Language/Assamese/Grammar/Combined-Letters
| ◀️ Vowels and Consonants — Previous Lesson | Next Lesson — Basic Greetings ▶️ |
Assamese is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Assam. Learning Assamese is a challenging but fascinating experience, as it opens up a new world of cultural and linguistic diversity. In this lesson, we'll be discussing combined letters in Assamese. Combined letters refer to the joining of two characters, usually a consonant and a vowel. These combined letters are essential in the formation of words in the Assamese language.
Joining Vowels and Consonants
Assamese is written left to right, and vowels are written above, below, or around consonants. There are 11 primary vowels in Assamese:
| Assamese | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| অ | ɔ | A |
| আ | a | AA |
| ই | i | I |
| ঈ | i: | II |
| উ | u | U |
| ঊ | u: | UU |
| ঋ | r̩ | R |
| ৠ | r̩: | RR |
| এ | e | E |
| ঐ | ɔi | OI |
| ও | o | O |
| ঔ | ɔu | OU |
Consonants in Assamese are categorized based on their place of articulation and manner of articulation. They are written differently depending on the position of the vowel.
To join a vowel and a consonant in Assamese, we usually use diacritical marks called matras. Diacritical marks are used to modify the sounds of the consonants into different sounds. The diacritical marks used are:
- া a (to modify the vowel sound to A) - ি i (to modify the vowel sound to /i/) - ী ii (to modify the vowel sound to /ii/) - ু u (to modify the vowel sound to /u/) - ূ uu (to modify the vowel sound to /uu/) - ৃ ri (to modify the vowel sound to /r/) - ৢ li (to modify the vowel sound to /l/) - ৣ lri (to modify the vowel sound to /lr/)
With these diacritical marks, we can form combined letters in Assamese.
Combined Letters
Combined letters in Assamese are formed by combining the isolated form of a consonant with a matra to get a new form. For example, let's take the consonant ka:
| ক | কা | কি | কী | কু | কূ | কৃ | কৢ | কৣ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ka | kaa | ki | kii | ku | kuu | kri | kli | klri |
The matra া a is added to the isolated form of ka to make the combined form kaa, which represents the vowel sound A. Similarly, by adding other matras, we can get different vowel sounds in the combined letters.
Here are the combined letters formed by joining the primary vowels with the consonants:
| ক | খ | গ | ঘ | ঙ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| kaa (কা) | khaa (খা) | gaa (গা) | ghaa (ঘা) | ng (ঙ) |
| ki (কি) | khi (খি) | gi (গি) | ghi (ঘি) | n---i (ঙি) |
| kii (কী) | khii (খী) | gii (গী) | ghii (ঘী) | n---ii (ঙী) |
| ku (কু) | khu (খু) | gu (গু) | ghu (ঘু) | ngu (ঙু) |
| kuu (কূ) | khuu (খূ) | guu (গূ) | ghUU (ঘূ) | nguu (ঙূ) |
| kri (কৃ) | khri (খৃ) | gri (গৃ) | ghri (ঘৃ) | n--r (ঙৃ) |
| kli (কৢ) | khli (খৢ) | gli (গৢ) | ghli (ঘৢ) | n--l (ঙৢ) |
| klri (কৣ) | khlri (খৣ) | glri (গৣ) | ghlri (ঘৣ) | n--lr (ঙৣ) |
Here are some examples of words using combined letters:
| Assamese | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| বাক্কা | ba-kka | Child |
| লক্ষ্মী | lokhmii | Goddess of wealth |
| রাজ্যগুৰু | rojja-guru | Political Leader |
Conclusion
Combined letters in Assamese are fundamental in the formation of words in the language. By joining consonants and vowels, we can create new sounds and increase our vocabulary in Assamese. In this lesson, we have learned how to join vowels and consonants in Assamese and the different diacritical marks used in forming combined letters. We have also seen some examples of combined letters in Assamese words.
Through learning the Assamese script, you are not only learning a language but also connecting with Assamese culture and history. In the next lesson, we will discuss basic greetings in Assamese, which are essential in daily conversations.
Other Lessons
- Questions and Negations
- Prepositions
- 0 to A1 Course
- Descriptive Adjectives
- Pronouns
- Vowels and Consonants
- How to Use Have
- Negation
- Present Tense
- Past Tense
Sources
| ◀️ Vowels and Consonants — Previous Lesson | Next Lesson — Basic Greetings ▶️ |