07_chapter 2.pdf

CHAPTER-n

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE HINDI AND THE ASSAMESE LANGUAGES 2.1. Indo-Aiyan Languages : Hindi and Assamese are two well-developed forms of the Indo-Aryan languages, an important branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Inspite of difference of opinion, it is generally accepted that the period of the IndoAryan languages starts way back from 1500 B.C. approximately, and thus it has a long history of about 3500 years now, which can be divided into three stages as old Indo-Aryan, Middle Indo-Aryan and New Indo-Aryan: TO T B STkTOT dd SfrfT ? koo fo tjo <*? 3THFTRT W T tl cR fr 3TW cRd Os

T O c fk

s rp frlT O

%

c frr

^ TOik sipNm

W

R

c k f

I

^ ckt s m

I

*n fU

cfk

h

5F

ffr?k d T

3T f

w |-

) WI#T w k 3tF hM (SITTOTT) ?koo fo go-Hoo fogo

CO (O

TOcfk 3lkTOf( fTOSTf) koo fo go-J
qPlWgsSh TOdk Slk-TOT h t f e fdk?I H fsRFl SRI : (%) W#T f TOdk 3lk-TOT (Old Indo-Aiyan), (O TOT w k 3lk-TOT (Middle IndoAryan), 0 ) T O k 3lk-TOT (New Indo-Axyan)i 3 P TOf^T TOTf w

r

tot

R cR ;

^

^ n k r,

ck k

s i f c i

a r o

t

o

w

?

f e r k

m:

s ir e

s r i f f w

T O

k k s k

*kl2

1. Tiwari, Bholanath, Hindi Bhasa, p. 9 2. Sharma, Satyendranath, Asamlya Sahityar Samlksatmak Itivrtta, pp. 4-5

a /r o & i

y

1 4

-^ T c W T T JU R W c fe s r k -U M ,

o o

u ssr

w

% cffr W k

a r k -u r o ,

(?)

«|clTC;

I =(o

*? K cfk

U I# T W # T

a r k -u m i

s fk

^ f c l 'TO!, tRW RR %j; U#f, '5fIfcT sffc 3F7W f e f k 3*R % 3lk STTWfW «ficWM R iRrfdcT 3114*11*11$ cpfk *cR % S k f t f e 3Rcf) |[

The earliest form of the Indo-Aryan languages is the S k ? ^FTWT or k k T (Vedic language), i.e. language of the Vedas. The next one is known as '55R^kTor crc>ilu=t)
(Assamese),

(Bengalee), 3fen (Oriya), utral (Marathi), w r k (Gujarati) and w k t (Punjabi) are the major modem Indo-Aryan languages, the period of which starts from 1000 A.D. appoximately. Both the Vedic language and the Classical Sanskrit are popularly known as the Sanskrit language, and in this sense it is said that the sister languages, like Hindi, Assamese and other new or modem IndoAryan languages have their origin in Sanskrit, one of the oldest and richest languages of India. 2.2. Hindi Language: At present, Hindi is the official language o f the Indian Union as per the constitutional provision of Ariticle No. 343(1) : The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for offical purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals.3 3. Basu, Durga Das, Constitutional Law o f India, p. 414

15 The development of the Hindi language, to be brought by the Union Government as a median of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India has been recommended vide the Article No. 351 of the constitution: It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as the medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating with out interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani and in other languages of India specified in the Eighth schedule, and by drawing, wherever necessary or disirable, for its vocabulary, primarily on Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages.4 Accordingly, Hindi has been so developed and enriched by various central Government agencies that presently, it has acquired the capability of giving exprssion to anything & everything connected with human knowledge, science & technology and others, that are expressable through language. Today, it has been playing a pivotal role as a link-language or lingua franca in the multi­ lingual Indian society, where no less than 1652 languages including 63 nonIndian languages are currently in use. Hindi, including its kindred variants Urdu and Hindustani, is used by almost 46 percent of the total population of the country. This is one of the reasons of Hindi being accepted by the people of the country as tipiNi, i.e. National language to be used for mutual contact in the glorious days of the great freedom struggle, and it enjoys the same status even today. At present, Hindi is the State language of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh 4. Ba.su, Op. cit. p. 418

16

and Delhi. For the people living in these ten states, Hindi is the mother tongue or first language. It is used in some parts of Punjab also. Thus the Hindispeaking area is quite vast and it meets Punjabi, Kashmiri, Bengalee, Oriya, Marathi and Gujarati in its boundaries : Hindi is a New Indo-Aryan (NIA) language spoken in the North of India by more than two hundred million people either as a first or a second language. Along with English, it is the official language of India. In addition, it is the state language of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. It is related to Punjabi in the west, Bengali, Assamese and Oriya in the east, Gujarati and Marathi, in the south, more remotely, to Kashmiri, in the north.5 Thus Hindi is in vogue at a large tract of the area, where New Indo-Aryan languages are currently used. It spreads from the river Narmada in the south upto the Himalayas in the north. In this vast area of the Hindi language we can trace fivc huyt# or f t m # (sub-languages) and seventeen major 4lfci41 (dialects): fr f t # 3F>T

<5tR h f w

ft ftsR c^fOT fr # c q cR» t l 6

f t # spit «rt ftrar f e w ft# , mm m fw *tpt, wfwiwr, ft# , 3vr f t # rparft# cWf ftfWK I f t # f t # (sm )) f t # 3 # t tl ftT ^ »

I', f t # /

W lc f s;V3 fttftftf I o

SSI ft#

fr f t # #

# f# tf ^. f t s # f t #

*.

# #

^ . g w rw

3. ifan # x 3 # # v # f t ) •o

3

ft#

^

^

. « # # 3. wdfrm#

5. Kaehra, Yamuna, Aspects o f Hindi Grammar, p. 1 6. Tiwawri, Udaynarayan, Hindi Bhasu ka Udgam aur Vikas, p. 218

17 3. TPRSIFft

?. qfife W W l OWlIft) *. m m ft (m rjt) 3. 3 ttO tpfwhI (hcfel) X. qfeft w i i (TTTcTeft)

x. w f t

* . # q l ■quit *. qmmff w # fV fU Cf^rfHHT^rOT) f .

h.

fe lt

,

, , ,
\ . f e r q t * . m i t ?. t f e f t i 7

The standard form (a form that is accepted, and that is why is to be accepted & used for formal purposes) of the Hindi language (*tFim feft) is based mainly on the Khanboll or Kauravi (tsteWk-fl or f e t ) dialect spoken in and around Delhi, the capital city of India : qm w 33crr I %

fe t tisfeft mt strait w mteft, sfe^ hts %

stra w feft fer msft

I ? t f e , ferck, ^ra^, t f e mti snfc

sifefer mwife# w qt m li8

w f

e

ph w

stfc felt ml ^reWterfer # fr ml femrTT'Sir m

wsft, if f e t, q

h

i

w

l

t

w

t

r

a

i

w

)

m

l

m

f

e

t

mm

t

f

e

f

e

p

u

,

s

t

m

^

q

F

i m

f e t t a b l e t I , f e f e # r $ kra r ( P ^ w h I , 3 f , f e t ) f i qf fa # t i f e qwf t m fe fe qm a# % f e w % m m f? ftt# w i m f e t cRn w #> s t r a w m# met qfert qt t i i W l mi # t i

9

As a major dialect of the Hindi language Khanboli is currently spoken in the area of erstwhile Kuru Janapada (fv$ mtqq) and present day places, like Delhi city, Meerut, Gajiabad, Rampur, Muradabad, Bijnaur, Mujaffamagar, Saharanpur, plains of Dehradun and the neighbouring areas: 7. Dr. Nagendra, (Ed.), Hindi Sahitya ka Itihas, p. 23 8. Tiwari, Bholanath, Hindi Bbasa, p. 85 9. Tiwari, Loc. cit

18

w s W i PwfcffisM w r !

-»M if «fi# wirft

growra, Rm 4K h*s,

fiR W R , wingt, ^o$=r %■ ^ h Nft, 3wf^it cWT f^rracT %

o.

sfk f e n

^TFT!10

Owing to political reason, i.e. for being in use in and around Delhi, the capital city of India, Khanboli has emerged as the standard form of the Hindi language. Earlier, in the medieval period of Hindi literature, the dialects of a w t (Avadbi) and

(Braja) were the prominent literary and cultural media in the

Hindi speaking area : * r s i a f e * m * jpm I A %

if

an* ^

w

I in

Although Hindi is said to be originated from the Sanskrit language, but the immediate origin of different Hindi dialects are (Ardha Magadhi) and

(Sauraseni% sr^RTWf

(Magadhi) apabhramsas. The Khanboli dialect,

from which the standard Hindi has been developed is originated from the northern form o f the Sauraseni apabhraihsa :

lasted ( « )

mm w M mm % ^

t far I f

We may trace a few forms and features o f the Hindi language even in Psli (500 B.C —I A. D. approximately.) The percentage of such linguistic forms and features of Hindi were gradually increased from Pali to apabhramsas (500 A.D. approximately). Around 1000 A.D the percentage of the Hindi forms and features reached to such a proportion (it became more than 50%) that the identity of a separate language coming out of apabhramsa was clearly established. However, at this point Hindi was greatly inflimced by the apabhramsas, but this influence went on decreasing, and by about 1500 A.D. Hindi became folly free from the apabhramsas: 10. Verma, Dhirendra, Hindi Bbasa ka Itihas, p. 64 11. Sharma, Devendranath, BbasavijSan Id Bbumika, p. 136 12. Tiwari, Bholanath, HindiBbasa, P. 33

19 W T3
I

ft 3 T # ftFJM 3Tk ftt

TR frlfrf ft fftclft
nt eft

^Tcft I cmT 3T9W if 3=lft 3Tft ft) c|fe fT tj| | ? fip^T

m fftWRR W f t T ffftw fcRT ^TfT I f e ? o o o fo % tjcf f ^ \ m 3 ^ n ¥ 35f ¥R 7 5TT TPhcTTI13

w

m rt

fipft ^

ftfc sw ^ Tsrf a m r f t r a h ^

orfatf

$f$, ^ m,

TFsiWFft, wrsi, fftFRT) wt ¥ r g ^ wm I, T$?#ff, srshTPiftf o tt u t w onqw ft to o o

f o % 3TRPTRT 3 ^ ¥ cT | f l 14

After being bom in and around 1000 A. D., the Hindi language has been growing and developing very fast being influnced mainly by Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and English from time to time. At present, Hindi has a long history of about 1000 years of its growth and development, which can be divided mto three periods, viz, ^ lifted (AdikaJa, 1500 A.D—1800 A.D) and fl^ft

\ o o o fo ft

l l 3¥% f T ? ° ° o

1000

A.D.-1500 A.D.),WRTM (hadhyakala,

^tef (Adhunikakala, 1800 A.D. onwards): ftcpa;

tftft-ftft aw w nm ?ooo

it

ftr ffftfRT 3T?tarT fft^TRT ^ cfk ^Teft ¥ ftfeT WTffT I

(?) snferM (?ooo fo ft ?qoo fo) (R) P W I

ft R^oo fo)

(3 ) 3 fT frfe 'em ( ? H° o f o f t 3PT cPF)15

In its long history, we come across a good number of names, like ftsTT,

a f, etc. used for Hindi. These varaities are primarily

based on the Hindi dialect spoken in and around Delhi with a little linguistic differences especially in the vocabulary mainly due to the contact between the Arabs, the Afghans, the Persians, the Turks,etc. and the local Hindi speaking population: 13. Tiwari, Bholanath, 14. Tiwari, Bholanath, 15. Tiwari, Bholanath,

Hindi BIuisu kl Samracnu, p. 20 Hindi BhasS, ft. 99 Hindi BhfisS klSariirjcnS, pp. 21-23

20
% 3#ftrF

Rf SRSjfc

fl^RcTFft *fT ftspiMl, y | % 4 \F3T, ftsft, 3 f SJlfc m ft) 3?#! flcfl l i 16

The names Hindi, Hindustani and Urdu are confusing. It is generally accepted that all these varaities are based upon the language spoken around Delhi-Meerut and began developing around the twelfth or thirteenth century as a result o f contact between the Arabs, Afghans, Persians, Turks, etc. and the local residents. The language that was used for mutual interaction between the foreigners and the native population was variously labelled Rexta (mixed), Urdu (camp) and Hindi or Hindawi or Hindustani (Indian) . 17 The word

(.Hindi) is said to be derived from a Sanskrit word frFg

(Sindhu), initially meaning a river and later on its neighbouring areas as well. The word frPJ had undergone many changes (ft° frpf > TU® f t^ >

+

— fe fte > fipfr) mainly due to persian influence, and finally the word {Hindi), meaning a language of the 'H ind, i.e. India came into being : * V «i& u r o M V * w * 3TR reral

ii . V

-v

A

% f e f t ’ RT 1M V

TNV yas w* m n ft

lu ft

i*

.A ,

‘P ,

A 1 _v

¥1

..A,

* lfc * &

,

N

..

t I W f t cWT FR

A

TFRft) RTO 5PT t l 18

f e f ' ft

M l S T R IP t p

Ittfr ft w p p :

„„ ‘ f ,

^ TBRw FU W Z 3fK

ti

3TRPTRT

ark f t R

rftt

1 1

R P |

‘ftp j’ ‘ftp?' q f> R F T C I F ?

t w s f e w f e arft

^ R Fg

m ‘frp ? tiftFr’ i

FT^

ft

RRcT % Stfrpft wpif % ’ifftftw ftft Uq; ftft W F^ft ftr 3?*f ft fTcTT W

cFtT g f f e ' FT^f,

$ RIFT WT

16. Tiwari, Udaynarayan, H indi Bhasa ka Udgam a w Vikas, p. 186 17. Kachru, Yamuna, A spects o f H indi Grammar, p. 1 18. Verma, DMrendra, H indi BhSsa ka IdhSs, p. 58

ft W i fftl ft ftlft

21

qq W

cPl% %

‘I f W snfq I ajfr

wt

w® $?r

‘f l ^ f ^

W

| ‘fe q qq I qqR> ‘tf^ T ^T 3 lM

% # f e j f e r ^ q f i ‘ft*3’ *ft ‘fF^Nr qq # qfetfcfq ^ q ai«f l i Tt*r qq’l19

qq tjer

<srf ‘fw^er (fro

ir if e ? fipr 5Rt

ffr^> qqo

qpfT % ffrq w qrq qq q # T i t

The script usually used for the Hindi language is

qq' | i

m

t i 20

(Devanagari),

which is originated from the qfTlfl (Brahml) script, one of the oldest scripts of the country : The Hindi language is commonly written, like the Sanskrit, in the Devanagari alphabet.21 2.3. Assamese Language At present, Assamese is the State language (TPI qm ) of Assam, a small state of the great Indian Republic. It is accepted as one of the eighteen major Indian languages (Assamese, Manipuri, Bengalee, Oriya, Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam, Kannada, Konkani, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Hindi, Urdu, Nepali, Sindhi and Sanskrit) vide the Eighth Schedule of our Constitution. Assamese is spoken mainly in the Brahmaputra valley from Sadiya in the east upto Dhuburi in the west. Thus, the Assamese language is in vogue in the easternmost part of the area, where Neo-Indo-Aryan languages are currently spoken. It meets Bengalee in the west, and in the remaining three sides it meets the languages, like Aka, Dafla, Adi, Mishmi, Khamti, Nokte, Singphou, Ao Naga, Angami, Kuki-Chin, Meitei, Lushai, Chakma, Khasi, Garo, etc. belonging to non-Indo-Aryan families, like Sino-Tibetan (Tibeto-Chinese), Austric, etc : Assamese is the easternmost New-Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Assam valley districts with Lakhimpur in the extreme east and Goalpara 19. Tiwari, Bholanath, H indi Bbasa i d Samracna, pp. 18-19 20. Tiwari, Bholanath, H indi Bhasa, p. 23 21. Kellogg, S.H., Grammar o f the H indi Language, p. 1

22 in the extreme west. It meets Bengali in the west and is surrounded on all sides by speeches belonging to altogether different fam ilies o f which the principal are the Tibeto-Burm an and the Khasi (o f the M onM nner fam ily).22 In the areas in Assam, where Assamese is in use it is not the only vernacular, rather, a good num ber o f non-A ryan languages o f the Tibeto-Burm an branch o f the Sino-Tibetan family and the Austric family, like Boro, Dirnasa, Tiw a (Lalung), Deuri (Sutiya), Rabha, Karbi (M ikir), M ising (Miri), Tai (A hom ), etc. with comparatively smaller number o f speakers are spoken here. A few tribal and non-Tribal languages, like Garo, Khasi, Naga, Mizo, M anipuri, Tripuri, etc. having separate home-lands in the nighbouring areas are also spoken in Assam. Further, few languages, like Saontali, Munda, Kharia, Bhumij, etc. are also current am ong the tea garden labourers who have migrated from other states o f the country. M oreover a few non-Tribal languages, like Bengali, H indi, Oriya, Nepali, Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam, M arathi, Punjabi, etc. are also in use among the migrated population. Thus the linguistic position o f the state o f A ssam is very peculiar, and it can be regarded as a mini-India : Assam is not a unilingual state. It is a multilingual state. A ssam speaks m ore than 35 mother tongues and these are as follows : 1. Indigenous main link language o f the state : A ssam ese. 2. Indigenous major Tribal languages o f the state:- B oro, Karbi, M ising, Dirnasa, Rabha, Deori, Tiwa, etc. 3. Indigenous m ajor Tribal and Non-Tribal languages having separate home states in the North Eastern R e g io n : G aro, Khasi, Naga, Mizo, Manipuri, Bishnupuri, Kuki, Ih a d o , H m ar, Tripuri, Holam, etc. 22. Kakati, Banikanta, Assamese : Its Formation and Development, p.l

23

4. Inter-state migrated Tea-Garden Tribal languages : Saontali, Oraon, Munda, Kharia, Goudi, Bhumij, etc. 5. Inter-state migrated major non-Tribal language: Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Oriya, Nepali, Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, etc.23 Assamese is the major one among the languages that are used in Assam. It is the mother tongue or first language for about 60% of the total population of the state and the rest 40% population whose mother-tongues are non-Assamese languages, are also well conversant with Assamese to use it as a link language. Assamese is a link language not only for the non-Assamese speaking people of Assam, but it was and still it is a link language for the people of the neighbouring states of Arunachal Pradesh (earlier known as NEFA), Nagaland, Meghalaya, etc. The various linguistic forms, like Nefamese, Nagamese, Meghamese (Khasimese and Garomese), etc. which are bom out of mixing of Assamese with the local languages, are ample proof of this fact. Thus mixed forms of Assamese have been serving as the lingua franca in the North Eastern Region of India: It is also spoken in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. In Arunachal, Assamese is the only language for mutual communication among the different language speakers. In Nagaland a mixed form of Assamese is serving as the lingua franca.24 The sub-languages (3U4IU1), dialects

and sub-dialects (3W#RTF) of

the Assamese language may be shown in a tabular form as follows : 23. Boro, Thaneswar, ‘A Note on the Tribal languages o f Assam and the necessity o f their Teaching’, an article published in the book under the title, ‘ Tribal languages’, pp. 65-66 24. Goswami, Upendranath, A n Introduction to Assamese, p. 1

2 4

Language Assamese

Sub-languages Dialects Sub-dialects 1. Eastern Assamese 2. Western Assamese (1) K lm rupi: (a)Western Kamrupl (b) Middle Kamrupl (c) Southern Kamrupl (ii) Goalpariya: (a) Eastern Goalpariya (b)Westem Goalpariya Thus, we can trace mainly two sub-languages within the Assamese language, viz, stotN t (Eastern Assamese) and Ttf§rat arouNr (Western Assamese). The form of Assamese, that is spoken in the eastern part of Assam, i.e. in the upper Assam districts, is called aw4kl (Eastern Assamese). On the other hand, the form of Assamese, that is spoken in the western part of Assam, i.e. in the lower Assam districts, may be termed as hfesft STHukl (Western Assamese) : ZTOFTR

SraribtT iTTOlifai M l # <|ZT TOTZ TOPf T ft :

3Tm N t «tt zifz-apprc: *rm s p qfem arii^R sroriNr m TOTfz-3riprc stmti

■

zmfz-TOcrrc wrarar 3p

stiw m h to nw dNicmra i^nfr qFtcfT dNldM
TOFT

TO

^!7T

^TT

^

I : 3tPftot jftcfidMRi fa # if #faf! riTOvPrikr z t o m (rifaft) ark arfaror w t f t fa # ii 'dHdldl W FFlt ZTOTO (^tcft)I stwi

Iro# srt •m i

^ srnwr

site zrororif if mzt *tr

As far as the dialects of the Assamese language are concerned, we do not trace any such distinctive forms within Eastern Assamese. There is a great 25. Goswami, Upendranath, Asamlya Bhasa am Upabbasa, p. 57

25

amount of homogenity within it. However, Dr. G.C. Goswami, on basis of a close scrutiny of the phonology and morphology, has divided the Eastern Assamese into two dialects or dialects groups: the Eastern and the Central dialects. There are two major dialects, namely,

(Kamrupl) and JlHid4
(Qoalpariya) within the Western Assamese. The Kamrupl dialect is spoken in the area of the undivided Kamrup district. It has three major sub-dialects: Rfemt an d ^fw t

Kamrupl, spoken in and around Barpeta

is some what different to that spoken in and around Nalbari, and then Kamrupl, spoken in the southern bank of the river Brahmaputra, especially in the areas of Boko, Chhaygaon and Palasbari, is to some extent different to both. These three local forms of the Kamrupl dialect may be termed as Ffemi

(Western

respectively. The Goalpafla dialect is spoken in the area of the undivided Goalpara district, and we can trace two major sub-dialects in it, namely, Rfeqi rWiwrM (Western Goalparlya) and RF=ff uMlerhkl (Eastern Goalpariya). Here, the peculiar forms of the Assamese language developed mainly due to mixing of the mother tongues by the tea-garden labourers, the Muslim population dweiing in the riverine areas and the tribal population of Assam, are also worth mentioning. The present-day standard form o f the Assamese language (RFFfJ or

uff

arodhn) is based on Eastern Assamese current in the upper Assam districts, especially in and around Sivasagar. Earlier, till the seventeeth century A.D. when the centre of literary importance was in the western Assam, Kamrupl enjoyed the status of common language for literary expressions : jw r

3?TqTcr Mh

nfe 33T

rpiTi 26 26. Goswami, Upendranath, A s a m ly S B hSsa Sru UpabhSsS, p. 57

uff

26 37TWR

*TW $ ^f*TFT W f % 3RPJ

*TFFS

SJTO l l

The standard dialect of Assamese is that form of speech which is prevalent in and about Sibsagar. Over the upper part of die Assam Valley the language is everywhere the same. As we go west, we find a distinct dialect, which I call western Assamese, spoken by the people of Kamrup and eastern Goalpara.27 Like the other Neo-Indo-Aryan languages, namely, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi etc. Assamese language was also bom off apabhmmsa (eastern form of Magadhi, which may be called Kamrupl Prakrt, rather Kamrupl apabhmmsa) around 1000 A.D., and since then it has been growing and developing very steadily: !H#T ffs 'w rtw nRlft w f F fosw ra 3

^

S T T WR

| 2

U*W<

k

W

K

l

S R W k r

Wm

k

i W

8

-Irak w q h kn

^ E F T il

rarcgqf 3

^rk pwft

Hfcr aftt (crwftI) ‘aroik %

% strptrt siwfcn w % f^rcr m fe c F R T

k fan, w raf

J3TJI

Since 1000 A.D. till today the history of growth and development of the Assamese language is almost of one thousand years, which can be divided into three distinct periods, viz, Urtfk aronkr (Early Assamese, 1000 A.D. —1600 A.D., approximately), 3w4kl (Middle Assamese, 1600 A.D.. —1800) A.D., approximately) and sefi N t (Modem Assamese, 1800 A.D., onwards) : 27. Grierson, G..A., Linguistic Survey o f India, Vol. v, part 1, p. 394 28. Goswami, Satyendranath, Asamlya Sahityar Samlksatmak Itivrtta, p. 4

27 cTcTcTftUT ^ 3ffwNf TOR ftpSWR f*T-ftlf?r fry

m RR-3Tlfc ^T Rlftfr

Rift; W l# f t f e

aRR^TT, T O STO^TT 3M TO|fe> 3RT*m29

-TOFT ¥R ft 3TOkT TOT % ftiTOT RJT fR-ftfTOFT fTO W R iTOT W TOR % R3T3W: # C f R RT TO-3Tfft RT TOft 3RJ#TT, TORcff 3RPlkr 3?ft STRflW

3TOtRT! For the convenience of grouping linguistic peculiarities, the history of Assamese language may be broadly divided into three periods : (i)

Early Assamese: from the fourteenth to the end of the sixteenth century. This again may be split into (a) the Pre-Vaishnavite and (b) the Vaishnavite sub-periods.

(ii)

Midddle Assamese : form the seventeenth to the beginning of the nineteenth century. It is a period o f the prose chronicles of the Ahom court.

(iii) Modem Assamese: from the beginning of the nineteenth century till present tim es.30 Although it is said that the Assamese language was bom around 1000 A.D., we can get an information about the separate identity of the speech of ancient Kamarupa,—from which Assamese is derived,—in the account of Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim who visited the kingdom of Pragjyotisa-Kamarapa (as Assam was known by that time) in 643 A. D. He observed that the language spoken in Kamrupa differed a little from that of Mid-India. This speech of Kamarupa referred to by Hiuen Tsang was nothing other than the eastern form o f the MagadhT apabhramsa, which may be termed as Kamarupl apabhramsa. We may get some idea about the language spoken in the then KSmraupa from 29. Goswami, Satyendra Narayan, Nairn Prabandha, p. 17 30. Kakati, Banikanta, Assamese: Its Formation and Development, pp. 11-12

28 the unearthened stone or copper plate incriptions of the Varman kings, like Bhaskaravarman, Vanamaia varman, Balavarman, Ratnapala, Indrapaia, Dharmapala, etc. ranging from the sixth-seventh to the twelfth century A.D. Although written in Sanskrit, specimens of KamarupT or Early Assamese have croped into these inscriptions. Although it is a fact that the flow of the Indo-Aryan language entered the then kingdom of Kamarupa through North Bengal, it came directly from the territory of Videha-Magadha, and not from proper Bengal as some people think. It may also be remembered that North Bengal, including parts of East Bengal was under the pale of the ancient kingdom of Pragjyotisa-Kamarupa. As Nathan Brown observes : The opinion that the present language of Bengal is the parent of Assamese, is irreconcilable with facts. It is well known that there had been no influx of Bengalis into this province prior to the Mohammedan invasion, at which time the language was established in its present form. Very few of the Brahmanas of Assam have any connection or fellowship with those of Bengal, they trace their origin to the upper province of India.

31

Assamese is a Magadhan speech. Coming from the regions of VidehaMagadha through North Bengal, Assamese entered into Kamrupa or Western Assam where this speech was first characterised as Assamese.32 The word the adjectival affix

(Asamrya) is derived from the word

(Asam) with

(-iya) meaning ‘o f , ‘related to’ or ‘belonging to’. Thus

the etymological meaning of the word SRTHtifT is ‘of Asam’, ‘related to Asam’ 31. Brown, Nathan, Grammatical Notes on the Assamese Language, Introduction, pp. IX-X 32. Goswami, Upendranath, A Study on Kamrupi : A Dialect o f Assamese, p. 1

29

or ‘belonging to Asam’, and it is used to indicate the major language of the state of (Asam). The anglicized form of the word aro4kl is ‘Assamese’. Being based on the English word ‘Assam’, the word ‘Assamese’ is built on the same principle as Chinese, Japanese, Balinese, Javanese, etc.: Assamese is the anglicized name of Asamiya, the major language spoken in the north-eastern part of the country beyond West-Bengal. It is the language of Assam, pronounced axam by the native speakers, and hence the word Asamiya (axamlya) is derived from Asama plus adjectival affix meaning ‘of, ‘relating’ or ‘belonging to’.33 The script usually used for the Assamese language is the firffo (Assamese Script) which is originated from the Wflft (BramhI Script) through the 'JJH-fcffo (Gupta Script) and the RissWI^I or grfileF (Kuril Script): - T

y

a

srariki ^ 9

uo f t - M q

f i s-trctt

McW'tkt fMq i irk

sro ctr M W

i34

-SWrikT faft f t *TRcT qft T3FpF> FtcRT M q ll f e f e c f %% w i # m f%rPn

^tcT I - ¥T§ft 3tk 3*1%

• o

Thus Assamese, an Aryan language by origin, adopted, reared and used mostly by the non-Aryan population has been developing in its own way since the time of its inception.

33. Goswami, G. C., Structure o f Assamese, p. 1 34. Goswami, Upendranath, Asamiya Lipi, p. 45