Kamrupi dialects are a group of regional dialects of Assamese,Kamrupi is defined as a dialect of Assamese in the title of the seminal work—, A Study on Kamrupi: A dialect of Assamese spoken in the Kamrup region. It formerly enjoyed prestige status. It is one of two western dialect groups of the Assamese language, the other being Goalpariya. Kamrupi is heterogeneous with three subdialects— Barpetia dialect, Nalbariya dialect and Palasbaria dialect.
In medieval times, Kamrupi was used in the Brahmaputra Valley and its adjoining areas for literary purposes in parallel with Sanskrit, both for prose and poetry. This went against the practices of literary figures of mid India like Vidyapati who used Sanskrit for prose and Maithili for poetry. In more recent times, the South Kamrupi dialect has been used in the works of author Indira Goswami. Poet and nationalist Ambikagiri Raichoudhury also used Kamrupi in his works to great extent.Sahitya Akademi, Indian literature: Volume 30, 1987 Ambikagiri set a new trend in Assamese by his abundant use of Kamrupi language in his writings. In 2018, the Kamrupi film Village Rockstars became the first from the region to be selected for India's official entry to the 91st Academy Awards. In 1996, another Kamrupi dialect film named Adajya directed by Santwana Bardoloi based on a novel by Indira Goswami titled Dontal Haatir Uiye Khuwa Haoda won the Indian National award as the Best Regional Film (Assamese) and Jury's special award.
Features Phonology +VowelsFrontCentralBackIPAROMScriptIPAROMScriptIPAROMScriptCloseiuNear-closeúClose-midéOpen-mideoOpena
The Kamrupi dialects have seven phonemes in contrast to the eight in standard Assamese dialect. The phoneme that is missing in the Kamrupi dialects is the close-mid back rounded vowel // (). In the Kamrupi dialects, this vowel is replaced by another vowel, a diphthong or a different form.
+Replaced byEarly AssameseStandard AssameseKamrupi bhoilo // // huibe // // kola // // // // goilo // // koito, kohito // // rohilo, rohileko, rohila, rohilonto //, // //, //
The treatment of ks as kh which is a notable feature in Early Assamese and the Kamrupi dialect has been found in Kamarupa inscriptions, such as inscriptions of Ratna Pala where ksitimatha>khimatha was used. One of the most prominent features of Kamrupi is the use of initial stress, as opposed to penultimate stress in the eastern dialects, which effectively shortens the word"The word stress in the Kamrupi dialect is uniformly and dominantly initial as opposed to the penultimate stress of the standard colloquial." (komora, Eastern dialect; kumra, Kamrupi dialect). Though standard Assamese follows the pan-Indian system of penultimate, Kamrupi shares the initial stress, with some difference, with the Bengali,"Assamese follows the pan Indian system of penultimate stress and bengali has an initial stress. Even in that respect Bengali differs from Kamrupi dialect which also has an initial stress." where the initial stress system established itself as the dominant feature in the 16th century."...the initial stress had the victory ultimately and by the end of the Middle Bengali period [c1500 CE, p132] it is very likely that it was active in west central Bengali and most Bengali dialects thus giving to modern Bengali their typical form (ODBL 282) In Kamrupi dialect too, the initial stress is a later development which is a result of contact with some linguistic group."In Western Assam perhaps in contact with some people speaking a language with a strong initial stress the penultimate stress of the primitive language got shifted to the initial syllable. In Eastern Assam the original penultimate stress persisted." Medial vowels are thus rarely pronounced or largely slurred over. In standard Assamese if a word has two /a/ sounds side-by-side, the first /a/ turns into an /ɔ/ or /ɛ/, a feature that became prominent in writings of Hema Saraswati, Harivara Vipra, Kaviratna Saraswati etc."In all these writers, the Assamese idiom seem to have been fully individualized...So is an anterior ā shortened before a following ā." In Kamrupi, two consecutive /a/ are tolerated (star: /taɹa/ (Kamrupi), /tɔɹa/ (Standard)). The early Assamese used pan Indian system of tolerance of both the parallel /a/. In disyllabic words, the second /ɔ/ becomes an /a/ (hot: /gɔɹam/, Kamrupi; /gɔɹɔm/, St. Assamese). Epenthetic vowels are the rule in Kamrupi dialects, with even diphthongs and triphthongs appearing in initial syllables (haula Kam; haluwa St) (keuila Kam; kewaliya St), and a complete absence of diphthongs in the final syllables. High vowels are feature of Kamrupi, in contrast to predominance of medial vowels in Standard Assamese. Kapur, tule, mul, tamul and khalu in eastern Assamese as against Kapor (cloth), tole (raises), mol (worth), tamol (betel-nut) and khalo (I have eaten) in Kamrupi. The east Assamese favours de-aspiration as against aspiration of Kamrupi in same phonological context. /x/ does not occurs finally in Kamrupi, it does sometimes in eastern Assamese. In non-initial position Old Indo-Aryan sibilants become /kh/ and sometimes /h/, whereas in eastern Assamese it becomes /x/, e.g. Akha (Kamrupi) and Axa (Standard Assamese).
Morphology Western Assamese shares morphological peculiarities with North Bengali. The plural suffixes in Western Assamese -hamra and -gila have parallel forms in North Bengali -amrah, the remote demonstrative plural and -gila, -gla. The plural suffixes of Kamrupi are very different from the eastern Assamese (Kamrupi: -gila, -gilak; Standard: -bür, -bilak). Kamrupi plural suffixes has continuity from ancient times, as opposed to late medieval appearance of bür and bilak in Eastern Assam. Standard uses -loi in the dative case ending, Kamrupi uses the dative-accusative case ending -k or the locative -t (Kamrupi: ghorot/ghorok zaü̃; Standard ghoroloi zaü̃). The instrumental sense -di in Kamrupi is increasingly accepted in the Standard now (Kamrupi:hatedi; Standard: hatere). Kamrupi has large variety of adverbial formations such as - ita, - ethen, - enke and - kahai, which are quite different in Eastern Assamese. Pleonastic suffixes of East Assamese are distinct from those of Kamrupi like - ni, - na, - holi. The enclitic definites are separate in both the languages. In the Eastern variety - heten is used for past conditional, as against Kamrupi - hoi. Formation of verbs from nouns and participles are more common in Kamrupi than Eastern Assamese. Kamrupi has - lak and - ilak for third personal affix while East Assamese uses - le and - ile for the same (Kamrupi: xi khalak; Standard: xi khale).
Similarities with Eastern Assamese According to Upendranath Goswami, differences between Kamrupi and east Assamese is not insignificant, they ranged over whole field of phonology, morphology and vocabulary.
Its unique features distinguishes it from Eastern Assamese, there may some commonalities—case endings, conjugational affixes, pronominal roots, derivatives and vocabulary—that underscore a fundamental unity, nonetheless, Kamrupi dialect, with a long history of its own differs greatly from the eastern variety of Assamese.
Dr. Nirmalendu Bhowmik, while discussing similarity of Kamrupi with Eastern Assamese, observes that despite some similarity in morphology, there is absolutely no similarity in terms of phonology, though both languages shares few common words.
Comparison with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages Eastern Indo-Aryan languages share a common phonological structure.
Kamrupi Sylheti Standard Assamese Translation Xi ghorot/ghorok gesi He Goro gese Xi Ghoroloi/Ghorot goise He has gone home. Tai Ghorot gesi Tai Goro gese Tai Ghoroloi/Ghorot goise She has gone home. Eta Kamot aihlu/aisu Exta xamo aisi Eta Kamot Ahilû/Ahisû I have come for some work. Deksa na? Dexso ni? Dekhisa ne? Have you seen it? Zaba na tumi? Zaibay ni tumi? Zaba ne tumi? Will you leave?
Glossarial There is differences in vocables of Kamrupi and Eastern Assamese, such that even common objects are denoted by different words. In eastern variety there are no generic terms to such English words like brothers and sisters, Kamrupi do have, such as bhak and bainak. Kamrupi also uses /soli/ for both boys and girls collectively for children, East Assamese lacks such forms.
Kamrupi Sylheti Standard Assamese Translation Khüam Xauaimu Khüam I will Feed (Someone) Kumra Kumṛa Kümüra Gourd Mekur/Meukri Mekur/Bilai Mekuri Cat Hosa Hasa Xosa/Hosa Truth Dhól Ḍul Dhül Drum Nun Nun Lün Salt Sana Aulad/Sao/Hurutayn Püali/Sona Offspring Dima Ḍim/Enḍa/Boida Koni/Dim Egg -gila/-gilak -guin -bilak Plural suffix Pani Fani Pani Water Taka, Toka Texá Toka Money Bazar Bazár Bozar Market Souk, Tiniali/Sairali Souk Tiniali/Sariali Town square Manhu Manu/Manuš/Mainš Manuh People
Old Indo-Aryan words Kamrupi retained many Old Indo-Aryan words.
Kamrupi East AssameseSylheti O.I.A Translation Theng Theng Teng Tanga Leg Pek Büka Fex Panka Mud Phen Phen Fen/Fena Phena Foam Bor Bor Damand/Boʊr Vara Bridegroom Bari Bari Után/Barí/Barígòr Vatika Enclosed ground with plantation Soli (Löra-süali) Sabal/Sao Challi Offspring Boni Bhoni Boni/Boin Bhagini Sister Dima Dim Dim Dimba Egg Kake Kakoi Xaxoi Kanikattika Comb Niar Nior Nior Nihara Fog Kurma (Mitir) (Kutum)/Gushti Kutumbaka Relative
Definition of the region
The Kamrup between Manas and Barnadi rivers,Deba Brat Sharma (1995), Changing Cultural Mosaic of a Village in Assam, Page 10, an end the kingdom of Kamarupa and since then the area between the rivers the Manas on the west and the Barnadi on the east came to be known as Kamrup where Kamrupi is spoken, formed the capital area of two of three dynasties of the ancient Kamarupa kingdom (4th–12th century), with Pragjyotishpura (Guwahati)T. Raatan (2006), History, Religion and Culture of North East India - Page 70 Known in the ancient lore as the kingdom of Pragjyotisha and Kamrupa, the capital having been Pragjyotishpura situated in or near Guwahati and Durjaya (North Guwahati).Chandra Dhar Tripathi, Indian Institute of Advanced Study (2002), Aspects of the medieval history of Assam, Page 17 Ratnapala founded a new city called Sri Durjaya and shifted his capital there. It has been identified with the ruins at modern North Gauhati Kingdom existed as parallel to Davaka of central Assam.Suresh Kant Sharma, Usha Sharma (2005), Discovery of North-East India: Geography, History, Culture, ..., Davaka (Nowgong) and Kamarupa as separate and submissive friendly kingdoms Absorption of Davaka by Kamrup marks eastward expansion of latter,Kanak Lal Barua (1966), Early history of Kāmarupa, Page 31 in the sixth or the seventh century this kingdom of Davaka was absorbed by Kamarupa which ultimately covered area from the Karatoya in the west to the temple of Dikkaravasini at Sadiya in the east, Bhutan in north and Northern Bangladesh in south.S. P. Sinha (2007), Lost Opportunities: 50 Years of Insurgency in the North-east Kamrup included the whole of Brahmaputra Valley, Bhutan, Rangpur district (Bangladesh), Cooch Behar, part of Mymensingh district of Bangladesh and Garo...the temple of the goddess Tameshwari (Dikkaravasini) is now located at modern Sadiya about 100 miles to the northeast of Sibsagar" .
Medieval Mughals established four sarkars (administrative units): Bangalbhum, Dhekeri, Dakkhinkul and Kamrup; placing Kamrup in "Sarkar Kamrup". The Sarkar of Kamrup was between the Manas and the Barnadi rivers on the north bank, and was bounded in the east by the Asurar Ali The Kamrupi is currently prevalent in Mughal Sarkar of Kamrup."Uttorkol or Dhenkiri north of the Brohmoputro, Dokhyinkul south of the same, Bangalbhumi west of the Brohmoputro, and Kamrup proper, called so as containing Gohati, the most ancient capital of the country." In late medieval times, Kamrupi literary style passed to eastern Assam.