Assamese alphabet

Assamese abugida
Type Abugida
Languages Assamese
Time period 13th Century to the present
Parent systems
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols.

The Assamese script (অসমীয়া লিপি Ôxômiya Akhôr)[1] is a variant of the Assamese/Bengali Script also used for Bengali and Bishnupriya Manipuri. The Assamese/Bengali script belongs to the Brahmic family of scripts and is thought to have a continuous history of development from Nagari script, a precursor of Devanagari. However, there are linguists who have a different interpretation about the evolution of the Assamese Script who claim that it evolved from the earlier stage of the Nagari Script, the Gupta Script with significant traits from the Siddham Script. Their claims are supported by the peculiarities of the shapes of the alphabets found in the Nogajori-Khonikor Gaon stone inscriptions of the 5th century A.D. [2] where the letters are distinctly different from Nagari and have close resemblance with the Gupta Script. By the 17th century three styles of Assamese script could be identified (baminiya, kaitheli and garhgaya)[3] which gave way to the standard script which followed the typeset script. The present standard is identical to the Bengali script except for three letters.[4]

Buranjis were written during Ahom dynasties in Assamese language using Assamese script. The earliest evidence of Assamese script is found in the Charyapada, the Buddhist songs. They are supposed to have been composed within a time-frame of four hundred years from 8th century AD to 12th century AD. In the 14th century Madhava Kandali used Assamese script to compose the famous Kotha Ramayana which is the first translation of Ramayana in a regional Indian language after Valmiki Ramayana in Sanskrit. Later, Srimanta Sankardeva used it in the 15th and 16th centuries to compose his oeuvre in Assamese and Brajavali the language of the Bhakti poems (Borgeets) and Dramas (Ankiya naat).

Ahom king Chakradwaj Singha, (1663-1670 AD) was the first ruler who started issuing Assamese coins for his kingdom (see figure for a sample coin). Similar script with minor differences are used to write Maithili, Bengali (Bengali script), Manipuri and Sylheti language.

Contents

History

The Umachal rock inscription of the 5th century evidences the first use of a script in the region. The script was very similar to the one used in Samudragupta's Allahabad Pillar inscription. Rock and copper plate inscriptions from then onwards, and Xaansi bark manuscripts right up to the 18th-19th centuries show a steady development of the Assamese script. The script could be said to develop proto-Assamese shapes by the 13th century. In the 18th and 19th century, the Assamese script could be divided into three varieties: Kaitheli (used by non-Brahmins), Bamuniya (used by Brahmins, for Sanskrit) and Garhgaya (used by state officials of the Ahom kingdom). In the early part of the 19th century, Atmaram Sarmah designed the first Assamese script for printing in Srerampore, and the Bengali and Assamese lithography converged to the present standard that is used today.

Assamese symbols

Vowels

The script presently has a total of 11 vowel letters, used to represent the eight main vowel sounds of Assamese, along with a number of vowel diphthongs. All of these are used in both Assamese and Bengali, the two main languages using the script. Some of the vowel letters have different sounds depending on the word, and a number of vowel distinctions preserved in the writing system are not pronounced as such in modern spoken Assamese or Bengali. For example, the Assamese script has two symbols for the vowel sound [i] and two symbols for the vowel sound [u]. This redundancy stems from the time when this script was used to write Sanskrit, a language that had a short [i] and a long [iː], and a short [u] and a long [uː]. These letters are preserved in the Assamese script with their traditional names of hôrswô i (lit. 'short i') and dirghô i (lit. 'long i'), etc., despite the fact that they are no longer pronounced differently in ordinary speech.

Vowel signs can be used in conjunction with consonants to modify the pronunciation of the consonant (here exemplified by ক, kô). When no vowel is written, the vowel 'অ' (ô or o) is often assumed. To specifically denote the absence of a vowel, (্) may be written underneath the consonant...

Vowels
Letter Name of letter Vowel sign with [kɔ] (ক) Name of vowel sign Transliteration IPA
অ ô ক (none) (none) kô kɔ
অ or অ' o ক (none) or ক' (none) ko ko
আ a কা akar ka ka
ই hôrswô i কি hôrswôikar ki ki
ঈ dirghô i কী dirghôikar ki ki
উ hôrswô u কু hôrswôukar ku ku
ঊ dirghô u কূ dirghôukar ku ku
ঋ ri কৃ rikar kri kri
এ e কে ekar kê and ke kɛ and ke
ঐ ôi কৈ ôikar kôi kɔj
ও û কো ûkar kû kʊ
ঔ ôu কৌ ôukar kôu kɔw

Consonants

The names of the consonant letters in Assamese are typically just the consonant's main pronunciation plus the inherent vowel ô. Since the inherent vowel is assumed and not written, most letters' names look identical to the letter itself (e.g. the name of the letter ঘ is itself ঘ ghô). Some letters that have lost their distinctive pronunciation in Modern Assamese are called by a more elaborate name. For example, since the consonant phoneme /n/ can be written ন, ণ, or ঞ (depending on the spelling of the particular word), these letters are not simply called nô; instead, they are called ন dôntiyô nô ("dental n"), ণ mudhôinnô nô ("cerebral n"), and ঞ niô. Similarly, the phoneme /x/ can be written as শ talôibbô xô ("palatal x"), ষ mudhôinnô xô ("cerebral x"), or স dôntiyô xô ("dental x"), the phoneme /s/ can be written using চ prôthôm sô ("first s") or ছ ditiyô sô ("second s"), and the phoneme /z/ can be written using জ bôrgiyô zô ("row z" = "the z included in the five rows of stop consonants") or য ôntôsthô zô ("z situated between" = "the z that comes between the five rows of stop consonants and the row of sibilants"), depending on the standard spelling of the particular word.

Consonants
Letter Name of Letter Transliteration IPA
ক kô k k
খ khô kh kʰ
গ gô g ɡ
ঘ ghô gh ɡʱ
ঙ ngô ng ŋ
চ prôthôm sô s s
ছ ditiyô sô sh sh
জ bôrgiyô zô z z
ঝ jhô zh zh
ঞ niô y j
ট murdhônyô tô t t
ঠ murdhônyô thô th tʰ
ড murdhônyô dô d d
ঢ murdhônyô dhô dh dʱ
ণ murdhônyô nô n n
ত dôntyô tô t t
থ dôntyô thô th tʰ
দ dôntyô dô d d
ধ dôntyô dhô dh dʱ
ন dôntyô nô n n
প pô p p
ফ phô ph pʰ
ব bô b b
ভ bhô bh bʱ
ম mô m m
য ôntôsthô zô z z
ৰ rô r ɹ
ল lô l l
ৱ wô w w
শ talôibbô xô x and s x~s
ষ murdhônyô xô x and s x~s
স dôntyô xô x and s x~s
হ hô h h
ক্ষ khyô khy kʰj
ড় dôre ŗô ŗ ɾ
ঢ় đhôre ŗô ŗ ɾ
য় ôntôsthô yô y j

Consonants clusters

According to Dr. G. C. Goswami the number of two-phoneme clusters is 143 symbolized by 174 conjunct letters. Three phoneme clusters are 21 in number, which are written by 27 conjunct clusters. A few of them are given hereafter as examples:

Conjunct letters Conjunct letters (Latin interpretation) [Phoneme clusters (with phonetics)
ক + ক (ka+ka) ক্ক kka
ঙ + ক (na+ka) ঙ্ক ńka
ল + ক (la+ka) ল্ক lka
ষ + ক (şa+ka) স্ক şka
স + ফ (sa+pha) স্ফ spha
ঙ + খ (ña+kh) ঙ্খ ñkha
স + খ (sa+kh) স্খ skha
ঙ + গ (ńa+ga) ঙ্গ ńga
ঙ + ঘ (ń+gha) ঙঘ ńgha
দ + ঘ (da+gha) দঘ dgha
শ + চ (śa+ca) শ্চ śca
চ + চ্হ (ca+cha) চ্ছ ccha
ঞ + চ্হ (ña+cha) ঞ্ছ ñcha
ঞ + জ (ña+ja) ঞ্জ ñja
জ + ঞ (ja+ña) জ্ঞ jña
ল + ট্ (la+ţa) ল্ lţa
ণ + ঠ (ņ+tḥa) ণ্ঠ ņtha
ষ + ঠ (şa+tḥa) ষ্ঠ ştha
ণ + ড (ņa+ḍa) ণ্ড ņḍa
ষ + ণ (şa+ņa) ষ্ণ şņa
হ + ন (ha+na) হ hna
ক + ষ (ka+ņa) ক্ষ kņa
প + ত (pa+ta) প্ত pta
স + ত (sa+ta) স্ত sta
ক + ত (ka+ta) ক্ত kta
গ + ন (ga+na) ঘ্ন gna
ম + ন (ma+na) ম্ন mna
শ + ন (śa+na) শ্ন śna
স + ন (sa+na) স্ন sna
হ + ন (ha+na) হ hna
ত + থ (ta+tha) ত্থ ttha
ন + থ (na+tha) ন্থ ntha
ষ + থ (şa+tha) ষ্থ ştha
ন + দ (na+da) ন্দ nda
ব + দ (ba+da) ব্দ bda
ম + প (ma+pa) ম্প mpa
ল + প (la+pa) ল্প lpa
ষ + প (şa+pa) ষ্প şpa
স + প (sa+pa) স্প spa
ম + ফ (ma+pha) ম্ফ mpha
ষ + ফ (şa+pha) স্ফ şpha
দ + ব (da+ba) দ্ব dba
ম + ব (ma+ba) ম্ব mba
হ + ব ha+ba) হ্ব hba
দ + ভ (da+bha) দ্ভ dbha
ম + ভ (ma+bha) ম্ভ mbha
ক + ম (ka+ma) ক্ম kma
দ + ম (da+ma) দ্ম dma
হ + ম (ha+ma) হ্ম hma
ম + ম (ma+ma) ম্ম mma

Digits

Digits
Hindu-Arabic numerals 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Assamese numerals ০ ১ ২ ৩ ৪ ৫ ৬ ৭ ৮ ৯
Assamese names xuinnô ek dui tini sari pas sôy xat ath nô
শূণ্য এক দুই তিনি চাৰি পাচ ছয় সাত আঠ ন

Three distinct variations of Assamese script from the Bengali

Assamese unique alphabets
Letter Name of letter Transliteration IPA Bengali
ৰ
 rô r ɹ - (Absent)
ৱ
 wô w w - (Absent)
ক্ষ
 khyô khy kʰj - (Absent)

Assamese keyboard layout

The keyboard locations of three unique to Assamese script alphabets are depicted below:

The "Indian languages TRANSliteration" (ITRANS) the ASCII transliteration scheme for Indic scripts here, Eastern Nagari - Assamese; the characterizations are given below:

Keyboard Sequence Character
k ক্
kh খ্
g গ্
gh ঘ্
~N ঙ্
N^ ঙ্
ch চ্
Ch ছ্
chh ছ্
j জ্
jh ঝ্
~n ঞ্
JN ঞ্
T ট্
Th ঠ্
D ড্
Dh ঢ্
N ণ্
t ত্
th থ্
d দ্
Keyboard Sequence Character
dh ধ্
n ন্
p প্
ph ফ্
b ব্
bh ভ্
m ম্
y য্
r ৰ্
l ল্
v ৱ্
w ৱ্
sh শ্
Sh ষ্
shh ষ্
s স্
h হ্
.D ড়্
.Dh ঢ়্
Y য়্
yh য়্
Keyboard Sequence Character
GY জ্ঞ্
dny জ্ঞ্
x ক্ষ্
a অ
aa আ
A আ
i ই
ii ঈ
I ঈ
u উ
uu ঊ
U ঊ
RRi ঋ
R^i ঋ
LLi ঌ
Keyboard Sequence Character
L^i ঌ
e এ
ai ঐ
o ও
au ঔ
RRI ৠ
R^I ৠ
LLI ৡ
L^I ৡ
.N ঁ
.n ং
M ং
H ঃ
.h ্
Keyboard Sequence Character
0 ০
1 ১
2 ২
3 ৩
4 ৪
5 ৫
6 ৬
7 ৭
8 ৮
9 ৯
# ্ৰ
$ ৰ্
^ ত্ৰ
* শ্ৰ
়

Notes

  1. ^ The name ăcãmăkṣara first appears in Ahom coins and copperplates where the name denoted the Ahom script (Bora 1981:11–12)
  2. ^ Assamese literature - An overview and historical perspective Linking into broader Indian canvas
  3. ^ (Bora 1981:53)
  4. ^ http://rajivkonwar100.blogspot.com/2011/07/assamese-experts-question-sahitya-sabha.html

References

External links