. kɔ̞nman ɹupɔ̞h sʊaliti dekʰi silɔ̞niɹ bɔ̞ɹ mɔ̞ɹɔ̞m lagil. x̟eidekʰi tai sʊalizɔ̞ni tuli-tali daŋɔ̞ɹ-digʱɔ̞l ko̞ɹibɔ̞lo̞i mɔ̞nɔ̞tɛ thik ko̞ɹilɛ.

pot-the river-in floating going being, such-in river's bank-on clothe(s) washing staying washerman one-cʟs-ᴇʀɢ pot-the seeing there-in what exists see-1ᴘ saying/thinking swimming going lid-the opening saw, new-ly being baby girl one-cʟs there-in-ᴇᴍᴘʜ inserting someone-ᴇʀɢ floating gave. Washerman-the girl-cʟs lifting taking-of mind-with lid-the removing pot-the holding slow-with slow-with swimming shallow-of side-in pulling bring-while-ᴇᴍᴘʜ, suddenly one-cʟs kite-ᴇʀɢ snatch doing pot-the-of from girl-cʟs taking removing went. One-cʟs peepul tree's top-in kite-the-of nest existed. She girl-the that nest-in-ᴇᴍᴘʜ put-going. Little beauty girl-the seeing kite's very love attached. That-seeing she girl-the lifting big-long doing-for mind-in-ᴇᴍᴘʜ fix did.

The pot is floating on the river, in such a time a washerman who was washing clothes on the bank of the river saw the pot and wanting to see what's inside, swam towards it, opened the lid and saw that a newly born baby girl was put there and floated by someone. The washerman wanted to adopt the girl, but when he was bringing it towards the shallow water, holding the pot, swimming slowly after having removed the lid, suddenly a kite snatched the girl from the pot and took her away. The kite had her nest on the top of a peepul tree. She put the girl on that nest. Seeing the beautiful little girl, the kite felt affection. Therefore she decided to raise the girl.

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.

Classifiers

Assamese has a large collection of classifiers, which are used extensively for different kinds of objects, acquired from the Sino-Tibetan 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., ɛta, duta, tinita – "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. /ezɔnmanuh/ ejon manuh 'one man') or the noun + numeral + classifier (e.g. /manuhezɔn/ manuh ejon 'one man') forms.

Nominalization

Most verbs can be converted into nouns by the addition of the suffix /ɔn/. For example, /kʰa/ ('to eat') can be converted to /kʰaɔn/ khaon ('good eating').

Grammatical cases

Assamese has 8 grammatical cases:

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.

Negation process

Verbs in Assamese are negated by adding /n/ before the verb, with /n/ picking up the initial vowel of the verb. For example:

• /nalaɡɛ/ 'do(es) not want' (1st, 2nd and 3rd persons)
• /nilikʰʊ̃/ 'will not write' (1st person)
• /nukutʊ̃/ 'will not nibble' (1st person)
• /nɛlɛkʰɛ/ 'does not count' (3rd person)
• /nɔkɔɹɔ/ 'do not do' (2nd person)

For verbs that start with a vowel, just the n- is added, without vowel lengthening. In some dialects if the 1st vowel is a in a verb that starts with consonant, ne is used, like, Moi nakhaw (I don't eat) is Moi nekhaü. In past continuous the negative form is -i thoka nasil-. In future continuous it's -i na(/e)thaki-. In present continuous and present perfect, just -i thoka nai and -a nai' respectively are used for all personal pronouns. Sometimes for plural pronouns, the -hok suffix is used, like korwhok (we do), ahilahok (you guys came).

Relationship suffixes

Kinship Terms

Some Assamese Kinship Terms with IPA and English Equivalents

Dialects

Regional dialects

The language has quite a few regional variations. Banikanta Kakati identified two broad dialects 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 and one dialect isolate listed below from east to west to south:

• Eastern group in and around the undivided Sivasagar district (Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Charaideo and Sivasagar) and the former undivided Lakhimpur district (Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji. Standard Assamese is based on the Eastern group.
• Central group spoken in Nagaon, Sonitpur, Morigaon districts and adjoining areas
• Kamrupi group in the Kamrup region: (Barpetia, Nalbariya, Palasbaria)
• Goalpariya group in the Goalpara region: (Ghulliya, Jharuwa, Caruwa)
• Cachar dialect (Dehan) in Cachar district of Barak valley

Samples

Collected from the book, Assamese – Its formation and development. The text below is from the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The translations are of different versions of the English translations:

English: A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, 'I want my share of your estate now before you die.' So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.Eastern Assamese (Sibsagar): Künü ejon manuhor duta putek asil, tare xorutüe bapekok kole, "Oi büpai! xompottir ji bhag moi paü tak mük diok!" Tate teü teür xompotti duiü putekor bhitorot bati dile. Olop dinor pasot xorutw puteke tar bhagot ji pale take loi dur dexoloi goi beisali kori gutei xompotti nax korile. Tar pasot xei dexot bor akal hól. Tate xi dux paboloi dhorile. Tetia xi goi xei dexor ejon manuhor asroy lole, aru xei manuhe tak gahori soraboloi potharoloi pothai dile. Tate xi gahorir khüa ebidh gosor seire pet bhoraboloi bor hepah korileü tak küneü ekü nidile.Central Assamese: Manuh ejonor duta putak asil. Tahãtor vitorot xoutw putake bapekok kóle,Central/Kamrupi (Pati Darrang): Eta manhur duta putak asil, xehatör xorutui bapakök kolak, "He pite, xompöttir mör bhagöt zikhini porei, take mök di." Tate teö nizör xompötti xehatök bhagei dilak. Tar olop dinör pasötei xeñ xoru putektüi xokolöke götei loi kömba dexok legi polei gel aru tate lompot kamöt götei urei dilak. Xi xokolö bioe koraõte xeñ dexöt bor akal hol. Xi tate bor kosto paba dhollak. Teten xi aru xeñ dexor eta manhur asroe lolak. Xeñ mantui nizör potharök legi tak bora saribak legi pothei dilak. Tate xi aru borai khawa ekbidh gasör sei di pet bhorabak legi bor hepah kollak. Kintu kawei ekö tak nedlak.Kamrupi (Palasbari): Kunba eta manhur duta putak asil. Ekdin xortö putake bapiakok kola, "Bapa wa, apunar xompöttir moi bhagöt zeman kheni pam teman khini mök dia." Tethane bapiake nizör xompötti duö putakok bhage dila. Keidinman pasöt xörtö putake tar bhagtö loi kunba akhan durher dekhok gel, aru tate gundami köri tar götei makha xompötti nohoa koilla. Tar pasöt xiai dekhot mosto akal hol. Tethian xi bor dukh paba dhoilla. Tar xi tarei eta manhur osarök zai asroe asroe lola. Manhtöi tak bara sarba potharöl khedala. Tate xi barai khawa ekbidh gasör seṅ khaba dhoilla. Teö tak kayö akö khaba neidla.Kamrupi (Barpeta): Kunba eta manhör duta putek asil. Ekdin xorutu puteke bapekök kolak, "Pita, amar xompöttir moi zikhini mör bhagöt paü xikhini mök dia." Tethen bapeke nizör xompötti tahak bhage dilak. Tare keidinmen pisöte xei xoru putektui tar gotexopake loi ekhen duhrer dekhök gusi gel, arö tate xi lompot hoi tar gotexopa xompöttike ure phellak. Tar pasöt xei dekhkhenöt mosto akal hol. Tethen xi xei dekhör eta manhör osröt zai asroe lolak. Manuhtui tak bara sarbak login patharök khedolak. Tate xi ekbidh barai khawa gasör sẽi khaba dhollak. Take dekhiö kayö tak ekö khaba nedlak.Kamrupi (Bongaigaon): Eta manur duta beta asil. Xoru beta gote tar bapok koisil, "Baba moy xompottir jikhini bhag pang xikhini mok dek toy/apuni morar agote". Bap gote xompotti khini nijor beta koytar majot bhag kori dewar karne manti hol. Koydin man pasot xoru beta go nijor bostu khini loya kobat durot jaya nijor gotae poisa gidi uray felal. Tae poisa makha xek koria felar pasote tamar tar tate thikse khawar obhab hol. Xibar tae osorore khetiyok etar tate kam korbar krne gise aro tak tate gahori gilak ahar khuwawa kam disil. Xei soli go bhokote gahorir ahar makhake khaise. Xei dekhiyao tak kahoy eko khaba nedil. Western Goalpariya (Salkocha): Kunö ekzon mansir duizon saöa asil. Tar sötotae bapok koil, "Baba sompöttir ze bhag mör, tak mök de." Tat oë nizer sompötti umak batia dil. Tar olpo din pasöte öi söta saöata sök götea dur desot gel. Ore lompot beboharot or sompötti uzar koril. Oë götay khoros korar pasöt oi desot boro akal hoil. Ote oya kosto paba dhoril. Sela oë zaya öi deser ekzon mansir asroe löat öi manusi ok suar soraba patharot pothea dil. Ote suare khaöa ek rokom gaser sal dia pet bhoroba saileö ok kaho kisu nadil.

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 groups) and Nefamese (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 Charyapadas 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. The popular ballad in the form of Ojapali is also regarded as well-crafted. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw a flourishing of Vaishnavite literature, leading up to the emergence of modern forms of literature in the late nineteenth century.

See also

• Assamese Manipuri language
• Indo-Aryan languages
• Languages of India
• Languages with official status in India
• List of Indian languages by total speakers
• List of languages by number of native speakers
• Personalities from Western Assam
• Assamese Language Movement
• Assamese people

Notes

• Chatterji (1926). .
• DeLancey, Scott (2012). "On the Origin of Bodo-Garo". In Hyslop, Gwendolyn; Morey, Stephen; Post, Mark W. (eds.). Northeast Indian Linguistics. Vol. 4. pp. 3–20. doi:. ISBN 978-93-82264-52-1.
• Dutta, Birendranath (1995). A Study of the Folk Culture of the Goalpara Region of Assam. Guwahati, Assam: University Publication Department, Gauhati University. ISBN 978-81-86416-13-6.
• Dutta, Birendranath (2003). "Non-Standard Forms of Assamese: Their Socio-cultural Role". In Miri, Mrinal (ed.). Linguistic Situation in North-East India (2nd ed.). Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi. pp. 101–110. ISBN 978-81-8069-026-6.
• Goswami, G. C.; Tamuli, Jyotiprakash (2003). "Asamiya". In Cardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh (eds.). The Indo-Aryan languages. Routledge. pp. 391–443. ISBN 978-0-7007-1130-7.
• Guha, Amalendu (December 1983). (PDF). Social Scientist. 11 (12): 3–34. doi:. JSTOR .
• Kakati, Banikanta (1941). . Gauhati, Assam: Government of Assam.
• Kakati, Banikanta (1953). "Assamese Language". In Kakati, Banikanta (ed.). Aspects of Early Assamese Literature. Gauhati University. pp. 1–16. OCLC .
• Kar, Boddhisattva (2008). "'Tongue Has No Bone': Fixing the Assamese Language, c.1800–c.1930". Studies in History. 24 (1): 27–76. doi:. S2CID .
• Khan, M. Siddiq (1962). "The Early History of Bengali Printing". The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy. 32 (1): 51–61. doi:. JSTOR . S2CID .
• Kommaluri, Vijayanand; Subramanian, R.; Sagar K, Anand (2005). . Language in India. 5.
• Mahanta, Sakuntala (2012). . Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 42 (2): 217–224. doi:.
• Masica, Colin P (1993). . Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2.
• Medhi, Kaliram (1988). Assamese Grammar and the Origin of Assamese Language. Guwahati: Publication Board, Assam. OCLC .
• Moral, Dipankar (1997). (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies. 27: 43–53.
• Neog, Maheshwar (1980). Anandaram Dhekiyal Phukan. New Delhi: Sahiyta Akademi. OCLC .
• Oberlies, Thomas (2007). . In Cardona, George; Jain, Danesh (eds.). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9.
• Pattanayak, D. P. (2016). "Oriya and Assamese". In Emeneau, Murray B.; Fergusson, Charles A. (eds.). Linguistics in South Asia. De Gruyter. pp. 122–152. ISBN 978-3-11-081950-2.
• Saikia, Nagen (1997). . In Paniker (ed.). Medieval Indian Literature: Surveys and selections. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 3–20. ISBN 978-81-260-0365-5.
• Sarma, Parismita (2017). (PhD). Gauhati University. hdl:.
• Sharma, M. M. (1990). "Language and Literature". In Barpujari, H. K. (ed.). The Comprehensive History of Assam: Ancient Period. Vol. I. Guwahati, Assam: Publication Board, Assam. pp. 263–284. OCLC .
• Toulmin, Mathew W S (2006). (PhD). The Australian National University.
• Toulmin, Mathew W S (2009). From Linguistic to Sociolinguistic Reconstruction: The Kamta Historical Subgroup of Indo-Aryan. Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 978-0-85883-604-4.
• Bhattacharya, Pramodchandra (2003). Aspects of North East Indian languages. Anundoram Borooah Institute of Language, Art & Culture, Assam.

• Sarma, Naranarayan (1990). (PhD). Gauhati University. hdl:.

External links

• at Encyclopædia Britannica
• second ed. Guwahati : Guwahati Bisbabidyalaya, 1962.
• (1867) First Assamese dictionary by Miles Bronson from (books.google.com)