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xii PREFACE took infinite pains to read through the entire hand- written script and mark certain points that he considered doubtful or uncertain. He condescended also to offer various suggestions. Certain sections have accordingly been rewritten and others newly added under his inspiration. His suggestions on speci- fic points have been duly acknowledged. For the rest and . also for the generosity with which he responded to the sup- plication of an unknown worker, I cherish the abiding grati- tude of a humble learner towards the great teacher that he is. I am, however, personally responsible for all possible shortcomings in the book in its present form. Faults wherever found must surely be due to my failure to fully appraise the suggestions received. The title Assamese, Its Formation and Development has been suggested by Dr. S. K. Chatter ji. Though the present book is not a full-fledged formation :.nd development, the suggested title seems expropriate to me as it is reminiscent to me of the two great works, La Formation de la Langue Marathe and The Oigln avd Development oj the Bengali Language from wh'ch light and direction have been constantly sought. In respect of derivation of the tbh. elements the existing terminologies, O.I.A., M.I.A . and N.I.A., have been adopted. Since it has been assumed that Assamese is derived from a Sanskrit-like language, under 0.1. A. have been included words that appear in a Sanskrit ised garb in Sanskrit dictionaries whatever their probable origin may be. ' Thus, for example, Assamese katarl a knife, has been afhTated to Skt. kattarikd, rather than to kartarikd, though kattarikd has been Sanskritis- ed from a Prakritic source In this respect I have followed Dr. Turner's example in his Nepali Dictionary where he derives katari from Skt. kattdrika, though in his Index he has placed kattari-, under Prakrit heading. In these pages Assamese words have been as far as possible "derived from the nearest Sanskritised forms without any attempt at tracing the possible sources of the corresponding Sanskrit vocables except of course where the formations are of palpable desya origin.