Assamese script
Encyclopedia
The Assamese script is a variant of the Eastern Nagari script
also used for Bengali
and Bishnupriya Manipuri
. The Eastern Nagari script belongs to the Brahmic family
of scripts and has a continuous history of development from Nagari script
, a precursor of Devanagari
. By the 17th century three styles of Assamese script could be identified (baminiya, kaitheli and garhgaya) 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.
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.
). 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.
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...
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:
Eastern Nagari script
The Eastern Nagari script is an Abugida system of writing belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts which use is associated with the two main languages Assamese and Bengali and other related variants such as, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Maithili, Mising, Meitei Manipuri, Sylheti, and Chittagonian...
also used for Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
and Bishnupriya Manipuri
Bishnupriya Manipuri language
The Bishnupriya or Bishnupriya Manipuri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of the Indian states of Assam, Tripura, Manipur and others, as well as in Bangladesh, Burma, and other countries.-History and development:...
. The Eastern Nagari script belongs to the Brahmic family
Brahmic family
The Brahmic or Indic scripts are a family of abugida writing systems. They are used throughout South Asia , Southeast Asia, and parts of Central and East Asia, and are descended from the Brāhmī script of the ancient Indian subcontinent...
of scripts and has a continuous history of development from Nagari script
Nagari script
The Nāgarī script is the ancestor of Devanagari, Assamese, Bengali and other variants, and was first used to write Prakrit and Sanskrit. It was in vogue from before the 10th century...
, a precursor of Devanagari
Devanagari
Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
. By the 17th century three styles of Assamese script could be identified (baminiya, kaitheli and garhgaya) which gave way to the standard script which followed the typeset script. The present standard is identical to the Bengali script
Bengali script
The Bengali alphabet is the writing system for the Bengali language. The script with variations is used for Assamese and is basis for Meitei, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Kokborok, Garo and Mundari alphabets. All these languages are spoken in the eastern region of South Asia. Historically, the script has...
except for three letters.
Buranjis were written during Ahom
Ahom Dynasty
The Ahom Dynasty ruled the Ahom Kingdom in present-day Assam for nearly 600 years. The dynasty was established by Sukaphaa, a Shan prince of Mong Mao who came to Assam after crossing the Patkai mountains...
dynasties in Assamese language using Assamese script. The earliest evidence of Assamese script is found in the Charyapada
Charyapada
The Charyapada is a collection of 8th-12th century Vajrayana Buddhist caryagiti, or mystical poems from the tantric tradition in eastern India. Being caryagiti , the Charyapada were intended to be sung. These songs of realization were spontaneously composed verses that expressed a practitioner's...
, 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
Madhava Kandali
Kaviraja Madhava Kandali was an Assamese poet of India, notable for the earliest rendering of the Valmiki Ramayana into Assamese verse . His another work is a narrative poem, Devajit on superiority of Krishna over the other avatars of Vishnu...
used Assamese script to compose the famous Kotha Ramayana
Kotha Ramayana
Kotha Ramayana is a poem written by the powerful Assamese poet Madhava Kandali during the 14th century and is one of many versions of Ramayana in a regional Indian language other than Valmiki's Ramayana in Sanskrit...
which is the first translation of Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
in a regional Indian language after Valmiki
Valmiki
Valmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e...
Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
. Later, Srimanta Sankardeva
Srimanta Sankardeva
Mahapurusha Srimanta Shankardeva , was the greatest Assamese saint-scholar, playwright, social-religious reformer and a colossal figure in the cultural and religious history of Assam, India...
used it in the 15th and 16th centuries to compose his oeuvre in Assamese
Assamese language
Assamese is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language. It is used mainly in the state of Assam in North-East India. It is also the official language of Assam. It is also spoken in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and other northeast Indian states. Nagamese, an Assamese-based Creole language is widely used in...
and Brajavali
Brajavali
Brajavali is the language used by Srimanta Sankardeva, Madhabdev and other composers who belonged to the religious sect started by Srimanta Sankardeva in the 15th-16th century in Assam. In general, the language carries the flavor of Brajbhasa, the language of choice of the Bhakti poets, but it was...
the language of the Bhakti
Bhakti
In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
poems (Borgeets) and Dramas (Ankiya naat).
Maithili
Maithili may refer to:* Maithili language, a language spoken in the eastern part of India and south - eastern part of Nepal and it is a second national language of Nepal. It belongs to the ancient Kingdom Mithila....
, Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
(Bengali script
Bengali script
The Bengali alphabet is the writing system for the Bengali language. The script with variations is used for Assamese and is basis for Meitei, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Kokborok, Garo and Mundari alphabets. All these languages are spoken in the eastern region of South Asia. Historically, the script has...
), Manipuri and Sylheti language.
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 kingdomAhom kingdom
The Ahom Kingdom was a medieval kingdom in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam that maintained its sovereignty for nearly 600 years and successfully resisted Mughal expansion in North-East India...
). 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.
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 AssameseAssamese language
Assamese is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language. It is used mainly in the state of Assam in North-East India. It is also the official language of Assam. It is also spoken in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and other northeast Indian states. Nagamese, an Assamese-based Creole language is widely used in...
and Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
, 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...
| 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.| 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 Phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs : their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory... ) |
|---|---|---|
| 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
| 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
| Letter | Name of letter | Transliteration | IPA | Bengali |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rô | r | ɹ | - (Absent) | |
| wô | w | w | - (Absent) | |
| khyô | khy | kʰj | - (Absent) | |
Assamese keyboard layout
- In-script keyboard layout:
- Phonetic keyboard layout:
- The unique alphabet identifiers:
The keyboard locations of three unique to Assamese script alphabets are depicted below:
- ITRANS characterization:
The "Indian languages TRANSliteration" (ITRANS
ITRANS
The "Indian languages TRANSliteration" is an ASCII transliteration scheme for Indic scripts, particularly for Devanagari script. It was developed by Avinash Chopde. The latest version of ITRANS is version 5.30 released in July, 2001...
) the ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
transliteration
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
scheme for Indic scripts here, Eastern Nagari - Assamese; the characterizations are given below:
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