Assamese language

Assamese
Asamiya Ôxômiya
The word "Ôxômiya" in the Assamese alphabet
Pronunciation
Native to	India
Region	Northeast India Assam Arunachal Pradesh Meghalaya Nagaland
Ethnicity	Assamese
Speakers	L1: 15 million (2011) L2: 8.3 million (2011) Total: 24 million (2011)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Bengali–Assamese Assamese
Early forms	Magadhi Prakrit Magadhan Apabhraṃśa Kamarupi Prakrit Early Assamese
Dialects	Eastern Central Kamrupi Goalpariya Dehan
Writing system	Bengali–Assamese script (Assamese alphabet) Assamese Braille Latin script (Nagamese and Nefamese)
Official status
Official language in	India Assam
Regulated by	Asam Sahitya Sabha (Literary Society of Assam)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	Template:ISO 639-1
ISO 639-2	Template:ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3	asm
Glottolog	assa1263
ELP	Template:Endangered Languages Project
Linguasphere	Template:Infobox language/lingualist
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Geographic distribution of the Assamese language in India

Template:Contains special characters Template:Contains special characters 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.

After the differentiation of Maithili and Odia, Assamese was in its formative stages in the 12th 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

File:East magadhan proto-languages - en.svg

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.

File:Silver rupee of Rudra Simha.jpg

Silver coin issued during the reign of Rudra Singha in Sanskrit with Assamese letters

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, 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. 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).

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ⟨i, ⟩		u ⟨u, ⟩
Near-close			ʊ ⟨ü, ⟩
Close-mid	e ⟨é, ⟩		o ⟨ó, ⟩
Open-mid	ɛ ⟨e, ⟩		ɔ ⟨o, ⟩
Open		a ⟨a, ⟩

Diphthongs

	a	i	u
a
ɔ
e
o
i
u

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Dorsal	Glottal
Nasal		m ⟨m, ⟩	n ⟨n, ⟩	ŋ ⟨ng, ⟩
Stop	voiceless	p ⟨p, ⟩	t ⟨t, ⟩	k ⟨k, ⟩
	aspirated	pʰ ⟨ph, ⟩	tʰ ⟨th, ⟩	kʰ ⟨kh, ⟩
	voiced	b ⟨b, ⟩	d ⟨d, ⟩	ɡ ⟨g, ⟩
	murmured	bʱ ⟨bh, ⟩	dʱ ⟨dh, ⟩	ɡʱ ⟨gh, ⟩
Fricative	voiceless		s ⟨s, ⟩	x ⟨x, ⟩	h ⟨h, ⟩
	voiced		z ⟨j, ⟩
Approximant	central	w ⟨w, ⟩	ɹ ⟨r, ⟩	j ⟨y, ⟩
	lateral		l ⟨l, ⟩

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 (realised as [x] or [χ], 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. The rule for deleting the final // was not followed in Early Assamese.

Writing system

File:Bengali ৰ.svg

Rô
One of the consonants of Assamese script

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 ( ), 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"

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:

Cases	Suffix	Example
Absolutive	none	Template:Fs interlinear
Ergative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear Note: The personal pronouns without a plural or other suffix are not marked.
Accusative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Genitive	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Dative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Terminative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Instrumental	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Locative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear

Pronouns

Number	Person	Gender	Pronouns
			Absolutive Ergative	Accusative Dative	Genitive	Locative	Dative
Singular	1st	m/f (I)	moi	mük	mür	müt	mülói
	2nd	m/f (you)	toi ᵛ tumi ᶠ apuni ᵖ	tük tümak apünak	tür tümar apünar	tüt tümat apünat	tüloi tümalói apünaloi
	3rd	m (he) n (it, that)	i * xi **	iak tak	iar tar	iat tat	ialoi taloi
		f (she)	ei * tai **	eik taik	eir tair	eit tait	eilói tailói
		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
Plural	1st	m/f (we)	ami	amak	amar	amat	amalói
	2nd	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
	3rd	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
		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).

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.

Tense	Person	tho "put"		kha "consume"		pi "drink"		de "give"		dhu "wash"		kor "do"		randh "cook"		ah "come"
		+	-	+	-	+	-	+	-	+	-	+	-	+	-	+	-
Simple Present	1st per.	thoü	nothoü	khaü	nakhaü ~ nekhaü	piü	nipiü	diü	nidiü	dhüü	nüdhüü	korü	nokorü	randhü	narandhü ~ nerandhü	ahü	nahü
	2nd per. inf.	thoo	nothoo	khao	nakhao ~ nekhao	pio	nipio	dio	nidio	dhüo	nüdhüo	koro	nokoro	randho	narandho ~ nerandho	aho	naho
	2nd per. pol.	thüa	nüthüa	khüa	nükhüa	pia	nipia	dia	nidia	dhüa	nüdhüa	kora	nokora	randha	narandha ~ nerandha	aha	naha
	2nd per. hon. & 3rd per.	thoe	nothoe	khae	nakhae ~ nekhae	pie	nipie	die	nidie	dhüe	nüdhüe	kore	nokore	randhe	narandhe ~ nerandhe	ahe	nahe
Present continuous	1st per.	thói asü	thoi thoka nai	khai asü	khai thoka nai	pi asu	pi thoka nai	di asü	di thoka nai	dhui asü	dhui thoka nai	kori asü	kóri thoka nai	randhi asü	randhi thoka nai	ahi asü	ahi thoka nai
	2nd per. inf.	thoi aso		khai aso		pi aso		di aso		dhui aso		kori aso		randhi aso		ahi aso
	2nd per. pol.	thoi asa		khai asa		pi asa		di asa		dhui asa		kori asa		randhi asa		ahi asa
	2nd per. hon. & 3rd per.	thoi ase		khai ase		pi ase		di ase		dhui ase		kori ase		randhi ase		ahi ase
Present Perfect	1st per.	thoisü	thüa nai	khaisü	khwa nai	pisü	pia nai	disü	dia nai	dhui asü	dhwa nai	korisü	kora nai	randhisü	rondha nai	ahi asü	oha nai
	2nd per. 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
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
	2nd per. hon. & 3rd per.	thóle	nothóle	khale	nakhale ~ nekhale	pile	nipile	dile	nidile	dhule	nudhule	kórile	nókórile	randhile	narandhile ~ nerandhile	ahile / ahiltr	nahile / nahiltr
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
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)
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
	2nd per. hon. & 3rd per.	thóbo	nothóbo	khabo	nakhabo ~ nekhabo	pibo	nipibo	dibo	nidibo	dhubo	nudhubo	koribo	nokoribo	randhibo	narandhibo ~ nerandhibo	ahibo	nahibo
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
	2nd per. hon. & 3rd per.	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

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

Sr. No.	Assamese Word	IPA	English Word
1	দেউতা	/dɛuta/	Father
2	আই/মা	/ai/ /mɑ/	Mother
3	দাদা	/dada/	Elder Brother
4	ভাই	/bhai/	Younger Brother
5	বাইদেউ	/bɑɪ.dɛʊ/	Elder Sister
6	ভনী	/bhɔni/	Younger Sister
7	পুতেক	/putɛk/	Son
8	জীয়ৰী	/ziːɔɾi/	Daughter
9	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

File:Assamese varieties.svg

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:

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):

Central Assamese:

Central/Kamrupi (Pati Darrang):

Kamrupi (Palasbari):

Kamrupi (Barpeta):

Kamrupi (Bongaigaon):

Western Goalpariya (Salkocha):

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

References

• Chatterji (1926). The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language.
• 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:10.1017/UPO9789382264521.003. 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). "The Ahom Political System: An Enquiry into the State Formation Process in Medieval Assam (1228-1714)" (PDF). Social Scientist. 11 (12): 3–34. doi:10.2307/3516963. JSTOR 3516963.
• Kakati, Banikanta (1941). Assamese: Its Formation and Development. 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 578299.
• Kar, Boddhisattva (2008). "'Tongue Has No Bone': Fixing the Assamese Language, c.1800–c.1930". Studies in History. 24 (1): 27–76. doi:10.1177/025764300702400102. S2CID 144577541.
• Khan, M. Siddiq (1962). "The Early History of Bengali Printing". The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy. 32 (1): 51–61. doi:10.1086/618956. JSTOR 4305188. S2CID 148408211.
• Kommaluri, Vijayanand; Subramanian, R.; Sagar K, Anand (2005). "Issues in Morphological Analysis of North-East Indian Languages". Language in India. 5.
• Mahanta, Sakuntala (2012). "Assamese". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 42 (2): 217–224. doi:10.1017/S0025100312000096.
• Masica, Colin P (1993). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-29944-2. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
• Medhi, Kaliram (1988). Assamese Grammar and the Origin of Assamese Language. Guwahati: Publication Board, Assam. OCLC 22067340.
• Moral, Dipankar (1997). "North-East India as a Linguistic Area" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies. 27: 43–53.
• Neog, Maheshwar (1980). Anandaram Dhekiyal Phukan. New Delhi: Sahiyta Akademi. OCLC 9110997.
• Oberlies, Thomas (2007). "Chapter Five: Aśokan Prakrit and Pāli". 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). "Assamese". In Paniker (ed.). Medieval Indian Literature: Surveys and selections. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 3–20. ISBN 978-81-260-0365-5.
• Sarma, Parismita (2017). Analysis and building an unrestricted speech synthesizer with reference to assamese language (PhD). Gauhati University. hdl:10603/195592.
• 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 25163745.
• Toulmin, Mathew W S (2006). Reconstructing linguistic history in a dialect continuum: The Kamta, Rajbanshi, and Northern Deshi Bangla subgroup of Indo-Aryan (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). The Verb Phrase in Assamese: A Constituent Structure Analysis (PhD). Gauhati University. hdl:10603/66692.

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