A Classified Recall Vocabulary in Assamese

The main objective of the Central Institute of Indian Languages has been the development of all languages of India by way of documentation, research, teaching and material production in Indian languages and promotion and maintenance of multilingualism and multiculturalism to strengthen the bond among the Indian languages and thus establish strong community harmony and national integrity in the country.

10-Month Language Training Programme (LTP) in all the Scheduled Languages of India is conducted every year from 1 July to 30 April in the seven Regional Language Centres of the Institute, situated in different parts of the country. The main aim of this programme is to help the state governments implement the three-language formula by training teachers, prospective teachers, linguistic scholars and general public who are very much devoted and concerned about the development of Indian languages and the glorification of integrity of the nation.

The Classified Recall Vocabulary Series is one of the several reference book series prescribed by the Institute for the LTP courses. The main aim of this series is to enrich the vocabulary of the language learners. The Classified Recall Vocabulary in Assamese compiled by Aleendra Brahma, Seuji Sharma and Pranab Barman, includes around 6000 vocabulary items of Assamese language categorised under 71 sub-domains.

About the Language Assamese is the easternmost member of the Indo-Aryan family of languages. It is a major language spoken in the north-eastem part of India. It is the official language of the state of Assam pronounced as ohom by the native speakers. The name of the language ohomija derived from ohom with the adjectival suffix {-ija}, meaning ‘of, ‘relatimg’ or ‘belonging to’, indicates the people of Assam too. It is one of the Miagar Indian Languages recognized in the 8" Schedule of Indian constituition..

Genetically, old Indo-Aryan is regarded as the parent language of Assamese. In course of time, the old Indo-Aryan language family split into five branches- Magadhi, Ardha-Magadhi, Paisachi, Sauraseni and Maharastri. It is supposed that Assamese language evolved from a Magadhi Prakrit in the East that gave rise to Apabhramsa. The earhest specimen of Assamese language and literature is available in the Charyas and Dohas, written by Buddhist Siddhacharyas, which is supposed s have flourished between the 8" and 12" centuries A.D. The modem period of Assamese language was ushered in with the transiaiom and publication of the Bible in Assamese- the Dharma Pustak by Atmaram Sarma in 1813.The American Baptist missionaries can be regarded as dae pioneers in bringing a kind of revival in thoughts and ideas through Arunodoi, the first Assamese newspaper. Scholars like Hemchandsa Barua, Gunabhiram Barua created the modern style of Assamese prose and helped in developing the clear, stable and pure literary form and style of Modern Assamese which was accepted by the later writers.

About the book

Subject-matter: Vocabulary is all about words; the body of words used in a particular language. It serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. The purpose behind preparing a recall vocabulary is to bring the words existed in a particular language back to the user’s mind. The role of vocabulary in language learning is irrefutable, and this is true in case of Assamese language too. This Recall Vocabulary is also prepared with a view to help the speakers to enter into the process of learning Assamese language in an easily accessible way. It is a collection of some common words that are widely used by the Assamese speech community. In order to collect words and select them, Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), had conducted a workshop at North Eastern Regional Language Centre (NERLC), one of the seven centres of the Institute, located at Guwahati. Almost all the words entered in this volume have been selected by a group of resource persons and language experts who attended the workshop. A few words, considered as important and enlisted here, have been selected by the editors.

Aim: The goal of preparing this vocabulary as a part of study materials is to contribute to the speakers’ understanding of the Assamese language and to enrich the users’ vocabulary. With this aim in view, the common and widely used words have been collected and they are arranged under different headings. The data is based on both written and spoken sources of formal and informal varieties. The present work is | intended to contribute to pedagogic efforts involving the teaching of Assamese as a second language. It is anticipated that this work will function as resource material on Assamese lexicon from the perspective of vocabulary building. Though the whole work is primarily meant for second language learners or non-native speakers, the native speakers would also be beneficiary to a great extent. Learning a language properly, be it a mother tongue or second language, deserves hard effort. An attempt is made here to cover almost all the important words, so that the learners can percept the meanings without any hindrance.