Assamese alphabet

Assamese Alphabet
Assamese Alphabet;
Script type	Abugida
Time period	8th century to the present
Direction	Left-to-right
Region	Assam
Languages	Assamese, Sanskrit, Rabha, Deori, Mishing, Bodo (formerly) and others.
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Brahmi script Gupta script Siddhaṃ script Gaudi script Bengali-Assamese script Assamese Alphabet; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Sister systems	Bengali alphabet and Tirhuta
	This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The Assamese alphabet^[3] (Assamese: অসমীয়া বৰ্ণমালা, romanized: Ôxômiya Bôrnômala) is a writing system of the Assamese language and is a part of the Bengali-Assamese script. This script was also used in Assam and nearby regions for Sanskrit as well as other languages such as Bodo (now Devanagari), Khasi (now Roman), Mising (now Roman), Jaintia (now Roman) etc. It evolved from Kamarupi script. The current form of the script has seen continuous development from the 5th-century Umachal/Nagajari-Khanikargaon rock inscriptions written in an eastern variety of the Gupta script, adopting significant traits from the Siddhaṃ script in the 7th century. By the 17th century three styles of Assamese alphabets could be identified (baminiya, kaitheli and garhgaya)^[4] that converged to the standard script following typesetting required for printing. The present standard is identical to the Bengali alphabet except for two letters, ৰ (ro) and ৱ (vo); and the letter ক্ষ (khya) has evolved into an individual consonant by itself with its own phonetic quality whereas in the Bengali alphabet it is a conjunct of two letters.

Quick Facts Assamese Alphabet, Script type ...

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This article contains the Assamese alphabet. Without proper rendering support, you may see errors in display.

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The Buranjis were written during the Ahom dynasty in the Assamese language using the Assamese alphabet. In the 14th century Madhava Kandali used Assamese alphabets to compose the famous Saptakanda Ramayana, which is the Assamese translation of Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana. Later, Sankardev used it in the 15th and 16th centuries to compose his oeuvre in Assamese and Brajavali dialect, the literary language of the bhakti poems (borgeets) and dramas.

The Ahom king Supangmung (1663–1670) was the first ruler who started issuing Assamese coins for his kingdom. Some similar scripts with minor differences are used to write Maithili, Bengali, Meithei and Sylheti.

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 alphabet. 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 (also called Lakhari in Kamrup region, used by non-Brahmins), Bamuniya (used by Brahmins, for Sanskrit) and Garhgaya (used by state officials of the Ahom kingdom)—among which the Kaitheli style was the most popular, with medieval books (like the Hastir-vidyrnava) and sattras using this style.^[5] In the early part of the 19th century, Atmaram Sarmah designed the first Assamese script for printing in Serampore, 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. In addition to the vowel system in the Bengali alphabet the Assamese alphabet has an additional "matra" (ʼ) that is used to represent the phonemes অʼ and এʼ. 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.

More information Letter, Name of letter ...

**Vowels**
Letter	Name of letter	Vowel sign with [kɔ] (ক)	Name of vowel sign	Transliteration	IPA
অ	o	ক (none)	(none)	ko	kɔ
অ or অʼ	ó	ক (none) or কʼ	urdho-comma	kó	kɔː
আ	a	কা	akar	ka	kaː
ই	hroswo i	কি	hôrswôikar	ki	ki
ঈ	dirgho i	কী	dirghoikar	ki	kiː
উ	hroswo u	কু	hroswoukar	ku	ku
ঊ	dirgho u	কূ	dirghoukar	ku	kuː
ঋ	ri	কৃ	rikar	kri	kr̩ɪ
এ	e	কে	ekar	kê and ke	kɛ and ke
ঐ	oi	কৈ	ôikar	koi	kɔɪ
ও	ü	কো	ükar	kü	kʊ
ঔ	ou	কৌ	oukar	kou	kɔʊ

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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 no; instead, they are called ন dontyo no ("dental n"), ণ murdhoinnyo no ("retroflex n"), and ঞ inyo. Similarly, the phoneme /x/ can be written as শ taloibbyo xo ("palatal x"), ষ murdhoinnyo xo ("retroflex x"), or স dontyo xo ("dental x"), the phoneme /s/ can be written using চ prothom sô ("first s") or ছ dwitio so ("second s"), and the phoneme /z/ can be written using জ borgio zo ("row z" = "the z included in the five rows of stop consonants") or য ontohstho zo ("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.

More information Letter, Name of Letter ...

**Consonants**
Letter	Name of Letter	Transliteration	IPA
ক	ko	k	k
খ	kho	kh	kʰ
গ	go	g	ɡ
ঘ	gho	gh	ɡʱ
ঙ	uŋo	ng	ŋ
চ	prothom so	s	s
ছ	dwitio so	s	sʰ
জ	borgiyo zo	z	z
ঝ	zho	zh	zʱ
ঞ	inyo	y	̃, ɲ
ট	murdhoinyo to	t	t
ঠ	murdhoinyo tho	th	tʰ
ড	murdhoinyo do	d	d
ঢ	murdhoinyo dho	dh	dʱ
ণ	murdhoinyo no	n	n
ত	dontyo to	t	t
থ	dontyo tho	th	tʰ
দ	dontyo do	d	d
ধ	dontyo dho	dh	dʱ
ন	dontyo no	n	n
প	po	p	p
ফ	pho	ph and f	pʰ~ɸ
ব	bo	b	b
ভ	bho	bh and v	bʱ~β
ম	mo	m	m
য	ontohstho zo	z	z
ৰ	ro	r	ɹ
ল	lo	l	l
ৱ	wo	w	w~β
শ	taloibyo xo	x and s	x~s
ষ	murdhoinyo xo	x and s	x~s
স	dontyo xo	x and s	x~s
হ	ho	h	ɦ~h
ক্ষ	khyo	khy, kkh	kʰj
ড়	dore ro	r	ɹ
ঢ়	dhore ro	rh	ɹɦ
য়	ontohstho yô	y	j

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Assamese or Asamiya consonants include thirty three pure consonant letters in Assamese alphabet and each letter represents a single sound with an inherent vowel, the short vowel /a /.

The first twenty-five consonants letters are called sporxo borno. These sporxo bornos are again divided into five borgos. Therefore, these twenty-five letters are also called borgio borno.

The Assamese consonants are typically just the consonant's main pronunciation plus the inherent vowel o. The inherent vowel is assumed and not written, thus, names of most letters look identical to the letter itself (e.g. the name of the letter ঘ is itself ঘ gho).

Some letters 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 no; instead, they are called ন dointo no ("dental n"), ণ murdhoinyo no ("cerebral n"), and ঞ nio.

Similarly, the phoneme /x/ can be written as শ taloibyo xo ("palatal x"), ষ murdhonno xo ("cerebral x"), or স dointo xo ("dental x"), the phoneme /s/ can be written using চ prothom so ("first s") or ছ dwitio so ("second s"), and the phoneme /z/ can be written using জ borgio zo ("row z" = "the z included in the five rows of stop consonants") or য ontohstho zo ("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.

The consonants can be arranged in following groups:

Group: 1 – Gutturals