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Assamese-English Pages [114]
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GRAMMATICAL NOTICES
OF THE
ASAMESE LANGUAGE ri BY
(-
N.
BROWN.
V^
SIBS AGOR: PRINTED AT THE AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSION PRESS. 1848.
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STAOC
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c:
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—^
7 1
Bl INTRODUCTION. The ed as
Notices do not claim to be regarda Grammar of the Asamese Language; nor were following
they prepared with a view to publication in their present state.
They were commenced with
the intention
of printing only a few sheets, for private use, of the
most common grammatical forms; but the work having extended beyond what was anticipated,
it
may not
be unsuitable to prefix a few introductory remarks.
Like many other dialects of India, the Asamese language owes the greater portion of to the ancient Sanskrit. it
The Bengali
its
vocabulary
alone excepted,
probably contains a greater proportion of Sanskrit
Whether
derivatives than any other Lidian tongue. it
was
itself a dialect of the
Sanskrit, or whether
was formed by engrafting the Sanskrit upon some ginal native stock
however, languages is
an
is
the
now
extinct,
is
uncertain
more probable opinion.
this original stock
;
j
ori-
the latter
With what
may have been
interesting, but difficult inquiry
it
as
affiliated,
but very
few Asamese words, not derived from the Sanskrit, are to be found in any of the neighboring dialects hitherto examinedliar objects are
The names of common and
fami-
those which longest resist the en-
croachments of a foreign tongue; and a further com-
057
IV
parison of this class of
Asamese words with
the cor-
responding terms in the original languages of the Chutias, Kacharis Kooches and other tribes by which
Asam
has been peopled, would probably throw
light
on the origin of the language
It is
remarkable that the Ahoms,
and conquered the country,
much
present use.
in
who overspread and who now constitute
a large proportion of the population, should have
been able
to
produce no alteration
the original inhabitants;
in the
language of
scarcely a single
present use being traceable to the
terra in
ancient
Ahom.
This language, which was closely allied to the Shyan is now understood only by a few Ahom who still preserve their old religion. The Asamese is often regarded as merely a corrupt form of the Bengali, by persons who become acquaint-
and Siamese, priests,
ed with
tiiat
language previous to their arrival
Finding so large a proportion of v\ords
in
Asam.
common
to
Bengali and Asamese, and not considering that this similarity necessarily results from the
common
parent of
has been hastily concluded that the
Asamese
these languages from Sanskrit, the both, is
it
but an uncouth jargon, formed by the incorporation
of Bengali
The
witli the
various dialects of the country.
opinion that the present language of Bengal
the parent of Asamese, is
derivation of
well
known
is
irreconcilable with facts.
that there had been no inllux of
galis into this province, prior to the
vasion;
is It
Ben-
Mohammedan
in-
at which time the language was established
Very few of
in its present form.
Brahmans of
tl»e
Asara have any connection or fellowship with those of
Bengal
they trace their origin to the upper provin-
;
ces of India: and vve accordingly find that the
Asam-
though saturated with Sanskrit, corresponds in
ese,
other respects, especially in pronunciation, with the
In
Hindustani rather than the Bengali.
As-
fact, the
aniese pronunciation of words derived from the Sanskrit
such as to render the supposition of a Bengali
is
A very prominent char,
origin entirely inadmissible.
of this language
acteristic
the Sanskrit letters
*r,
the pronunciation of
is
^, and
jft
like the guttural
kh, corresponding with the Greek
known still
Traces of
in Bengali.
found in the language of
X^
h or
a sound un-
this pronunciation
Upper India;
are
in the
Brij Bliakha (Bengali, bhasha,) or original language of Hindustan; and
we
dokU,
find
stead of
//za^,
in the
modern Hindustani, where
guilt, instead
&c.
Had
o^ dosJi;
mak, month,
the Asaraese
in-
been introdu-
ced from Bengal, the Bengali pronunciation w^ould undoubtedly have accompanied
it.
For
the
two Sanskrit
and
v,
the Bengali alphabet has but one re-
presentative,
^
b,
letters b
^,
while the Asamese contains ^ and
pronounced b and w.
god Shiva,
Hiwo;
in
Bengali
is
Thus
pronounced Sib,
common
connection with each other-
and
9t
name of the Hindu in
Asamese
conclusively showing that the two languages,
though derived from a
^
the
are
source, have no direct
The pronunciation of
also essentially diflferent in
Asamese and
Tl
Bengali; the former being pronounced
Asara invariably as
ck, in
^
s.
in
in
Bengal as
Bengali has the
hard sound of the English 7; in Asamese it is pronounced like z or rather like the French 7, a slight ,
sound of the consonant y being combined with the z^
word azure,
as in the
For beauty and
much
az-yure.
softness, the
superior to the Bengali
pect the Hindustani.
It is
;
Asnmese language
resembling in
is
this res-
not inferior, in copious-
ness, to any of the Indian languages,
and
is
capable
of indefinite extension by additions from the Sanskrit.
The
native pundits, in fact,
make no scruple
to intro-
duce, whenever necessity or convenience requires, any
word, however unusual, that may be Ibund sacred writings.
sed
;
This
is
a license which
is
in
their
often abu-
native writers being apt to adorn their composi-
tions with a profusion of Sanskrit that
is
quite unne-
cessary, and renders their productions wholly unintelligible to
The
the
only
common
people.
Asamese books which can be regarded
as
a standard of good prose writing are the Buronj'is^ or histories, which have been written during the last
two or three hundred years. but few prose works eral matliematical
found;
in existence.
mese are
Most in
Translations of sev-
and other Sanskrit works are
but the language
Buronjis.
Besides these there are
is
less
to be
pure than that of the
of the sacred writings of the
Asa-
poetry; which ditfors so widely from the
spoken language, that the student who wisiies
to ac-
—
—
Vll
quire a correct style, should confine himself, at the
coraraencement of
his studies, entirely to prose.
ORTHOGRAPHXAlthough, as a spoken language, the Asamese has
been fixed
in its
present form for centuries,
it
ap-
pears never to have been written on any settled and in this respect
uniform principles of orthography,
own language previous to the introduction of printing, when the word kijig was writAs a speten indifferently, cyng, cinge, kynge, &c. cimen of the orthography of those times, we select a
it
resembles our
passage from a manuscript Bible of the fourteenth
Commentary.
century, quoted in Dr. Clark's
Modern Orthography.
Manuscript Orthography.
Cum
ray leef,
go we out into
the feeld, dwelle
we togydir in we to the vyne
townes: see
we
erli riise
gif
tlie
vyne flouride
;
The mandraggis yeven smel in oure yeatis.
newe and to thee.
The
to the field
i
|
their
olde
my
Alle appis leef, I kept
Cant,
vii,
1.
love,
ed,
go we out
we
if
the vine flower-
bring forth the pomegranates flowThe mandrakes give their
if
the
flowers
fruits, if
er.
smell in our gates:
new and I
in-
we together rise we to the
dwell
;
towns; early
in
vine; see
gif
the floures,fruytis bringen forth; gif the poumgarnetis flouren ?
Come, my
j
(for) thee.
old,
my
Sol.
apples
all
love,
Song,
I
kept
vii, 1.
perfection of a written language evidently con-
sists in its
corresponding, as
language actually spoken.
lowing rule
should have
is
far as possible,
with the
In order for this, the fol-
indispensable, viz. That every
its oicn
sound
appropriate character i
and
that every letter should express a single invariable
sound.
There
will
then be neither more nor fewer
Vlll
letters than the vocal sounds.
a modification of which
conimns ffti/
Asamese
is
letters, while the
number of sounds
The
led to the great variety of spelling which
by two, and sometimes by three and four ters; while, not unfrequently, the
cing the printing of books
we now
find
different let-
letter has
been
commenlanguage, the mem-
in this
Mission considered
In
it
important to
and uniform system of orthogra-
establish a correct
phy.
same
to express different sounds.
Asam
naturally
the sanie sound being expressed
in native writers;
bers of the
in
use of an alpha-
many redundant letters, has
bet containing so
employed
alphabet,
used for writing Asamese,
only tliirty-six.
is
The Sanskrit
Three modes of proceedure suggested them-
selves, viz. 1.
To
spell all
and others as
words derived from the Sanskrit,
far as practicable, in
accordance with
the orthography of that language; 2.
To adopt
some native script; 3.
as
a standard the
orthography of
or approved Asamese manu-
writer,
or
To
select from
which were
different
works those forms
most agreeable to general usage, and
which best correspond to the actual pronunciation.
The
first
method,
it
was found, would,
if strictly
followed, produce such distortions of the language as to render
it
nearly unintelligible.
spoken language
to a
To
bring back the
correspondence with the original
orthography was an evident impossibility
;
it
was
IX
therefore necessary to
make
the orthography corres-
This had been par-
pond with the pronunciation. tially
done
in the native writings;
dard, however, was difficult; differing from each other,
tency or uniformity
within
to select a stan-
manuscripts not only
but possessing no consis-
The work
themselves.
which made the nearest approach
to a regular
system,
was a manuscript Bengali Dictionary, with Asamese prepared by Joduram
definitions,
learned
Deka Borua,
a
Asamese Pundit.
work was found
to
The orthography of this correspond much better with the
actual pronunciation than any other that had been met
with;
the
greater porti:)n of the redundant letters
were discarded i while the general forms of words agreed, for the most part, with those found in the Buronjis.
The most important variations from
the Sanskrit or-
thography sanctioned by Joduram, are the following:
The use of f
1.
two forms ^
only, instead of the
and ^.
The The
2.
3.
use of a single character for rejection of
characters,
it is
^ and
^,
Iri
^ and ^.
and
Iri.
These
believed, have never been used in
writing Asamese.
The
4.
substitution of 5 for^, and, with few ex-
ceptions, of
^
The use of
5*r,
^, and
he use
or ^.
ters
for ^.
*r
7[.
i\
to express the three Sanskrit let-
In a very few instances only does
The use of for No Asatuese manuscript we have seen makes any distinction between
6.
^1.
i{
that
these letters. 7.
The use of
The alphabet
for ^.
-of
being-
thus far
simplified,
discovered that only two redundant letters
mained;
and
5r,
-fiitf)
express the united sound of
ofm
used to represent the sound
therefore the knife
j-
was applied without
and the written character brought
to as
was
it
re-
still
rand i; To these
hesitation,
exact a cor-
respondence with the proiuinciation, as the nature the language will
admit;
every
sound having one and only one representative.
not a single
new
radically
distinct
of
difierent
symbol as
its
In accomplishing this desirable end, character has been introduced
that the language, as
now
printed,
is
so
;
read at once, and
who had, previously been acquainted only with. their own manuscripts. That the priests and pundits, who despise the ver-
with entire ease, by natives
nacular, and would gladly lock up
all
knowledge
in
Sanskrit and Bengali, should unite in any effort for
improving or systemizing their own language, to
be expected;
yet even they, from the
is
not
constant
perusal of our printed books and papers, are begin-
ning to regard the vernacular with respect i
while
amongst the common people, our
them
their
own language
in a
eflbrts to give
simple and unifonu dress,
have met with universal favor.
XI
The
following
is
the Sanskrit alphabet, in the usual
character, with the corresponding
Roman
letters.
xn
SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS. The
original sound of the vowel
^ is
uncertain
it
;
probably expressed the sounds both of short o and
heard
the indistinct «, as
Asamese
in the
the two syllables of the
o, as in
word
This sound
regarded as naturally inherent in
is
every consonant;
thus, ^,
4f,
sf,
are considered as
kho, go, pronounced as
letters ko,
To show
khawy gaw.
destitute of the it,
In
word morrow.
combinations of these consonants with
neath
dollar.
the sound fluctuates between long and short
Roman
writen kaw,
that a consonant is final, or
vowel sound, a mark
thus ,
or oo in poor.
^-
These four heterogeneous compounds
and f i, are no ornaments to any modern language, whatever may have been their use in the
of ?
r, 21 1,
Sanskrit.
Only the
Asamese, and
it
first
may
has ever been used in writing
well be dispensed with, being
an unnecessary and awkward abbreviation to denote the union of ^ and ^, and disfiguring the printed page
with such combinations as ^f'jf^ prithibi, ^fe
sristi,
instead of the regular and more elegant forms fttf^f^»
The vowel 4 corresponds
to the English e in
and represents invariably the same sound.
wew;
Its pro-
XV nunciation at the end of a word
somewhat
is
foreigners not unfrequently give
difficult;
the sound of
it
ay
in
day'i an error which should be most studiously avoid-
Great care should also be taken to give
ed.
proper sound, when Cif
student will
classes of
with the help of a native teacher, until he
is
words
entirely
familiar with each.
A added
to
words ending
t; as «Jg^putroi, instead
in
'^a
^
or ^i
is
changed to
putroe, emphatic form
ofsj^; c^^tt i»enai, instead of c^fiTT^ henae, nominative emphatic of c^TJ^l hena, a warrior.
The sound of ^
is
not difficult
of 02 in going^ but
is
often pronounced obscurely, es-
pecially at the end of a word.
sound
is
simple
do \
z,
often entirely sunk,
ter has its full
vQ,
those
^\t^
By
the vulgar the o
and the
letter
taloi, thither.
sound,
character
by
it
becomes a
this letter is
who
0, as it is
first
When this
let-
should be represented in the with the accent.
6i,
the Sanskrit long o
sound of
resembles that
it
as ^f?:ifi=T koriboli, for ^iic^^?T koriboloi, to
^tf?^ tali, for
Roman
;
;
in
Asamese,
u.
The proper
seldom acquired by foreigners;
learn Bengali give
pronounced
it
the sound of long
in that language;
sons commencing Asamese give
it
while per-
the sound of oo in
XVI
doom, or u
corresponds more nearly to
It
in bull.
the latter sound than any other in English; is
still
there
a slight verging towards the sound of o in whole,
which the learner should endeavor to acquire the powThis vowel slides into the sound
er of imitating.
of ^, when followed by ^ resembling in
this
particular the letter ^, which
is
when followed by
^.
changed from short
Thus c^M^ is
succeeding syllable;
in the
to
long
bule, he says,
o,
becomes -^z^
saying, by a change of tense;
^fir
buli,
he
bulise,
bulun, I say,
c^Tcefl
saying i c?!^ rgg, disease, ^frf?! rugia, di-
So
seased', ctfTT dgh, guilt, ^f?! duhi, guilty.
^ u becomes ^
when
u,
ed for a different vowel mar, thine
;
the following ',
^
is
^fa tumi, thou,
wt^^fsT apuni, one^s self,
also
exchang-
Cx5T5iT5
tu-
^\i^\^'H apunar,
one's own.
The
^
considered as a compound of
letter v§ is
and ^ u ; the sound
in
Asamese
is
o
that of long o, as in
note, more.
The
characters
">^
and
s
are improperly classed with
simply the letter ^ or
the vowels;
the
prived of
inherent vowel;
its
mous with
^ and latter
The
first
of these
aspirate, like
brick-ho7ise.
nounced
is
the second
is
isf,
de-
synony-
t, and therefore unnecessary.
J^.
its
first
like
T
h.
is
kh
in
is
a simple k, and the
the
frequently but
compound word incorrectly
pro-
XVll
the
9r is
common hard
g,
and
^
the
same
letter as-
pirated, as in log house,
by the compound equivalent to n in smky
usually expressed in Asaraese
>S,
character
^ ng
and
5t), is
In cases where
or ng in sing.
mark
(«
^ underneath,
it is
this letter requires the
written
"n.
never begins
It
an Asamese word. F,
The
^.
in
the first;
latter
of these
Asaraese both are pronounced like sim^
pie s.
They never have
this,
fy
v5l
Ahom
is
^
;
often used, as in writing the
jh'
These are both pronounced
si in vision (viz-yun),
At
the sound of ch
to express title
of the
^JT^ chau, Lord.
rajas,
*? j>
properly an aspirate of
is
like zy, or
corresponding to the French j.
the end of words, the sound of the
y
is
scarcely
perceptible; thus ca^, C«^, are pronounced mez, and tez.
v£P
ny,is commonly used in
denote the nasal the symbol
To
'
is
Asamese manuscripts
n, as c^TT^^T^
guhain
used instead
j
;
to
but in printing,
thus,c^t^f^ guhain.
a person acquainted only with the English lang-
uage, this sound
is
somewhat
taken not to pronounce
it
diflScult.
like ng.
Care must be
It is precisely the '
French n in V enfant.
Native writers often omit the
even where the pronunciation requires is
it.
This mark
not considered a distinct letter, but only a modifi-
XVlll
cation of the vowel with which dictionaries, a letter thus
is
it
In
connected.
marked takes
its
place im-
mediately under the same letter followed by the vowels; thus
^ t,t letters
i follows
th,
v5
^f,
^*^&c. but precedes
^t
p,
we were about
care should be taken like the English th^
error into which Europeans sometimes in the
pro-
of the tongue should be
applied to the roots of the teeth, as to utter the
To
fall.
The
an
first
word breadth, have very
if.
sounded precisely
like the
corresponding
letter.
^
ph.
The
latter is often
natives like the English J\
pronounced by the
y
XIX
^
common
the
is
b,
^
and
its
aspirate, like
hh
in
cob-house.
This
m.
51
sonant
combined with a preceding con*
letter
sometimes corruptly pronounced as
is
iv\ thus
^t^', atwa for atma; ^^ir, svvoron for smoron.
The
^.
original pronunciation of this letter in Sans-
but in Asamese
krit is y'i
usually changed to j,
it is
and should therefore be written m. sound
krit
As an
is
retained,
it is
by a dot beneath
the letter
^
initial,
This
correctly.
er the latter
When
customary to distinguish
it,
thus,
^r.
often pronounced like
is
letter is substituted for
^
is
'SI,
'^^T^
not
followed by
as
fft^rfJT
^f ^5,
^
genitive
or ^1,
^
is
gian, knowledge')
thus the
>
WMH not of ^^, fear. When
emphatic form of F^r^ sorai, a bird,
^X\t^ y
^, but in^ i, whenev-
followed by another vowel
is
the Sans-
is
usually substituted for f>f?rt?i
though some writers retain the ^.
hial, a
jackal
Sometimes, but
A following ^, as die, he gives. In Asamese ^ can never f^,l^ for ff ^aj for substituted when it follows ^ or vs though be In Asamese the ^ would this is done in Bengali. give a wrong sound; thus the past participle of the less generally,
?
is
substituted for
sfij
;
verb ^^
must
hoi, to be,
cannot be written c\H\ huya, but
be spelt either C5;T^1 hua, or c\^^\
are identical writers.;
in
huwa, which
sound, and are both used by good
When
combined with a preceding consonant,
takes the form
it
an is
is
51
j,
and
is
commonly pronounced
were inserted before the consonant;
i
as if
^ttij, ag3'a
pronounced aigya; 5^jl rokhya becomes roikhya.
By
the vulgar the
hunyo,
^
dhonyo,
sf^rj
written
7/
t^^
is
'si^rj
onyo, are pronounced as
if
huin, >jf ^ dhoin, wt^l oin.
has the usual sound of this
r,
and j^j
often entirely sunk,
When
letter.
it
occurs at the end of a word, great care must be taken to join
it
closely with the preceding vowel,
making an additional
insert an inteniiediate sound, syllable.
common; prayer', more
In English this
pronounced
fa-iir^ like
From
to introduce the
same sound
nounce TfiR^ gakhir,
into
«j;5
word,
is
mow-en be apt
Asamese, and pro-
7nilk^ as if written ?flf^^T5
pur, /z///,
like the English
like
habit, the student will
khi ar; ^if^^ panir, of water ^ as pa-ni-ar;
thus fair
is
Aire like high-er.
and not
written
if
ga-
i'-
C^T^C north and south. But familiar and established
compounds introduced from bined
state,
the Sanskrit in their
may preserve
com-
these permutations;
as
c^^Tf^^I^ dehadhikar, riiler of a country instead of ^
CIT ^r^jf'PRJ udoi, the
Fc;^Ti^ soadrudoi for "5^
moons
rising;
the country^ instead of
dehantor, beyond
(TT^Tl^^
c^>r
%^t sondro
^^-c deh ontor
more usual and regular form
is CH^l.
;
yet the
^r^^]K dehor
^^^ ^if sondror udoi, &c. Words are often contracted in Asamese by
odhikar,
ommission of dle of a word,
and certain other
^,
when followed by
hoite for yrT^CS hohite srfff
nodi,
t^
p6i for
i
"^m
-^i 9iC5
buile, for
^^s
The numerical
bulile,
notation in
^f^sff^r
mid-
as>JTC«
t^^
uoi for
potij t^f^ ghoini for
khujise, he
^^z^
the vowel
f";
t^ koi for ^f^ kori;
ghorini; Z^'fiU hcidhoni for
khuise for
letters in the
the
horidhoni;
^^f^ J^tz^
asks for, and sometimes he said.
Asamese corresponds
to
that of the English; the following being the forms ot
the figures in use:
;
XXVI
When
word
a
the figure
again; a
is
< after
to be re(3eatecl,
it is
usual to place
instead of writing
it,
word
the
which often renders a
cluinsj' contrivance,
sentence ambiguous, and which ought not to be tolerated in print.
Other abbrevations for
Ulnstrious, a word
sri,
fg;
names
and
;
t/
^
in use are -^ (Bengali
or ^t)
prefixed to proper
name
signifying Iswor, or the triliteral
of the deity, ^, a u m.
The
°^ is affixed
character
of a word
is
where the
a rupee\
written, as ^'^ for ^?P1,
^^?, number;
f^'s
'si^n
f^
for
part only
first
-^°^
for
wivsr^, or Ayino
Domini. In
writing the
Asam,
Roman
in
names of
places,
characters,
the Bengali pronunciation;
it
thus
is
rivers,
usual
&c.
to follow
we say Asam, from
the Bengali ^rsTta, instead of the native term
Ohom,
or
'Sfi^'si
Ahom}
of
«5^s*
Sibsagor instead of f^TJ^t^^
Hiwohagor; Gowahati instead of ^t^T^I^ Guahati; and Nowgong, which gaun,
New
is
a corruption of ^^l^^
No-
Village.
* This was the term given by the natives to the Shyans, when signifies unequalcd, from Ji^j first invaded the country, and The word is commonly hoin, equal, and w, negative particle.
they
Assam
by Europeans, to correspond with the present viwhich gives the first a the short sound as The s in battle, instead of the full Italian sound as in papa. being single in the original, it seems better to preserve the same orlhowraphy in English; and for this we have the best authorites
written
tiated pronunciation,
first explored and described the country, Wilson's Sanskrit Dictionary, Peaijce's Geography, Hobinso.n's Descriptive Account of Asam, &lc. &-6.
Wilcox, who
ASAMESE ALPHABET. ''Mter
Letter.
There
are no articles in Asamese.
supplied by
4^
Their place
ek, one, for the indefinite,
and
is
(i\%
hei, that, for the definite.
A
noun standing without an
fication, is
W\W
its
signi-
used either for the singular or plural; thus
manuh, may either mean man^ a
or men, the men.
To
czw
bur,
t:^ hont, or is
affix to limit
viariy
denote the plural, is
aflBxed.
Of
the
man,
f^c^T^P bilak,
these, the first
the most honorary.
Asamese nouns have
four degrees of emphasis
:
The radical form sri^^ manuh, man. The same slightly emphatic, as S"t^(:^ manuhe.
1st.
2d.
This is generally used for the nominative to a verb.
The same
3d.
still
of f, as STf^c^t"
![Grammatical Notes of the Asamese language [PDF]](https://pdfs.asia/img/200x200/grammatical-notes-of-the-asamese-language.jpg)
