Assamese alphabet information

Assamese Alphabet
Assamese Alphabet;
Script type	Abugida
Time 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 Bengali-Assamese script Assamese Alphabet; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Sister systems	Bengali alphabet and Tirhuta
	[a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic scripts is not universally agreed upon.
	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.

This article contains the Assamese alphabet. Without proper rendering support, you may see errors in display.

This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

The Assamese alphabet^[3] (Assamese: অসমীয়া বৰ্ণমালা, romanized: Ôxômiya Bôrnômala) is a writing system of the Assamese language and is a part of the Bengali-Assamese script. This script was also used in Assam and nearby regions for Sanskrit as well as other languages such as Bodo (now Devanagari), Khasi (now Roman), Mising (now Roman), Jaintia (now Roman) etc. It evolved from Kamarupi script. The current form of the script has seen continuous development from the 5th-century Umachal/Nagajari-Khanikargaon rock inscriptions written in an eastern variety of the Gupta script, adopting significant traits from the Siddhaṃ script in the 7th century. By the 17th century three styles of Assamese alphabets could be identified (baminiya, kaitheli and garhgaya)^[4] that converged to the standard script following typesetting required for printing. The present standard is identical to the Bengali alphabet except for two letters, ৰ (ro) and ৱ (vo); and the letter ক্ষ (khya) has evolved into an individual consonant by itself with its own phonetic quality whereas in the Bengali alphabet it is a conjunct of two letters.

The Buranjis were written during the Ahom dynasty in the Assamese language using the Assamese alphabet. In the 14th century Madhava Kandali used Assamese alphabets to compose the famous Saptakanda Ramayana, which is the Assamese translation of Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana. Later, Sankardev used it in the 15th and 16th centuries to compose his oeuvre in Assamese and Brajavali dialect, the literary language of the bhakti poems (borgeets) and dramas.

The Ahom king Supangmung (1663–1670) was the first ruler who started issuing Assamese coins for his kingdom. Some similar scripts with minor differences are used to write Maithili, Bengali, Meithei and Sylheti.

^ "In the northeast, the local derivative of Siddhamatrka was the script known as Proto-Bengali or Gaudi, which was current from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries." (Salomon 1998:41)
^ "In fact, the term 'Eastern Nagari' seems to be the only designation which does not favour one or the other language. However, it is only applied in academic discourses, whereas the name 'Bengali script' dominates the global public sphere." (Brandt 2014:25)
^ The name ăcãmăkṣara first appears in Ahom coins and copperplates where the name denoted the Ahom script (Bora 1981:11–12)
^ (Bora 1981:53)

[salomon-gaudi-1] "In the northeast, the local derivative of Siddhamatrka was the script known as Proto-Bengali or Gaudi, which was current from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries." (Salomon 1998:41)

[2] "In fact, the term 'Eastern Nagari' seems to be the only designation which does not favour one or the other language. However, it is only applied in academic discourses, whereas the name 'Bengali script' dominates the global public sphere." (Brandt 2014:25)

[3] The name ăcãmăkṣara first appears in Ahom coins and copperplates where the name denoted the Ahom script (Bora 1981:11–12)

[4] (Bora 1981:53)

Assamese alphabet information

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Assamese alphabet

Assamese language

Assamese people

Culture of Assam

Bengali language

Official script

List of writing systems

Brahmic scripts

Kamarupi script

Barak Valley

Modern Assamese

Meitei script

Bengali alphabet

Hanifi Rohingya script

Arabic script

Bharati Braille

Rejang alphabet

Mayek

Ulu scripts

Orunodoi

Ekar

Baybayin

Brahmic scripts
The Brahmi script and its descendants
Northern Brahmic Gupta Sharada Landa Gurmukhi Khojki Khudabadi Multani Mahajani Takri Dogri Siddham Nagari Devanagari Gujarati Modi Nandinagari Kaithi Sylheti Nagri Gaudi Bengali–Assamese Bengali Assamese Tirhuta Odia Nepalese Bhujimol Ranjana Soyombo Pracalit Tibetan Meitei Lepcha Limbu Khema Phagspa Zanabazar square Marchen Marchung Pungs-chen Pungs-chung Drusha Kalinga Bhaiksuki Tocharian
Southern Brahmic Tamil-Brahmi Pallava Tamil Grantha Malayalam Tigalari Dhives Akuru Saurashtra Khmer Khom Thai Proto-Tai script^? Sukhothai Thai Fakkham Thai Noi Lao Tai Viet Dai Don Lai Tay Lai Pao Cham Kawi Balinese Batak Buda Javanese Old Sundanese Sundanese Lontara Makasar Ulu scripts Incung Lampung Lembak Ogan Pasemah Rejang Serawai Baybayin Buhid Hanunoo Tagbanwa Kulitan Mon–Burmese Burmese Chakma S'gaw Karen Shan Tanchangya Lik-Tai scripts Ahom Khamti Tai Le Modern Mon Tai Tham New Tai Lue Pyu Vatteluttu Kolezhuthu Malayanma Sinhala Bhattiprolu Kadamba Telugu-Kannada Kannada Goykanadi Telugu
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