Languages In India

Arunachal Pradesh Assamese Language

Phonology

The Assamese phonemic inventory consists of ten diphthongs, eight vowels and twenty one consonants. In case of Assamese there are four back rounded vowels that contrast phonemically.

Writing System

The Assamese script is a variant which traces its tumble from the Gupta script and is used by the Assamese. In addition Assamese has strong literary tradition from early times. Numerous examples can be seen in Land grants, edicts, copper plates of medieval kings. Moreover Assam has its own system of writing on the bark of the Saanchi tree in which chronicles and religious texts were written. Furthermore the second Assamese dictionary also introduces many spellings which are based on Sanskrit which are now very standard.

Morphology and Grammar

The Assamese language has many morphological features which are as follows:-

There is lexical difference of gender in the third person pronoun. Genders and numbers are not grammatically marked. Transitive verbs are illustrious from intransitive. Adverbs can be derived from the verb roots. Also a passive construction may be employed idiomatically.

Assamese has a huge collection of classifiers which are all used for distinctive kind of objects. In Assamese the classifiers are generally used in the numeral + classifier + noun forms.

Dialects

Assamese has number of regional and non regional dialects. Banikanta Kakati identifies two regional dialects which are Eastern and Western. Recently four dialects are recognised which are Eastern Group in and around Sibsagar district. The Central group is in Nagaon and Morigaon and also in its adjoining districts. The Kamrupi group is undivided between Nibari, Kamrup, Darang and Bongaigaon district and finally the Goalpariya group is seen in Golpara and Dhubri districts. The regional dialects are often used in creative works and in novels.

Also there are number of non regional dialects which are community based. Most literary activity takes place in this dialect and therefore it is often called as Likhito bhaxa. There also exist some of the regional dialects which are Standard dialect influenced by neighbouring centres. The fisherman community has a dialect which is used in eastern and central region whereas the astrologer community of Darrang district uses dialect called thar which is coded and secretive. Additionally the Bhakatiya dialect is highly polite and sattra based which contains different set of nominals, verbal forms and prenominals. It also consists of passive and indirect expressions. Some of the features are even used in standard dialect on very formal occasions.

Literature

Assamese is the strong body of literature. This growing language are seen in the Charyapadas composed in between eight and twelfth centuries. It consists of many writings and poets initially. Later it is seen in form of Ojapali which was well crafted. The Vaishnavite literature came into existence in sixteen to seventeen centuries. Moreover in nineteenth century modern form of Assamese literature came into existence.