Assamese Language
Assamese or Asamiya (অসমীয়া Ôxômiya) is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language used mainly in the state of Assam in North-East India. It is the official language of Assam. It is also spoken in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and other northeast Indian states. Nagamese, an Assamese-based Creole language is widely used in Nagaland and parts of Assam. Small pockets of Assamese speakers can be found in Bhutan and Bangladesh. The easternmost of Indo-European languages; it is spoken by over 13 million native speakers.
Along with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Assamese evolved circa 1000–1200 AD from the Magadhi Prakrit, which developed from a dialect or group of dialects that were close to, but different from, Vedic and Classical Sanskrit.Its sister languages include Bengali, Chittagonian, Sylheti (Cilôţi), Oriya, the Bihari languages. It is written with the Assamese script. Assamese is written from left to right and top to bottom, in the same manner as English. A large number of ligatures are possible since potentially all the consonants can combine with one another. Vowels can either be independent or dependent upon a consonant or a consonant cluster.
The English word "Assamese" is built on the same principle as "Sinhalese", "Japanese" etc. It is based on the name "Assam" by which the tract consisting of the Brahmaputra Valley was known. The people call their state Ôxôm and their language Ôxômiya.
Read more about Assamese Language: History, Phonology, Writing System, Morphology and Grammar, Literature
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