Assamese Language: Origin and Development

Assamese or Oxomiya is the principal language of Assam and is considered as the lingua-franca of the entire North-Eastern part of India. Almost 2/3rd of the population of Assam speaks Assamese language and resides in the Brahmaputra Valley. It is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language, which is spoken in the North-Eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh other than Assam and is directly related to Oriya and Bengali. It has developed in the periphery of Indian civilization as a frame language in an area where a number of linguistic families converged. Radical sound changes have been made and its morphology was abridged to bare minimum. This sweeping statement is almost certainly owing to the fact that Assamese was, and still is, used as a means of communication among speakers who belong to non Indo-Aryan race.

Assamese language is spoken by approximately 15.3 million people and is the official language of Assam. The vocabulary of this language is essentially derived from Sanskrit, which is the mother of all language; however, the original Sanskrit words are as a rule replaced by words derived from Sanskrit or half-Sanskrit words. It has three dialect groups, namely Central, which comprises Morigaon District, Eastern, which comprises Sivsagar and Lakhimpur district and Western, which comprises of the whole of Guwahati. The Western group has a number of regional variations and the eastern and western Assamese vary in accent, morphology and terminology, and mutual lucidity is hard.

The origin of Assamese language dates back to the ancient times and according to scholars, the language is derived from the eastern type of Magadhan Prakrit. It is by all standards a combined language into which words of Indo-Chinese, Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burman origins are blended. In addition, other pre-Aryan and non-Aryan, influences are also evident, not only in advance words but also in context of grammar, syntax and pronunciation. The most primitive sample of Assamese script is presented by inscriptions and copper plates discovered in different areas of the region. Traces of the language are found in many poems by Sarahapa, Luipa, etc. in Charyapada of 7th and 8th century AD and the modern dialects like Kamrupiya, Goalpariya etc. are its remnants. The form used in  upper Assam was developed with the arrival of Tai-Shans during 13th century. Besides these, Assamese was earlier used by the ethno-cultural groups in the region to communicate with groups that spoke other languages. And, this spread during the rule of various dynasties, especially during the rule of Ahoms for economic amalgamation. Localized structure of the language still exist in the North-Eastern states of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.