Assamese Alphabet
Script type	Abugida
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[1] Bengali-Assamese script[2] Assamese Alphabet
Sister systems	Bengali alphabet andTirhuta
This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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TheAssamese alphabet^[3] (Assamese:অসমীয়া বৰ্ণমালা,romanized: Ôxômiya Bôrnômala) is a writing system of theAssamese language and is a part of theBengali-Assamese script. This script was also used inAssam and nearby regions forSanskrit as well as other languages such asBodo (nowDevanagari),Khasi (nowRoman),Mising (now Roman),Jaintia (now Roman) etc. The current form of the script has seen continuous development from the 5th-centuryUmachal/Nagajari-Khanikargaon rock inscriptions written in an eastern variety of theGupta script, adopting significant traits from theSiddhaṃ script in the 7th century. By the 17th century three styles of Assamese alphabets could be identified (bamuniya,kaitheli andgarhgaya)^[4] that converged to the standard script followingtypesetting required for printing. The present standard is identical to theBengali alphabet except for two letters,ৰ (ro) andৱ (vo); and the letterক্ষ (khya) has evolved into an individual consonant by itself with its own phonetic quality whereas in theBengali alphabet it is an originalconjunct of two letters (ক +ষ).

TheBuranjis were written during theAhom dynasty in the Assamese language using the Assamese alphabet. In the 14th centuryMadhava Kandali used Assamese alphabets to compose the famousSaptakanda Ramayana, which is the Assamese translation ofValmiki'sSanskritRamayana. Later,Sankardev used it in the 15th and 16th centuries to compose his oeuvre in Assamese andBrajavali dialect, the literary language of thebhakti poems (borgeets) and dramas.

The Ahom kingSupangmung (1663–1670) was the first ruler who started issuing Assamese coins for his kingdom. Some similar scripts with minor differences are used to writeMaithili,Bengali,Meithei andSylheti.

TheUmachal rock inscription of the 5th century evidences one of the earliest use of the script in the region. The script was very similar to the one used in Samudragupta'sAllahabad Pillar inscription. Rock and copper plate inscriptions from then onwards, andXaansi 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 calledLakhari inKamrup region, used by non-Brahmins),Bamuniya (used by Brahmins, for Sanskrit) andGarhgaya (used by state officials of theAhom kingdom)—among which theKaitheli style was the most popular, with medieval books (like theHastir-vidyrnava) and sattras using this style.^[5] In the early part of the 19th century, Atmaram Sarmah designed the first Assamese script for printing inSerampore, and the Bengali and Assamese lithography converged to the present standard that is used today.

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 bothAssamese andBengali, the two main languages using the script. In addition to the vowel system in theBengali alphabet the Assamese alphabet has an additional "matra" (ʼ) that is used to represent the phonemesঅʼ andএʼ. 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 ofhôrswô i (lit. 'short i') anddirghô 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 byক, kô). When no vowel is written, the vowelঅ (ô or o) is often assumed. To specifically denote the absence of a vowel, (্) may be written underneath the consonant.

The names of the consonant letters in Assamese are typically just the consonant's main pronunciation plus the inherent vowelô. Since the inherent vowel is assumed and not written, most letters' names look identical to the letter itself (e.g. the name of the letterঘ is itselfঘghô). 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 writtenন,ণ, orঞ (depending on the spelling of the particular word), these letters are not simply calledno; instead, they are calledনdontyo no ("dental n"),ণmurdhoinnyo no ("retroflex n"), andঞinyo. Similarly, the phoneme/x/ can be written asশtaloibbyo xo ("palatal x"),ষmurdhoinnyo xo ("retroflex x"), orসdontyo xo ("dental x"), the phoneme/s/ can be written usingচprothom sô ("first s") orছdwitio so ("second s"), and the phoneme/z/ can be written usingজborgio zo ("row z" = "the z included in the five rows of stop consonants") orযontohstho 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.

Assamese or Asamiyaconsonants 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 calledsporxo borno. Thesesporxo bornos are again divided into fiveborgos. Therefore, these twenty-five letters are also calledborgio borno.

The Assamese consonants are typically just the consonant's mainpronunciation plus the inherentvowelo. 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

Group: 2 –Palatals

Group: 3 –Cerebrals orRetroflex

Group: 4 –Dentals

Group: 5 –Labials

Group: 6 –Semivowels

Group: 7 –Sibilants

Group: 8 –Aspirate

Group: 9 – Anuxāra

Group: 9 – Bixarga

Group: 10 – Chandrabindu (anunāsika)

• The lettersশ (talôibyo xô),ষ (murdhôinyo xô),স (dôntyo xô) andহ (hô) are calledusma barna
• The lettersয (za), ৰ (ra), ল (la) andৱ (wa) are calledôntôhsthô barna
• The lettersড় (daré ṛa) andঢ় (dharé ṛha) are phonetically similar to /ra/
• The letterয (ôntôhsthô zô) is articulated like 'ôntôhsthô yô' in the word medial and final position. To denote theôntôhsthô ẏô, the letterয় (ôntôhsthô ẏô) is used in Assamese
• ৎ (khanda ṯ or hôsôntô t) means the consonant letter Tö (dôntyo ta) without the inherent vowel

To write a consonant without the inherent vowel the halant sign is used below the base glyph. In Assamese this sign is calledhôsôntô ortôlôr réf (meaning bottom réf). (্)

In Assamese, the combination of three consonants is possible without their intervening vowels. There are about 122 conjunct letters. A few conjunct letters are given below:

Anuxôr ( ং ) indicates a nasal consonant sound (velar). When an anuxar comes before a consonant belonging to any of the 5bargas, it represents the nasal consonant belonging to thatbarga.

Chandrabindu ( ঁ ) denotes nasalization of the vowel that is attached to it .

Bixargô ( ঃ ) represents a sound similar to /h /.

According to G. C. Goswami, the number of two-phoneme clusters is 143 symbolised 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:

Thoughক্ষ is used in Bengali as a conjunct letter. Cha or Chha too has different pronunciation.

• Inscript keyboard layout:

• Phonetic keyboard layout:

• The unique letter identifiers:

The keyboard locations of three characters unique to the Assamese script are depicted below:

• ITRANS characterisation:

The "Indian languages TRANSliteration" (ITRANS) theASCIItransliteration scheme forIndic scripts here, Assamese; the characterisations are given below:

The following is a sample text in Assamese of Article 1 of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights:

Assamese in Assamese alphabet

১ম অনুচ্ছেদ: জন্মগতভাৱে সকলো মানুহ মৰ্য্যদা আৰু অধিকাৰত সমান আৰু স্বতন্ত্ৰ। তেওঁলোকৰ বিবেক আছে, বুদ্ধি আছে। তেওঁলোকে প্ৰত্যেকে প্ৰেত্যেকক ভ্ৰাতৃভাৱে ব্যৱহাৰ কৰা উচিত।^[6]

Assamese in Romanisation 1

Prôthôm ônussêd:Zônmôgôtôbhawê xôkôlû manuh moirjyôda aru odhikarôt xôman aru sôtôntrô. Têû̃lûkôr bibêk asê, buddhi asê. Têû̃lûkê proittêkê proittêkôk bhratribhawê byôwôhar kôra usit.

Assamese in Romanisation 2

Prothom onussed:Jonmogotobhabe xokolü manuh moirjjoda aru odhikarot xoman aru sotontro. Teü̃lükor bibek ase, buddhi ase. Teü̃lüke proitteke proittekok bhratribhawe bebohar kora usit.

Assamese in Romanisation 3

Prothom onussed:Jonmogotovawe xokolu' manuh morjjoda aru odhikarot xoman aru sotontro. Teulu’kor bibek ase, buddhi ase. Teulu’ke proitteke proittekok vratrivawe bewohar kora usit.

Assamese in common chatting romanisation

Prothom onussed:Jonmogotobhawe xokolu manuh morjyoda aru odhikarot xoman aru sotontro. Teulukor bibek ase, buddhi ase. Teuluke proitteke proittekok bhratribhawe byowohar kora usit.

Assamese in IAST Romanisation

Prathama anucchēda:Janmagatabhāve sakalo mānuha maryadā āru adhikārata samāna āru svatantra. Tēõlokara bibēka āchē, buddhi āchē. Tēõlokē pratyēkē pratyēkaka bhrātribhāvē byavahāra karā ucita.

Assamese in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet

/pɹɔtʰɔmɔnusːɛd|zɔnmɔɡɔtɔbʰawɛxɔkɔlʊmanuʱmoizːɔdaaɹuodʰikaɹɔtxɔmanaɹus(w)ɔtɔntɹɔ||tɛʊ̃lʊkɔɹbibɛkasɛbudːʰiasɛ||tɛʊ̃lʊkɛpɹoitːɛkɛpɹoitːɛkɔkbʰɹatɹibʰabɛbɛβɔɦaɹkɔɹausit/

Gloss

1st Article: Congenitally all human dignity and right-in equal and free. their conscience exists, intellect exists. They everyone everyone-to brotherly behaviour to-do should.

Translation

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience. Therefore, they should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

TheBengali–Assamese script was added to theUnicode Standard in October 1991 with the release of version 1.0.

The Unicode block for Assamese and Bengali is U+0980–U+09FF:

• Assamese Braille
• Help:IPA for Assamese
• Romanisation of Assamese

• "Assamese literature – An overview and historical perspective Linking into broader Indian canvas". Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved4 January 2012.
• "Assamese writing System".Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved17 December 2007.
• "Antiques reveal script link – Inscriptions on 3 copper plates open new line of research".The Telegraph. Kolkata. 25 January 2006. Archived fromthe original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved17 December 2007.

• Assamese alphabet
• English to Assamese Translation
• Madhava Kandali Ramayana

• Assamese language

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