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Introduction to Assamese Vocabulary

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Introduction to Assamese Vocabulary JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 19, 2020 INTRODUCTION TO ASSAMESE VOCABULARY Dr. Banashree Das Assistant Professor, Department of Assamese , Dakshin Kamrup College, Mirza Received: 14 April 2020 Revised and Accepted: 8 August 2020 ABSTRACT : A vocabulary of a particular language enriches the beauty of that language. With the help of vocabulary of a language, one native speaker can express anything to another one. It also helps to showcase the culture of a particular community. So it is very important to study the vocabulary of a language. In this context, we are going to discuss about the Assamese Vocabulary. The source and types of words which are used in Assamese language are the main point of discussion of this paper. The methodology we are using to the study in the Assamese Vocabulary is analytical and the sources of the study are grammar, Dictionary, Research articles and books. KEY WORD : Vocabulary, Aryan, Non Aryan I. INTRODUCTION : In the language family, Indo-European is the largest and most prosperous language family. This language family is divided into two section – Satam and Kentum. All the Indo-Aryan languages were derived from Indo-Iranian; It is a part of the Satam section. From 1500 BC Indo Aryan languages are gradually developed in three stages.1 1. Old Indo Aryan Language 2. Middle Indo Aryan language 3. New Indo Aryan language In old Indo Aryan language, there are two stages, one is ‘Vedik Sanskrit’ and another one is ‘Loukik Sanskrit’ (Coloquial form). After that M.I.A stage was developed, which is called ‘Prakrit Star’. Prakrit star consist of ‘Pali, Pakrit and Apabramsa. There are five types of Prakrits, which are regionally developed. These are Maharastri, Shaurasni, Paishachi, Magadhi, and Ardha-Magadhi. All the new Indo-Aryan languages are derived from these Prakrits. Assamese language derived from Magadhi Prakrit.2 Assamese is the state language of Assam and Lingua Franca of whole North-East of India. There are various caste and community that lives together in the land of Assam. A very notable point is that, there are so many non-Aryan language spoken by some of the Tribal people of Assam. The languages are – Boro, Rabha, Missing, Karbi, Deuri, Sonowal Kachari, Koch Rajbongshi etc. In this regard, one former linguist of Assam Banikanta Kakati said that – Assamese language is staying as an Island among the non-Aryan languages. Because of that so many non-Aryan elements are found in the Assamese language. When we analyse the main source of the vocabulary of Assamese language, we can see that, the orgin of it comes from Aryan, non-Aryan and foreign languages. As Assamese is an Aryan language; most of the words came from old Indo Aryan language i.e. Sanskrit. 1.1 CLASSIFICATION OF ASSAMESE VOCABULARY : The linguists of Assamese language classify the Assamese Vocabulary in different ways. Kaliram Medhi stated three types of Assamese vocabulary. They are – tatsam, tatvab and Desash (dexj) According to him the non-Aryan and foreign words are called Deshas.3 Banikanta Kakati also devided Assamese vocabulary in to six types.4 1. Words of original Sanskrit on Indo-Aryan coming through a slow process of linguistic evaluation through the Modern Indo-Aryan (MIA) stage. 2. Words common to many Now Indo-Aryan (NIA) languages but not observable to the earlier source. 3. Words borrowed at one time from other New Indo-Aryan languages. 4. Words of Non-Aryan languages. 5. A certain number of English and European words. 6. Sanskrit words either in origin or in modified form to outfit the intelligence or phonological peculiarities of Assamese. Ramesh Pathak, in his thesis ‘Assamese Vocabulary’ discussed about Assamese Vocabulary and classify it as follows5 – 1. Sanskrit/Aryan Word (a) Tatsam (b) Ardha-tatsam (c) Tatvab 6482 JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 19, 2020 2. Non Aryan Word a. Austric b. Sino-Tibetan c. Tai-Ahom d. Dravidian 3. Loan Word a) Other Indo Aryan Language. b) Foreign language c) Translation – 1. Translated 2. Technical 4. Unclassified Word a) Mixed b) Dhanatmak c) Pair word After going through the existing work classification of Assamese vocabulary, it is observed that, some linguist have classified it on the basis of the source of the words. According to them the main sources of Assamese vocabulary may be grouped under the following heads. a) Indo-Aryan b) Non Indo Aryan c) Other new Indo-Aryan d) Foreign word As we know that vocabulary of a language consists of two types of words. One is primary and another one is Derived word. Most of the linguist emphasized on the primary words in their discussion, which come from different sources. But not much attention has been paid to Derived words. Though some linguist discussed, but that is not sufficient. So in this article we are going to discuss about the Derived Words too. 1.2 Assamese Vocabulary : 1.2.1 Aryan Word : Assamese is anew Indo-Aryan language. So its vocabulary is full of Indo Aryan Words. The Indo-Aryan Words are divided into three types - a. Tatsama Word : The words directly come from Vedic Sanskrit i.e. the unmodified Words, exactly similar to Vedik Sanskrit. Example : s ɒ t y ɒ dh ɒ r m ɒ k ɒ r m ɒ k r i s h n ɒ x u r j y ɒ b. Ardha-tatsama Word : The words which are originally Sanskrit but distorted due to the Wrong pronunciation i.e., Semitatsama on ardha-tatsama words. Examples : k ɒ r m ɒ > k ɒ r ɒ m dh ɒ r m ɒ > dh ɒ r ɒ m m ɒ r m ɒ > m ɒ r ɒ m r ɒ t n ɒ > r ɒ t ɒ n p u r n ɒ > p u r ɒ n c. Tadhvaba words : Words of Indo-Aryan. Origin coming through the gradual process of evolution through Prakrit and Apabhransa state, i.e., tadhvaba words. It represents the main bulk of words and forms derived from O.I.A which underwent a natural phonetic modification through the M.I.A. stages. Example : OIA MIA NIA k ɒ r m ɒ > k ɒ m m ɒ > k a m dh ɒ r m ɒ > dh ɒ r m ɒ > dh a m s ɒ r p ɒ > s ɒ p p ɒ > s a p m r t t i k a > m ɒ tt i a > m a t i b o i d y ɒ > b ɛ jj a > b ɛ j 2.2 Non-Aryan Words : There are four types of Non-Aryan Words used in Assamese – a. Astro-Asiatic b. Sino Tibetan c. Tai-Ahom d. Dravidian a. Astro-Asiatic : Astro-Asiatic is one of the branch of Austric language family. Words of Khasi, Kol, Munda and Malay languages of this branch are used in Assamese. Khasi Words : nodoka 6483 JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 19, 2020 kabou tokona jɛng jɒha Kol and Munda words : atom-tokari latum maiki muga sua tupura Malay Words : ɒkɒn jɒhamal hola bɛti b. Sino Tibetan : There are so many languages of Boro Branch of Sino-Tibetan language family are spoken in Assam. These are Kasari, Chutia, Lalung, Moran, Missing etc. From these languages so many words are inherited in the Assamese Vocabulary. For example : laokhola haphlu xilikha jɒkhɒla c. Tai Ahom : We all know that, Assam was ruled by Ahom Empire for about six hundred years. So it is natural that, the impact of Ahom was on the Assamese language and culture from various dimension. So many words directly come from the Tai language of Ahom. Like – rɒ karɛ phukɒn khilɒnjia moidam d. Dravidian Word : A few words are from Dravidian family. These are - ai amoi urukh 1.2.3 Other new Indo-Aryan Words There are 23 new In Aryan language from where many words come in to Assamese Vocabulary. Specially from Hindi and Bengoli, so many words are used in Assamese language. As Hindi is official language of India, some words like – sahida, pɒkora, sɒsta, khali, ghɛrao, dhɒrna are used by Assamese people in day to day life. Like Hindi, Bengali is also spoken by the people of Barak Valley of Assam and also West Bengal is the boarder state of Assam. Therefore, many Bengali words are included in the Assamese Vocabulary. For example - bhɛjal, rɒsgolla, jɒlpan, sɒndɛsh, kɛlɛkari, gunda, kuri, kɒri, batasa, bɛtar, banan etc. Besides Hindi and Bengali some Marathi and Gujrati words are also in Assamese Vocabulary – Marathi words : gãoburha bɒrɒni tarɒn khɒk kharɒni Gujrati Word : hɒrtal 1.2.4 Foreign Word or Loan Word : Globalization effects everywhere, languages are also effected by it. Because of it many foreign words are used in Assamese language. We can divide the foreign words in to two groups – a. Perso-Arabic b. European Perso-Arabic words are also three types – Percy, Arabic, Turkey 1) Percy Words : k ɒ b ɒ r, k a g ɒ j kh ɒ r ɒ s p o sa k d a l a l, s a m u s a u i n, k a r kh a n a d ɒ r j i, d o k a n 2) Arabic Words : a t ɒ r, a d a l ɒ t u k i l, k ɒ l ɒ m 6484 JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 19, 2020 kh b ɒ r, h a k i m, m u s h i z i n d a b a d Turkey words : k u l i k a b u, b ɛ g u m b i b i, k u r t a, b a b u d a r o g a, l a s, s a k u Group of European words consist of the words of six languages.
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