Assamese is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language that originated from Old Indo-Aryan dialects. Its origin and growth are not entirely clear, but it is generally believed to have evolved from the Kamarupi dialect of Eastern Magadhi Prakrit. The language was differentiated by the 7th century CE, earlier than Bengali or Oriya. The palaeography of the Assamese script dates back to the 5th century CE. Early forms of Assamese in literature are found in 9th-century Buddhist verses called Charyapada. A distinct literary form appeared in the 14th century in the courts of the Kamata kingdom. The 15th and 16th centuries saw the composition of Borgeets (songs), Ankiya Naat (dramas), and the first prose writings. In the 17th century, Assamese became the state language of the Ahom kingdom.
Script:
Assamese is written in the Assamese script, an abugida system. The language has highly inflected forms and different pronouns for honorific and non-honorific constructions. Like Bengali and Oriya, Assamese has no grammatical gender distinctions. It shares similarities with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages such as Bengali, Maithili, and Oriya.
Dialects:
Assamese has several regional dialects that differ in pronunciation, syntax, and vocabulary. The major dialect groups are:
- Eastern Dialect: Spoken in the Sibsagar district and neighbouring areas.
- Central Dialect: Spoken in and around the Nagaon district.
- Kamrupi Dialect: Spoken in Kamrup, Nalbari, Barpeta, Kokrajhar, and parts of Bongaigaon district.
- Goalporia Dialect: Spoken in Goalpara, Dhuburi, and parts of Bongaigaon district.
The Kamrupi dialect is of particular interest as it is one of two western dialect groups of Assamese, the other being Goalpariya. It has three subdialects: Barpetia, Nalbariya, and Palasbaria. Kamrupi differs from Eastern Assamese in various aspects, including adverbial formations, pleonastic suffixes, and verb formations.
Some linguists have categorized the dialects into Upper Assamese, Lower Assamese, and Central Assamese.
Assamese is the state language of Assam and is spoken by nearly 60% of the state’s population. It is spoken by over 15 million people in India or 1.55% of the total population. In October 2024, Assamese was declared a ‘Classical’ language.