Assamese language

Assamese, also called Asamiya or Oxomiya, is an Indo-Aryan language mainly spoken in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. It has served as a lingua franca in parts of Northeast India and has over 15 million native speakers and 8.3 million second language speakers.

The language has a rich history, having been the court language of the Ahom kingdom from the 17th century. It evolved from the middle Indo-Aryan Magadhi Prakrit before the 7th century CE and is related to other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages such as Bengali, Maithili, and Sylheti.

Assamese is written in its own unique Assamese alphabet, an abugida system read from left to right. On 3 October 2024, it was officially recognized as a classical Indian language by the Government of India due to its ancient origins and strong literary traditions.

History

Assamese originated from old Indo-Aryan dialects. It is believed to come from the Kamarupi dialect of Eastern Magadhi Prakrit. During the 4th–5th century, Indo-Aryan speakers settled in Assam, mixing with local communities.

Early Assamese literature appeared in the 13th century. Important works include poems and translations, such as Madhava Kandali’s version of the Ramayana. In the 15th century, Sankardev created new literary forms and infused the language with new ideas. The language continued to develop, especially in the courts of the Ahom kingdom. Printing began in the 19th century, helping to standardize the language.

Geographical distribution

Assamese is mainly spoken in the state of Assam. It is also used in nearby states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Nagaland. In the past, the Bengali-Assamese script appeared in places like present-day Burma and Nepal, showing its historical reach.

Today, Assamese is an official language of Assam and one of the 22 official languages of the Republic of India. It is used in important government work in Assam.

Phonology

Assamese has eight vowels, ten diphthongs, and twenty-three consonants, including two semivowels. One special feature is that it lacks certain sounds found in other Indo-Aryan languages, such as postalveolar affricates and fricatives. Instead, Assamese uses alveolar stops, which makes it similar to some non-Indic languages of Northeast India.

Assamese also includes a voiceless velar fricative sound, which is unusual for Eastern Indo-Aryan languages. It uses the velar nasal sound extensively, unlike many other Indo-Aryan languages. The language has vowel harmony, where certain vowels change preceding vowels. Additionally, Assamese sometimes drops the inherent vowel sound in certain word positions, a process known as schwa deletion.

Main article: Assamese consonant clusters

Writing system

Main article: Assamese alphabet

Modern Assamese uses its own special alphabet. Long ago, it had three types of scripts, all coming from an old style called Kamarupi. Today, it looks very similar to the scripts used for the Mithilakshar and Bengali languages. Assamese has a rich history of writing, with examples found in old documents and medals from kings. In the past, Assam used to write on tree bark instead of palm leaves, which was common in other parts of India. Today, the spellings in Assamese don’t always match how words sound exactly. A famous old dictionary called Hemkosh introduced spellings based on Sanskrit, and these are used as the standard today.

Assamese was also sometimes written using the Arabic script by Muslim people of Assam. One old book written this way is Tariqul Haq Fi Bayane Nurul Haq by Zulqad Ali from Sivasagar, made in 1796. In 2020, the government of Assam decided that knowing Assamese would be required for some government jobs.

Sample text

Further information: Romanisation of Assamese

Here is a small piece from a story called "Silonir ziekor xadhu (The tale of the kite's daughter)" by Lakshminath Bezbaruah, from his book Burhi Aair Xadhu:

The story tells about a girl who is found floating in a pot on the river by a washerman. When he looks inside, he sees a newborn baby girl. He tries to bring her to shore, but a kite snatches her away to its nest in a tree. The kite decides to raise the girl because she thinks the baby is very beautiful.

Morphology and grammar

Main article: Assamese grammar

The Assamese language has some special features. It does not use special words to show if things are male or female, or if there is one or more of something. However, it does have different words for "he" and "she." Verbs can be used in different ways, such as showing if something is done to a person or an object.

Assamese uses special words called classifiers to describe different kinds of objects. For example, "zɔn" is used for people, and "tʊ" can be used to talk about specific things or people. These classifiers help make the language more exact and expressive.

Dialects

The Assamese language has many regional variations. Researchers have identified four main dialect groups and one dialect isolate. The Eastern group is based around areas such as Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli, Charaideo and Sivasagar, and this is the basis for standard Assamese. The Central group is spoken in Nagaon, Sonitpur, Morigaon and nearby areas. The Kamrupi group is found in the Kamrup region, including places like Barpetia and Nalbariya. The Goalpariya group is spoken in the Goalpara region, such as in Ghulliya and Jharuwa. There is also the Cachar dialect (Dehan) in Cachar district of the Barak valley.

In addition to these regional dialects, there are also community-based dialects. For example, there is a special polite dialect used in formal settings, and some communities such as fishermen or astrologers have their own unique ways of speaking. Urban young people also create their own slang words and phrases.

Literature

Main article: Assamese literature

Assamese has a rich and growing collection of books and stories. Early examples of this language can be found in special poems called the Charyapadas, written between the eighth and twelfth centuries. In the fourteenth century, court poets began writing beautiful stories, with Madhav Kandali's Saptakanda Ramayana being one of the best examples. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Vaishnavite tradition helped Assamese literature grow even more, leading to the modern books we know today.