Assamese alphabet

Assamese
Assamese;
Script type	abugida
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Assamese language
	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 script (অসমীয়া আখৰ Ôxômiya Akhôr) is a variant of the Eastern Nagari script also used for Bengali and Bishnupriya Manipuri. The Eastern Nagari script belongs to the Brahmic family of scripts and has a continuous history of development from earlier times and has developed from the Nagari script, a precursor of Devanagari. In the 19th century, three styles of the script were identified (baminiya, kaitheli and garhgaya) which gave way to the standard script which followed the typeset script. The present standard is identical to the Bengali script except for two letters.

Buranjis were written during Ahom dynasties in Assamese language using assamese script. Earliest form of evidence Assamese script is found in the Charyyapadas, the Buddhist songs. They are supposed to be composed within a time-frame of four hundred years from 8th century A.D. to 12th century A.D. In 14th century Madhava Kandali used Assamese script to compose the famous Kotha Ramayana which is first translation of Ramayana in a regional Indian language after Valmiki Ramayana in Sanskrit. Later, Srimanta Sankardeva used it in the 15th and 16th centuries to compose his oeuvre in Assamese and Brajavali the language of the Bhakti poems (Borgeets) and Dramas (Ankiya naat).

File:Assamese coin.gif

A coin with Assamese script from Ahom dynasty

Ahom king Chakradwaj Singha, (1663-1670 AD) was the first ruler who started issuing assamese coins for his kingdom (see figure for a sample coin). Similar script with minor differences are used to write Bengali (Bengali script), Manipuri and Sylheti language.

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. 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.

**Vowels**
Letter	Name of letter	Vowel sign with [kɔ] (ক)	Name of vowel sign	Transliteration	IPA
অ	ô	ক (none) or ক'	(none)	kô and ko	kɔ and ko
আ	a	কা	akar	ka	ka
ই	hôrswô i	কি	hôrswôikar	ki	ki
ঈ	dirghô i	কী	dirghôikar	ki	ki
উ	hôrswô u	কু	hôrswôukar	ku	ku
ঊ	dirghô u	কূ	dirghôukar	ku	ku
ঋ	ri	কৃ	rikar	kri	kri
এ	e	কে	ekar	kê and ke	kɛ and ke
ঐ	ôi	কৈ	ôikar	kôi	kɔj
ও	o	কো	okar	ko and kå	ko and kɒ
ঔ	ôu	কৌ	ôukar	kôu	kɔw

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 nô; instead, they are called ন dôntiyô nô ("dental n"), ণ mudhôinnô nô ("cerebral n"), and ঞ niô. Similarly, the phoneme /x/ can be written as শ talôibbô xô ("palatal x"), ষ mudhôinnô xô ("cerebral x"), or স dôntiyô xô ("dental x"), the phoneme /s/ can be written using চ prôthôm sô ("first s") or ছ ditiyô sô ("second s"), and the phoneme /z/ can be written using জ bôrgiyô zô ("row z" = "the z included in the five rows of stop consonants") or য ôntôsthô zô ("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.

**Consonants**
Letter	Name of Letter	Transliteration	IPA
ক	kô	k	k
খ	khô	kh	kʰ
গ	gô	g	g
ঘ	ghô	gh	gʱ
ঙ	ngô	ng	ŋ
চ	prôthôm sô	s	s
ছ	ditiyô sô	s	s
জ	bôrgiyô zô	z	z
ঝ	jhô	z	z
ঞ	niô	y	j
ট	murdhônyô tô	t	t
ঠ	murdhônyô thô	th	tʰ
ড	murdhônyô dô	d	d
ঢ	murdhônyô dhô	dh	dʱ
ণ	murdhônyô nô	n	n
ত	dôntyô tô	t	t
থ	dôntyô thô	th	tʰ
দ	dôntyô dô	d	d
ধ	dôntyô dhô	dh	dʱ
ন	dôntyô nô	n	n
প	pô	p	p
ফ	phô	ph	pʰ
ব	bô	b	b
ভ	bhô	bh	bʱ
ম	mô	m	m
য	ôntôsthô zô	z	z
ৰ	rô	r	ɹ
ল	lô	l	l
ৱ	wô	w	w
শ	talôibbô xô	x and s	x/s
ষ	murdhônyô xô	x and s	x/s
স	dôntyô xô	x and s	x/s
হ	hô	h	h
ক্ষ	khyô	khy	kʰj
ড়	dôre ŗô	ŗ	ɾ
ঢ়	đhôre ŗô	ŗ	ɾ
য়	ôntôsthô yô	y	j

Digits

**Digits**
Hindu-Arabic numerals	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Assamese numerals	০	১	২	৩	৪	৫	৬	৭	৮	৯
Assamese names	xuinno	ek	dui	tini	sari	pas	sôy	xat	ath	nô
Assamese names	শুন্য	এক	দুই	তিনি	চাৰি	পাচ	ছয়	সাত	আঠ	ন
Bengali names	shunno	êk	dui	tin	char	pañch	chhôe	shat	aţ	nôe
Bengali names	শুন্য	এক	দুই	তিন	চার	পাঁচ	ছয়	সাত	আট	নয়

External links