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Assamese alphabet
The Assamese alphabet or Assamese script,[1] is a writing system of the Assamese language. It used to be
the script of choice in the Brahmaputra valley for Sanskrit as well as other languages such as Bodo (now
Assamese alphabet
Devanagari), Khasi (now Roman), Mising (now Roman) etc. It evolved from Kamarupi script. The current form Ôxômiya lipi, অসমীয়া িলিপ
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 script could be identified (baminiya, kaitheli Type Abugida
and garhgaya)[2] that converged to the standard script following typesetting required for printing. The present Languages Assamese
standard is identical to the Bengali alphabet except for two letters, ৰ (ro) and ৱ (vo); and the letter (khya) has
Time 8th century to the
evolved into an individual consonant by itself with its own phonetic quality whereas in the Bengali alphabet it is period present
a conjugate of two letters.
Parent Proto-Sinaitic script[a]
The Buranjis were written during the Ahom dynasty in the Assamese language using the Assamese alphabet. In systems
the 14th century Madhava Kandali used Assamese script to compose the famous Saptakanda Ramayana, which Phoenician
is the first translation of Ramayana in a regional language after Valmiki's Ramayana in Sanskrit. Later, alphabet[a]
Sankardev used it in the 15th and 16th centuries to compose his oeuvre in Assamese and Brajavali dialect, the Aramaic alphabet[a]
literary language of the bhakti poems (borgeets) and dramas.
Brahmi script
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. Gupta script

Siddhaṃ
script
Contents Kamrupi
History script?

Assamese symbols Assamese

Vowels alphabet
Consonants
Halant [a] The Semitic origin of the Brahmic
Consonant Conjuncts scripts is not universally agreed upon.
Anuxôr
Candrabindu
Bixargô
Consonant clusters according to Goswami
Digits
Three distinct variations of Assamese script from the Bengali
Assamese keyboard layout
Sample text
Unicode
See also
Notes
References
External links

History
The Umachal rock inscription of the 5th century evidences the first use of a script in the
region. The script was very similar to the one used in Samudragupta's Allahabad Pillar
inscription. Rock and copper plate inscriptions from then onwards, and Xaansi bark
manuscripts right up to the 18th–19th centuries show a steady development of the
Assamese script. The script could be said to develop proto-Assamese shapes by the 13th
century. In the 18th and 19th century, the Assamese script could be divided into three
varieties: Kaitheli (also called Lakhari in Kamrup region, used by non-Brahmins),
Bamuniya (used by Brahmins, for Sanskrit) and Garhgaya (used by state officials of the Kanai-boroxiboa rock inscription, 1207 CE, shows proto-Assamese
Ahom kingdom)—among which the Kaitheli style was the most popular, with medieval script
books (like the Hastir-vidyrnava) and sattras using this style.[3] In the early part of the
19th century, Atmaram Sarmah designed the first Assamese script for printing in
Serampore, and the Bengali and Assamese lithography converged to the present standard that is used today.

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

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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 o ক (none) (none) ko kɔ

অ or অʼ ó ক (none) or কʼ urdho-comma kó ko

আ a কা akar ka ka

ই hroswo i িক hôrswôikar ki ki

ঈ dirgho i কী dirghoikar ki ki

উ hroswo u ক hroswoukar ku ku

ঊ dirgho u ক dirghoukar ku ku

ঋ ri ক rikar kri kri

এ e ক ekar kê and ke kɛ and ke

ঐ oi ক ôikar koi kɔɪ

ও ü কা ükar kü kʊ

ঔ ou কৗ oukar kou kɔʊ

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 no; instead, they are called ন dontiya no ("dental n"), ণ murdhoinno no
("retroflex n"), and ঞ nio. Similarly, the phoneme /x/ can be written as শ taloibbo xo ("palatal x"), ষ
murdhoinno xo ("retroflex x"), or স dontia xo ("dental x"), the phoneme /s/ can be written using চ
prothom sô ("first s") or ছ ditio so ("second s"), and the phoneme /z/ can be written using জ borgia zo
("row z" = "the z included in the five rows of stop consonants") or য ontostho zo ("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.

The text says: "Sri Sri Môt Xiwô Xinghô

Môharaza". The "র" is used as "ৱ" in this
18th-century manuscript, just as in modern
Mithilakshar.

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Consonants
Letter Name of Letter Transliteration IPA

ক ko k k

খ kho kh kʱ

গ go g ɡ

ঘ gho gh ɡʱ

ঙ uŋo ng ŋ

চ prothom so s s

ছ ditio so s s

জ borgiya zo z z

ঝ zho zh z

ঞ nio y ̃, n

ট murdhoinno to t t

ঠ murdhoinno tho th tʰ

ড murdhoinno do d d

ঢ murdhoinno dho dh dʱ

ণ murdhoinnya no n n

ত dontia to t t

থ dontia tho th tʰ

দ dontia do d d

ধ dontia dho dh dʱ

ন dontia no n n

প po p p

ফ pho ph and f pʰ~ɸ

ব bo b b

ভ bho bh and vh bʱ~β

ম mo m m

য ontostho zo z z

ৰ ro r ɹ

ল lo l l

ৱ wo w w~β

শ taloibbo xo x and s x~s

ষ murdhoinno xo x and s x~s

স dontia xo x and s x~s

হ ho h ɦ~h

khyo khy, kkh kʰj

ড় dore ro r ɹ

ঢ় dhore ro rh ɹɦ

য় ontostho yô y j

Assamese or Asamiya consonants include thirty three pure consonant letters in Assamese alphabet and each letter represents a single sound with an
inherent vowel, the short vowel /a /.

The first twenty-five consonants letters are called sporxo borno. These sporxo bornos are again divided into five borgos. Therefore, these twenty-
five letters are also called borgio borno.
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The Assamese consonants are typically just the consonant's main pronunciation plus the
inherent vowel o. The inherent vowel is assumed and not written, thus, names of most
letters look identical to the letter itself (e.g. the name of the letter ঘ is itself ঘ gho).

Some letters 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 no; instead, they are called ন dointo no ("dental n"), ণ murdhoinno no ("cerebral
n"), and ঞ nio.

Similarly, the phoneme /x/ can be written as শ taloibbo xo ("palatal x"), ষ murdh9inno xo
("cerebral x"), or স dointo xo ("dental x"), the phoneme/s/ can be written using চ
prothom so ("first s") or ছ ditio so ("second s"), and the phoneme /z/ can be written using
জ borgio zo ("row z" = "the z included in the five rows of stop consonants") or য ontostho
zo ("z situated between" = "the z that comes between the five rows of stop consonants and A few of Asamiya Consonant Conjuncts.

the row of sibilants"), depending on the standard spelling of the particular word.

The consonants can be arranged in following groups:

Group: 1 - Gutturals

Consonants Phonetics

ক kô

খ khô

গ gô

ঘ ghô

ঙ ṅgô

Group: 2 - Palatals

Consonants Phonetics

চ prôthôm sô

ছ ditiyô sô

জ bôrgiya ja

ঝ jhô

ঞ ñiô

Group: 3 - Cerebrals

Consonants Phonetics

ট murdhôinnya ṭa

ঠ murdhôinnya ṭha

ড murdhôinnya ḍa

ড় daré ṛa

ঢ murdhôinnya ḍha

ঢ় dharé ṛha

ণ murdhôinnya ṇa

Group: 4 - Dentals

Consonants Phonetics

ত dôntiya ta

ৎ khanda ṯ

থ dôntiya tha

দ dôntiya da

ধ dôntiya dha

ন dôntiya na

Group: 5 - Labials

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Consonants Phonetics

প pa

ফ pha

ব ba

ভ bha

ম ma

Group: 6 - Semi-vowels

Consonants Phonetics

য ôntôsthô zô

য় ôntôsthô ẏô

ৰ ra

ল la

ৱ wa

Group: 7 - Sibilants

Consonants Phonetics

শ talôibbya xô

ষ mudhôinnya xô

স dôntiya xô

Group: 8 - Aspirate

Consonants Phonetics

হ ha

khyô

Group: 9 - Anuxāra

Consonants Phonetics

◌ং ṃ anuxar

Group: 9 - Bixarga

Consonants Phonetics

◌ঃ ḥ bixarga

Group: 10 - Candrabindu (anunāsika)

Consonants Phonetics

◌ঁ n̐, m̐ candrabindu

The letters শ (talôibbya xô), ষ (murdhôinnya xô), স (dôntiya xô) and হ (hô) are called usma barna
The letters য (za), ৰ (ra), ল (la) and ৱ (wa) are called ôntôsthô barna
The letters ড় (daré ṛa) and ঢ় (dharé ṛha) are phonetically similar to /ra/
The letter য (ôntôsthô zô) is articulated like 'ôntôsthô yô' in the word medial and final position. To
denote the ôntôsthô ẏô, the letter য় (ôntôsthô ẏô) is used in Assamese
ৎ (khanda ṯ) means the consonant letter Tö (dôntiya ta) without the inherent vowel

Asamiya vowel diacritics.

Halant
To write a consonant without the inherent vowel the halant sign is used below the base glyph. In Assamese
this sign is called haxanta. (◌্)

Consonant Conjuncts
In Assamese, the combination of three consonants is possible without their intervening vowels. There are about 122 conjunct letters. A few conjunct
letters are given below:

Anuxôr
Anuxôr ( ◌ং ) indicates a nasal consonant sound (velar). When an anuxar comes before a consonant belonging to any of the 5 bargas, it represents
the nasal consonant belonging to that barga.

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Candrabindu
Chandrabindu ( ◌ঁ ) denotes nasalization of the vowel that is attached to it .

Bixargô
Bixargô ( ◌ঃ ) represents a sound similar to /h /.

Consonant clusters according to Goswami

According to Dr. G. C. Goswami the number of two-phoneme clusters is 143 symbolised by 174 conjunct letters. Three phoneme clusters are 21 in
number, which are written by 27 conjunct clusters. A few of them are given hereafter as examples:

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Conjunct letters Transliteration [Phoneme clusters (with phonetics)

ক+ক (kô + kô) kkô

ঙ+ক (ŋô + kô) ŋkô

ল+ক (lô + kô) lkô

স+ক (xô + kô) skô

স+ফ (xô + phô) sphô

ঙ+খ (ŋô + khô) ŋkhô

স+খ (xô + khô) skhô

ঙ+গ (ŋô + gô) ŋgô

ঙ+ঘ (ŋô + ghô) ŋghô

দ+ঘ (dô + ghô) dghô

শ+চ (xô + sô) ssô

চ+ছ (sô + shô) sshô

ঞ+ছ (ñô + shô) ñshô

ঞ+জ (ñô + zô) ñzô

জ+ঞ (zô + ñô) zñô

ল+ট (lô + ṭô) lṭô

ণ+ঠ (ṇô + ṭhô) ṇṭhô

ষ+ঠ (xô + ṭhô) ṣṭhô

ণ+ড (ṇô + ḍô) ṇḍô

ষ+ণ (xô + ṇô) ṣṇô

হ+ন (hô + nô) হ hnô

ক+ষ (kô + xô) ksô

প+ত (pô + tô) ptô

স+ত (xô + tô) stô

ক+ত (kô + tô) ktô

গ+ন (gô + nô) gnô

ম+ন (mô + nô) mnô

শ+ন (xô + nô) snô

স+ন (xô + nô) snô

হ+ন (hô + nô) hnô

ত+থ (tô + thô) tthô

ন+থ (nô + thô) nthô

ষ+থ (xô + thô) থ sthô

ন+দ (nô + dô) ndô

ব+দ (bô + dô) bdô

ম+প (mô + pô) mpô

ল+প (lô + pô) lpô

ষ+প (xô + pô) spô

স+প (xô + pô) spô

ম+ফ (mô + phô) mphô

ষ+ফ (xô + phô) sphô

দ+ব (dô + bô) dbô

ম+ব (mô + bô) mbô

হ+ব (hô + bô) hbô

দ+ভ (dô + bhô) dbhô

ম+ভ (mô + bhô) mbhô

ক+ম (kô + mô) kmô

দ+ম (dô + mô) dmô

হ+ম (hô + mô) hmô

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Conjunct letters Transliteration [Phoneme clusters (with phonetics)

ম+ম (mô + mô) mmô

Digits
Digits
Hindu-Arabic numerals 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Assamese numerals ০ ১ ২ ৩ ৪ ৫ ৬ ৭ ৮ ৯ ১০
xuinno ek dui tini sari pas soy xat ath no (noy) doh
Assamese names
শূণ এক দুই িতিন চািৰ পাচ ছয় সাত আঠ ন (নয়) দহ

Three distinct variations of Assamese script from the Bengali

Assamese unique characters
Letter Name of letter Transliteration IPA Bengali

ৰ rô r ɹ – bôesunnô rô

ৱ wô w w – (antasthya a)

khyô khy kʰj – juktokkhyô

Though is used in Bengali as a conjunct letter. Cha or Chha too has different pronunciation

Assamese keyboard layout

Inscript keyboard layout:

Phonetic keyboard layout:

The unique letter identifiers:

The keyboard locations of three characters unique to the Assamese script are depicted below:

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ITRANS characterisation:
The "Indian languages TRANSliteration" (ITRANS) the ASCII transliteration scheme for Indic scripts here, Assamese; the
characterisations are given below:

Keyboard Keyboard Keyboard Keyboard Keyboard

Character Character Character Character Character
sequence sequence sequence sequence sequence

k ক্ dh ধ্ GY ্ L^i ঌ 0 ০
kh খ্ n ন্ dny ্ e এ 1 ১
g গ্ p প্ x ্ ai ঐ 2 ২
gh ঘ্ ph ফ্ a অ o ও 3 ৩
~N ঙ্ b ব্ aa আ au ঔ 4 ৪
N^ ঙ্ bh ভ্ A আ RRI ৠ 5 ৫
ch চ্ m ম্ i ই R^I ৠ 6 ৬
Ch ছ্ y য্ ii ঈ LLI ৡ 7 ৭
chh ছ্ r ৰ্ I ঈ L^I ৡ 8 ৮
j জ্ l ল্ u উ .N ◌ঁ 9 ৯
jh ঝ্ v ৱ্ uu ঊ .n ◌ং # ◌
~n ঞ্ w ৱ্ U ঊ M ◌ং $ ৰ্
JN ঞ্ sh শ্ RRi ঋ H ◌ঃ ^

T ট্ Sh ষ্ R^i ঋ .h ◌্ *

Th ঠ্ shh ষ্ LLi ঌ ◌়
D ড্ s স্
Dh ঢ্ h হ্
N ণ্ .D ্
t ত্ .Dh ্
th থ্ Y য়্
d দ্ yh য়্

Sample text
The following is a sample text in Assamese of the Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Assamese in Assamese alphabet

দফা ১: সকেলা মানুেহ াধীনভােৱ সমান ঠাকৰািল আৰ অিধকােৰ জ লয় । সকেলােৰ িবেবক আৰ ান-বি আেছ আৰ সকেলােৱ এজেন আনজনক ভাই-ভাই িহচােপ
ব ৱহাৰ িদব লােগ ।
Assamese in phonetic Romanization 1

Dopha êk: Xôkôlû manuhê sadhinbhawê xôman thakurali aru ôdhikarê zônmô lôy. Xôkôlûrê bibêk aru ɡyan-buddhi asê aru xôkôlûê êzônê
anzônôk bhai-bhai hisapê byôwôhar dibô lagê.

Assamese in phonetic Romanization 2

Dopha ek: Xokolü manuhe sadhinbhawe xoman thakurali aru odhikare zonmo loy. Xokolüre bibek aru ɡyan-buddhi ase aru xokolüe ezone
anzonok bhai-bhai hisape byowohar dibo lage.

Assamese in the International Phonetic Alphabet

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/dɔɸa ɛk | xɔkɔlʊ manuɦɛ sadʱinbʱaβɛ xɔman tʰakuɹali aɹu ɔdʱikaɹɛ zɔnmɔ lɔe̯ || xɔkɔlʊɹɛ bibɛk aɹu ɡɪan-buddʱi asɛ aɹu xɔkɔlʊɛ ɛzɔnɛ anzɔnɔ
bʱaɪ-bʱaɪ ɦisapɛ bɛβɔɦaɹ dibɔ lagɛ/

Gloss

Clause 1: all human free-manner-in equal dignity and right taken birth take. Everyone's reason and conscience exist; and everyone-indeed one
towards another brothers as behaviour give-to should.

Translation

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience. Therefore, they
should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Unicode
The Bengali–Assamese script was added to the Unicode Standard in October 1991 with the release of version 1.0.

The Unicode block for Assamese and Bengali is U+0980–U+09FF:

Bengali[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0980.pdf) (PDF)

  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F

U+098x ঀ ◌ঁ ◌ং ◌ঃ অ আ ই ঈ উ ঊ ঋ ঌ এ
U+099x ঐ ও ঔ ক খ গ ঘ ঙ চ ছ জ ঝ ঞ ট
U+09Ax ঠ ড ঢ ণ ত থ দ ধ ন প ফ ব ভ ম য
U+09Bx র ল শ ষ স হ ◌় ঽ ◌া ি◌
U+09Cx ◌ী ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ৄ ◌ ◌ ◌া ◌ৗ ◌্ ৎ
U+09Dx ◌ৗ ড় ঢ় য়
U+09Ex ৠ ৡ ◌ৢ ◌ৣ ০ ১ ২ ৩ ৪ ৫ ৬ ৭ ৮ ৯
U+09Fx ৰ ৱ ৲ ৳ ৴ ৵ ৶ ৷ ৸ ৹ ৺ ৻
Notes

1.^ As of Unicode version 12.0

2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

See also
Assamese Braille
Help:IPA for Assamese
Romanisation of Assamese

Notes
1. The name ăcãmăkṣara first appears in Ahom coins and copperplates where the name denoted the Ahom script (Bora 1981:11–12)
2. (Bora 1981:53)
3. (Neog 1980, p. 308)

References
Bora, Mahendra (1981). The Evolution of Assamese Script (https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Evolution_of_Assamese_Script.html?id=9
scvAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y). Jorhat, Assam: Assam Sahitya Sabha.
Neog, Maheshwar (1980). Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Assam. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass.
"Assamese literature – An overview and historical perspective Linking into broader Indian canvas" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120204125953/
http://www.nenanews.com/OT%20Nov22-Dec6,98/oh14.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.nenanews.com/OT%20Nov22-Dec6,98/oh14.
htm) on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
"Assamese writing System" (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/assamese.htm). Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20071211235156/http://www.
omniglot.com/writing/assamese.htm) from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
"Antiques reveal script link – Inscriptions on 3 copper plates open new line of research" (https://archive.is/20110704112944/http://208.223.222.11
2/1060125/asp/northeast/story_5761957.asp). The Telegraph (Kolkata). 25 January 2006. Archived from the original (http://208.223.222.112/1060
125/asp/northeast/story_5761957.asp) on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2007.

External links
Assamese alphabet (http://www.assam.org/node/2330)
Madhava Kandali Ramayana (https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no17118.htm)

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