Page:Assamese-Its formation and development.djvu/12

x PREFACE Though modern Assamese has been largely overshadowed by its more powerful and prosperous western neighbour, Bengali, yet it occupies an important place in the group of N.I.A. languages. In point of antiquity, it had the honour of being noted by Hiuen Ts'ang when he visited Kamarupa in the 7th century. He perhaps referred to some 'individuality of the Kamarupa (early Assamese) language when he spoke of it as " slightly differing " from that of Mid-India. From the fourteenth century onwards, Assamese developed a rich and varied popular literature in poetry, prose and drama. In the latter two items, prose and drama, early Assamese seems to have been ahead of other contemporary vernaculars. Assamese has thus preserved in earlier records sufficient materials for a historical study of the easternmost N.I.A. vernacular. Its lexical wealth is also vast and varieij. Up till now three comprehensive dictionaries have been published. The first was the Assamese-English Dictionary or M. Bronson, 1867 ; the second was that of Kem Chandra Barua, the gram- marian, published, 1900 ; the third is a comprehensive Assam- ese-English Dictionary published under the auspices of Asam Sahitya Sabha, 1932. The outstanding feature ot all' the Assamese lexicons is the sedulous care with which all homely tbh, and indigenous words have been faithfully registered. Learned Sanskrit words that constitute the bulk of the entries in current Bengali dictionaries have as a rule been avoided. Sanskrit words are recorded only when they have been fully Assamicised. The existing Assamese lexicons thus present a faithful picture of the language that lives on the lips of the people. But they are very poor in etymological materials. The derivations wherever suggested are more often than not fanciful. And at the present state of knowledge about Assam- ese such inaccuracies in lexicographers are inevitable. From an Assamese point of view, therefore, this publica- tion, though a record of humble works, embodies all that has ever been seriously attempted in the direction of grouping linguistic materials under different grammatical and historical qategories. The materials collected here may thus be looked vqpon as an effort at furnishing the comparative gra mm arians