Assamese language

Assamese, also known as Asamiya or Oxomiya ( ), 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.

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. from the middle Indo-Aryan Magadhi Prakrit.

History

thumb|The proto-languages of the eastern Magadhan languages. [[Kamarupi Prakrit corresponds to ?proto-Kamarupa here, a hitherto un-reconstructed proto-language. proto-Kamata began to innovate unique features in the period 1250–1550 CE.]]

thumb|

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, 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, 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 14th-15th 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.

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. The Buranjis, dealing with statecraft, was also the vehicle by which Arabic and Persian elements crept into the language in abundance. 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). 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).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Vowels

!Front

!Central

!Back

!Close

!Near-close

!Close-mid

!Open-mid

!Open

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Diphthongs

!colspan=2|

!Labial

!Alveolar

!Dorsal

!Glottal

!colspan=2|Nasal

!rowspan=4|Stop

!voiceless

!aspirated

!voiced

!murmured

!rowspan=2|Fricative

!voiceless

!voiced

!rowspan=2|Approximant

!central

!lateral

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). is normally realised as or .

Voiceless velar fricative

Assamese is unusual among Eastern Indo-Aryan languages for the presence of (realised as or , depending on the speaker and speech register), due historically to the lenition of Middle Indo-Aryan sibilants 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 Suniti Kumar Chatterjee.

In some cases, can even merge with or (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: kola ('deaf'), kóla ('black'), kwla ('lap'), and kula ('winnowing fan'). The near-close near-back rounded vowel is unique in this branch of the language family. However, in lower Assam, ও is pronounced the same as অ' (ó): compare kwla and mwr .

According to linguist Shakuntala Mahanta, phonemic nasals vowel and 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, //, 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, // 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. 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 ( ), 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:

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"

{| class="wikitable"

|+Assamese Classifiers

! Classifier !! Referent !! Examples

| || males (adult) || manuh-zɔn (the man – honorific)

| || females (women as well as animals) || manuh-zɔni (the woman), sɔrai-zɔni (the bird)

| || honorific || kobi-zɔna (the poet), gʊxai-zɔna (the god/goddess)

| || males and females (honorific) || manuh-ɡɔɹaki (the woman), rastrɔpɔti-gɔɹaki (the president)

| || inanimate objects or males of animals and men (impolite) || manuh-tʊ (the man – diminutive), gɔɹu-tʊ (the cow)

| || inanimate objects or infants || kesua-ti (the baby)

| || for counting numerals || e-ta (count one), du-ta (count two)

| || flat square or rectangular objects, big or small, long or short ||

| || terrain like rivers and mountains ||

| || small objects ||

| || group of people, cattle; also for rain; cyclone ||

| || breeze ||

| || objects that are thin, flat, wide or narrow. ||

| || flowers ||

| || objects that are solid ||

| || mass nouns ||

| || bundles of objects ||

| || smaller bundles of objects ||

| || broomlike objects ||

| || wick-like objects ||

| || with earthen lamp or old style kerosene lamp used in Assam ||

| || objects like trees and shrubs ||

| || paper and leaf-like objects ||

| || uncountable mass nouns and pronouns ||

| || inanimate flexible/stiff or oblong objects; humans (pejorative) ||

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 cases:

{| class="wikitable"

! Cases !! Suffix !! Example

! Absolutive

| none

! Ergative

Note: The personal pronouns without a plural or other suffix are not marked.

! Accusative

! Genitive

! Dative

! Terminative

! Instrumental

! Locative

Pronouns

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:80%"

! rowspan=2 style="vertical-align:center | Number

! rowspan=2 style="vertical-align:center | Person

! rowspan=2 style="vertical-align:center | Gender

! colspan=5 | Pronouns

! Absolutive Ergative !! Accusative Dative !! Genitive !! Locative !! Dative

! ROWSPAN="5" style="font-weight:normal" | Singular

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" | 1st

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" | m/f (I)

|moi||mük||mür||müt||mülói

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" | 2nd

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" | m/f (you)

|toi ᵛ tumi ᶠ apuni ᵖ||tük tümak apünak||tür tümar apünar||tüt tümat apünat||tüloi tümalói apünaloi

! rowspan=3 style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" | 3rd

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" |m (he) n (it, that)

|i * xi **||iak tak||iar tar||iat tat||ialoi taloi

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" |f (she)

|ei * tai **||eik taik||eir tair||eit tait||eilói tailói

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" |n & p (he/she)

|eü/ekhet(-e ᵉ) * teü/tekhet(-e ᵉ) **||eük/ekhetok teük/tekhetok||eür/ekhetor teür/tekhetor||eüt/ekhetot teüt/tekhetot||eüloi/ekhetólói teülói/tekhetólói

! rowspan=4 style="font-weight:normal" | Plural

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" |1st

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" |m/f (we)

|ami||amak||amar||amat||amalói

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" |2nd

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" |m/f (you)

|tohot(-e ᵉ) ᵛ tümalük(-e ᵉ) ᶠ apünalük(-e ᵉ) ᵖ||tohõtok tümalükok apünalükok||tohõtor tümalükor apünalükor||tohõtot tümalükot apünalükot||tohõtolói tümalükolói apünalükolói

! rowspan=2 style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" |3rd

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" |m/f (they)

|ihõt * eülük/ekhetxokol(-e ᵉ) ᵖ * xihõt ** teülük/tekhetxokol(-e ᵉ) ᵖ **||ihõtok xihotõk eülükok/ekhetxokolok teülükok/tekhetxokolok||ihõtor xihotõr eülükor/ekhetxokolor teülükor/tekhetxokolor||ihõtot xihotõt eülükot/ekhetxokolot teülükot/tekhetxokolot||ihõtoloi xihotõloi eülükok/ekhetxokololoi teülükoloi/tekhetxokololoi

! style="vertical-align:center; font-weight:normal" | n (these, those)

| eibür(-e ᵉ) ᵛ * eibilak(-e ᵉ) ᶠ * eixómuh(-e ᵉ) ᵖ * xeibür(-e ᵉ) ᵛ ** xeibilak(-e ᵉ) ᶠ ** xeixómuh(-e) ᵖ **|| eibürok eibilakok eixómuhok xeibürok xeibilakok xeixómuhok||eibüror eibilakor eixómuhor xeibüror xeibilakor xeixómuhor|| eibürot eibilakot eixómuhot xeibürot xeibilakot xeixómuhot|| eibürolói eibilakolói eixómuholói xeibüroloi xeibilakoleó xeixómuhólói

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).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" align="center" style="font-size:80%"

!Stem

|Likh (write)

|Kha (eat, drink, consume)

!Gerund

|Likha

|khüa

!Causative

|Likha

|khüa

!Conjugative

|Likhi

|Khai & Kha

!Infinitive

|Likhibo

|Khabo

!Goal

|Likhibólói

|Khabólói

!Terminative

|Likhibólóike

|Khabólóike

!Agentive

|Likhü̃ta np/Likhüra mi/Likhüri fi

|Khaüta np/Khaüra mi/Khaüri fi

!Converb

|Likhü̃te

|Khaü̃te

!Progressive

|Likhü̃te likhü̃te

|Khaü̃te khaü̃te

!Reason

|Likhat

|Khüat

|Likhilot

|Khalot

!Conditional

|Likhile

|Khale

!Perfective

|Likhi

|Khai

!Habitual

|Likhi likhi

|Khai khai

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.

|thoü

|nothoü

|khaü

|nakhaü ~ nekhaü

|piü

|nipiü

|diü

|nidiü

|dhüü

|nüdhüü

|korü

|nokorü

|randhü

|narandhü ~ nerandhü

|ahü

|nahü

!2ndper.inf.

|thoo

|nothoo

|khao

|nakhao ~ nekhao

|pio

|nipio

|dio

|nidio

|dhüo

|nüdhüo

|koro

|nokoro

|randho

|narandho ~ nerandho

|aho

|naho

!2ndper.pol.

|thüa

|nüthüa

|khüa

|nükhüa

|pia

|nipia

|dia

|nidia

|dhüa

|nüdhüa

|kora

|nokora

|randha

|narandha ~ nerandha

|aha

|naha

!2ndper.hon.&3rdper.

|thoe

|nothoe

|khae

|nakhae ~ nekhae

|pie

|nipie

|die

|nidie

|dhüe

|nüdhüe

|kore

|nokore

|randhe

|narandhe ~ nerandhe

|ahe

|nahe

!rowspan="4"| Present continuous

!1st per.

|thói asü

|rowspan="4"| thoi thoka nai

|khai asü

|rowspan="4"| khai thoka nai

|pi asu

|rowspan="4"| pi thoka nai

|di asü

|rowspan="4"| di thoka nai

|dhui asü

|rowspan="4"| dhui thoka nai

|kori asü

|rowspan="4"| kóri thoka nai

|randhi asü

|rowspan="4"| randhi thoka nai

|ahi asü

|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.

|thoisü

|rowspan="4"| thüa nai

|khaisü

|rowspan="4"| khwa nai

|pisü

|rowspan="4"| pia nai

|disü

|rowspan="4"| dia nai

|dhui asü

|rowspan="4"| dhwa nai

|korisü

|rowspan="4"| kora nai

|randhisü

|rowspan="4"| rondha nai

|ahi asü

|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.

|thólü

|nothólü

|khalü

|nakhalü ~ nekhalü

|pilü

|nipilü

|dilü

|nidilü

|dhulü

|nudhulü

|korilü

|nokórilü

|randhilü

|narandhilü ~ nerandhilü

|ahilü

|nahilü

!2nd per. inf.

|thóli

|nothóli

|khali

|nakhali ~ nekhali

|pili

|nipili

|dili

|nidili

|dhuli

|nudhuli

|kórili

|nókórili

|randhili

|narandhili ~ nerandhili

|ahilü

|nahilü

!2nd per. pol.

|thóla

|nothóla

|khala

|nakhala ~ nekhala

|pila

|nipila

|dila

|nidila

|dhula

|nudhula

|kórila

|nókórila

|randhila

|narandhila ~ nerandhila

|ahila

|nahila

!2ndper.hon.&3rdper.

|thóle

|nothóle

|khale

|nakhale ~ nekhale

|pile

|nipile

|dile

|nidile

|dhule

|nudhule

|kórile

|nókórile

|randhile

|narandhile ~ nerandhile

|ahile / ahiltr

|nahile / nahiltr

!rowspan="4"| Distant Past

!1st per.

|thoisilü

|nothoisilü ~ thüa nasilü

|khaisilü

|nakhaisilü ~ nekhaisilü ~ khwa nasilü

|pisilü

|nipisilü ~ pia nasilü

|disilü

|nidisilü ~ dia nasilü

|dhuisilü

|nudhuisilü ~ dhüa nasilü

|kórisilü

|nókórisilü ~ kora nasilü

|randhisilü

|narandhisilü ~ nerandhisilü ~ rondha nasilü

|ahisilü

|nahisilü ~ oha nasilü

!2nd per. inf.

|thoisili

|nothóisili ~ thüa 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 ~ thüa 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 ~ thüa 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 asilü

|thoi thoka nasilü

|khai asilü

|khai thoka nasilü

|pi asilü

|pi thoka nasilü

|di asilü

|di thoka nasilü

|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.

|thóm

|nothóm

|kham

|nakham ~ nekham

|pim

|nipim

|dim

|nidim

|dhum

|nudhum

|korim

|nokorim

|randhim

|narandhim ~ nerandhim

|ahim

|nahim

!2nd per. inf.

|thóbi

|nothóbi

|khabi

|nakhabi ~ nekhabi

|pibi

|nipibi

|dibi

|nidibi

|dhubi

|nudhubi

|koribi

|nokoribi

|randhibi

|narandhibi ~ nerandhibi

|ahibi

|nahibi

!2nd per. pol.

|thóba

|nothóba

|khaba

|nakhaba ~ nekhaba

|piba

|nipiba

|diba

|nidiba

|dhuba

|nudhuba

|koriba

|nókóriba

|randhiba

|narandhiba ~ nerandhiba

|ahiba

|nahiba

!2ndper.hon.&3rdper.

|thóbo

|nothóbo

|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

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)

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

{| 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

Kinship Terms

Some Assamese Kinship Terms with IPA and English Equivalents

{| class="wikitable"

!Sr. No.

!Assamese Word

!IPA

!English Word

|দেউতা

|/dɛuta/

|Father

|আই/মা

|/ai/ /mɑ/

|Mother

|দাদা

|/dada/

|Elder Brother

|ভাই

|/bhai/

|Younger Brother

|বাইদেউ

|/bɑɪ.dɛʊ/

|Elder Sister

|ভনী

|/bhɔni/

|Younger Sister

|পুতেক

|/putɛk/

|Son

|জীয়ৰী

|/ziːɔɾi/

|Daughter

|ককা

|/kɔka/

|Paternal Grandfather

|10

|আইতা

|/aita/

|Paternal Grandmother

|11

|কাকা

|/kaka/

|Uncle (Father’s younger brother)

|12

|খুৰা

|/kʰuɾa/

|Uncle (Father’s elder brother)

|13

|খুৰী

|/kʰuɾi/

|Aunt (Father’s brother’s wife)

|14

|পেহা

|/peɦa/

|Uncle (Father’s younger sister’s husband)

|15

|পেহী

|/pɛ.ɦi/

|Aunt (Father’s younger sister)

|16

|কাকা

|/kɔka/

|Maternal Grandfather

|17

|আইতা

|/aita/

|Maternal Grandmother

|18

|মামা

|/mɑː.mɑː/

|Uncle (Mother’s brother)

|19

|মামী

|/ma.mi/

|Aunt (Mother’s brother’s wife)

|20

|মহা

|/mɔ.ɦaˈ/

|Uncle (Mother’s younger sister’s husband)

|21

|মাহী

|/ma.ɦi/

|Aunt (Mother’s younger sister)

|22

|শহুৰ

|/xoɦʊɾ/

|Father-in-law

|23

|শাহু

|/xa.ɦu/

|Mother-in-law

|24

|দেওৰ

|/d̪eː.ɔɾ/

|Brother-in-law (Husband’s younger brother)

|25

|ননদ

|/ nɔnɔd /

|Sister-in-law (Husband’s younger sister)

|26

|খুলশালি

|/Khulxali/

|Brother-in-law (Wife’s younger brother)

|27

|খুলশালি

|/Khulxali/

|Sister-in-law (Wife’s younger sister)

Dialects

thumb|The varieties of Assamese.

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:

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.

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.

Notes

References

External links

Assamese language at Encyclopædia Britannica
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 from (books.google.com)
Assamese proverbs, published 1896

History

Magadhan and Gauda-Kamarupa stages

Early Assamese

Middle Assamese

Modern Assamese

Standardisation

Geographical distribution

Official status

Phonology

Consonant clusters

Alveolar stops

Voiceless velar fricative

Velar nasal

Vowel inventory

Vowel harmony

Schwa deletion

Sample text

Morphology and grammar

Classifiers

Nominalization

Grammatical cases

Pronouns

Tense

Negation process

Relationship suffixes

Dialects

Regional dialects

Samples

Non-regional dialects

Literature

See also

Notes

References

External links