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Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 Vol. 19:7 July 2019

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Dictionary Writing in Assam:
A Study Through Select Classical Texts

Khammoun Phukan, M.A., B.Ed.

Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of English and Foreign Languages
Tezpur University, Assam, India – 784028
k.phukan9@gmail.com

Arup Kumar Nath, M.A., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of English and Foreign Languages
Tezpur University, Assam, India- 784028
arupjnu@gmail.com
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Abstract
It is believed that Hemchandra Barua’s Hemkosh (1900) is the first Assamese
Dictionary and Miles Bronson’s A Dictionary in Assamese and English (1867) is the first
bilingual dictionary published in Assamese language. But interestingly the first folio of
dictionary was drafted in 1795 AD in Tai and Assamese language; on the other hand
Hemkosh came out in 1900 AD. Under the framework of lexicography, this paper intends to
look at the pre-Hemkosh era of dictionary writing in three different approaches: (1) A
historical account of dictionary writing of pre Hemkosh era, (2) A linguistic account of select
dictionaries and (3) An analysis of the beginning of Assamese standardisation. The research
would be based primarily on secondary sources consisting library works and unpublished
manuscripts.

Keywords: Assam, classical dictionaries, dictionary-making, pre-Hemkosh, dictionary-

standardisation

1. Introduction
The functional relevance of a dictionary in modern life is immense and is further
increased in linguistic studies. A dictionary is used for several reasons, such as spelling
checking, pronunciation of a word, meaning of a word etc. Considering theme, a dictionary is
also used to look for synonyms and antonyms, etymological origin of a word, pattern of uses.
Perhaps a dictionary is the only resource that can give us the best and most comprehensive
information about words. The general conviction is that the information provided in a
dictionary is accurate, authentic and reliable.

2. Definitions
Probably in the 13th century, the term dictionary was first coined in Medieval Latin
on the basis of the Latin adjective dictionarius ‘of words’, a derivative of Latin diction

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Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 19:7 July 2019
Khammoun Phukan, M.A., B.Ed. and Arup Kumar Nath, M.A., Ph.D.
Dictionary Writing in Assam: A Study Through Select Classical Texts
<189-199>
‘saying’, or in Medieval Latin ‘word’. Latin dictio (also the source of English diction 15th
century) was a derivative of the verb dicere ‘say’. Its original meaning was ‘point out’ rather
than ‘utter’, as demonstrated by its derivative indicare (source of English indicate) and words
in other languages, such as Greek deiknunai ‘show’, Sanskrit dic- ‘show’ (later ‘say’), and
German zeihen “accuse”, which come from the same source (Ayto 1990: 170 in Das).

According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary for Current English (1998), a dictionary
is a “book that deals with the individual words of a language (or certain specified class of
them) so as to set forth their orthography, pronunciation, signification and use, their
synonyms, derivation and history, or at least some of these facts; for convenience of reference
the words are arranged in some stated order, now in most languages, alphabetical, and in
larger dictionaries the information given in illustrated by quotations from literature”.

Similarly, Berg gives the definition of a dictionary in the following way: “A

dictionary is a systematically arranged list of socialized linguistic forms compiled from the
speech-habits of a given speech community and commented on by the author in such a way
that the qualified reader understands the meaning ... of each separate form, and is informed of
the relevant facts concerning the function of that form in its community” (Zgusta 1971: 197).

As given in the definitions, a dictionary may serve various practical needs. Besides a
dictionary is also a source of information on life, language and society. It is also consulted as
a guide-book for distinguishing good uses of words. Therefore, a dictionary performs the
function of a ‘court-house’ for a language. Hence, a dictionary embeds both linguistic and
extra-linguistic information.

3. Theoretical Background
Typological classification of any dictionary is important to understand the nature of
the dictionary since it provides a lot of information regarding its compilation, collection of
texts, choice of lexical items, arrangements, entries and sub-entries (Das 2008: 438).
Adopting the criteria proposed by Malkiel (1967), Das has classified dictionaries in the
following manner. However, there is no watertight definition and theory for the classification
of dictionaries. Dictionaries may vary in terms of its uses, its entries of words, purposes, level
and load of information. Hence, a dictionary is viewed and analysed linguistically and non-
linguistically.

1. Density of entries: This refers to the list of vocabulary to be considered for inclusion.
The list may include words from general or restricted or from specialised domains. It
may also cover regional or social dialects, jargons, slangs or archaisms depending on
the speech community.
2. Language: A dictionary can be either monolingual or bilingual, or multilingual
(number of language) depending on the target users for whom the dictionary is being
made.

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Dictionary Writing in Assam: A Study Through Select Classical Texts
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 3. The nature of entries: A dictionary can contain either lexical information only or full
encyclopaedic (non-lexical). Moreover, the degree of concentration on lexical data
may vary depending on the consideration of the dictionary.
4. Axis of time: A dictionary can either be diachronic (historical or dynamic) or
synchronic (static) with regard to the collection of language data and language
representation.
5. Arrangement of entries: Normally, lexical items are arranged in simple alphabetical
order, although words can also be arranged according to their semantic or sense
relations. Thus, a dictionary can be either alphabetical or semantical.
6. Purpose: This is related to the basic function of a dictionary. A dictionary can either
be a general, normative or referential, pedagogic, or a descriptive depending on the
goal of the dictionary compilation.
7. Prospective users: A dictionary is meant for general readers who want to find out the
general linguistic information of the lexical items or for the special users who are
interested in special aspects of lexical items.

Although typological classification seems essential in understanding a dictionary, it is

practically onerous to delimit the types into a strict watertight frame, since there is always a
chance of overlapping of lexical information across dictionary types. For example, Oxford
English Dictionary aims at giving synchronic details about English language, it presents
diachronic history too. Even Asomiya Jatiya Abhidhan (compiled under the supervision of D.
Sharma in 2010) is a mixture of both the qualities. It seems overlapping the general criteria of
typological definition of dictionary.

We will now look at the pre-Hemkosh era of dictionary writing or dictionary making
in Assam configuring the theoretical assumption proposed by Malkiel and Das.

4. Methodology
For the preparation of this paper primary and secondary are used. For ethnographical
research design, participant observation method is very much crucial and following the
method we have taken close observation of the research data. We have taken original
unpublished manuscripts for the study. During the field study, photography is used for future
record. We have visited Patsaku, Sepon and Parijat of Sivasagar district for the collection of
data.

5. Objectives
For the study, we have formulated the following three objectives.

1. To find out the linguistic features of Bar Amra and Lati Amra
2. To find out the typological characteristics of Bar Amra and Lati Amra
3. To analyse the limitations (e.g. ambiguities) present in Bar Amra and Lati Amra

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Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 19:7 July 2019
Khammoun Phukan, M.A., B.Ed. and Arup Kumar Nath, M.A., Ph.D.
Dictionary Writing in Assam: A Study Through Select Classical Texts
<189-199>
6. Historical Background
The compilation of any type of dictionary or lexicon, word meaning book is usually
considered to be the most important step towards standardisation, since the language is in
somehow stable and not presumed as endangered. But prior to this stage, if the language is in
the verge of extinction, the compilation of a meaning book is not only important it’s a life to
the culture, society and a hope of endurance to the language. No doubt at the juncture of
language movement and challenges, the publication of Hemkosh by Hemchandra Barua in
1900 is an epoch making effort. He gave English equivalent lexicons to Assamese lexicons
along with their etymological meaning. The effect of Hemkosh was so remarkable that
Birinchi Kumar Barua comments, “Hemkosh laid down clear cut rules for spelling and
syntax, leaving no room for obscurity and confusion” (Barua 2003: 108). The convention of
written Assamese set forth by Hemkosh has remained almost unaltered till now ever since its
publication except for some few minor changes. Therefore, keeping Hemkosh as benchmark,
we can divide the publications of dictionaries into two distinct phases: the pre and post
Hemkosh periods.

The most remarkable contribution of pre-Hemkosh period is Miles Bronson’s edited

Asomiya aru Ingraji Abhidhan (an Anglo-Assamese Dictionary) published in 1867.
According to the editor, the dictionary contained around 14000 words and that he had
followed the system of orthography as adopted by Jaduram Deka Barua1. However, Sharma
[Public Lecture] has listed out eight more dictionaries (lexicons) written prior to the
publication of Hemkosh. Following his note, we are listing out the dictionaries according to
compilation date.

(a) Bar Kakot Homung Puthi, Bar Amra (1795)

(b) Lati Amra (1797?)
(c) Vocabularies of the Ashami Kamrupa Language (1810)
(d) Ten Languages Dictionary (1814)
(e) Jaduram Deka Barua’s Dictionary (1836)
(f) A Spelling Book and Vocabulary in English, Assamese, Singpho and Naga (1836)
(g) Brief Vocabulary in English and Assamese with Rudimentary Exercise (Ingraji aru
Asomiya Bakyawali) (1841)
(h) Revised version of Brief Vocabulary in English and Assamese with Rudimentary
Exercise (1864)
(i) A Dictionary of Assamese and English (1867)
(j) Hemkosh (1900)

During the reign of Ahom king Gaurinath Simha (1780–1795), Tengai Mohan
Pandit tried to write the first lexicon in Tai Ahom and which was came out as Bar Amra
1
The Groundwork of first Assamese dictionary was done by Jaduram Deka Barua. He was a munsif in the
colonial administration. Deka Barua had been asked to carry out the work by the Commissioner of Assam, Mr.
Jenkins (C. Vijayasree. (2004). Writing the West, 1750-1947: Representations from Indian Languages. Sahitya
Akademi; New Delhi)
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Dictionary Writing in Assam: A Study Through Select Classical Texts
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‘Lexicon of Ahom – Assamese language’ in 1795. The dictionary was in bilingual as it used
Tai Ahom and Assamese language. However, the Assamese meaning was given in Tai Ahom
script following lexicographical pattern of alphabetical order. In Tai Ahom Amra means
dictionary or the largest book in the country. Written in xasipat (aquilaria agallocha), the
length of Bar Amra was of 31cm and its width was of 8.5cm (Introduction, Translation of Bar
Amra). The copy of Bar Amra, that we are using for this study is owned by the Ahom Pandit
Junaram Phukon of Parijat, Sivasagar.

On the other hand, Ramakanta M Baruah was credited to the second Tai Ahom
lexicon called Lati Amra. In this lexicon Tai Ahom word-meanings were given in Tai Ahom
language and scripts. Unlike Bar Amra, it was arranged in terms of content not in
alphabetical order. The words included in the dictionary were divided into ten parts namely
human body parts, names of fish etc. It was believed that Nandanath D Phukon had recovered
the ancient scripts written in xasipat and later he worked on the translation of these scripts.
After him, Bimalakanta Boruah was appointed in the History and Archaeology Department of
Assam. Boruah commissioned Dambarudhar D Phukon to translate Bar Amra and Lati Amra
lexicons to Assamese. Bimalakanta Baruah and Nandanath D Phukon did the editorial work
and department of History and Archaeology of Assam published the work as Ahom lexicons
in 1964.

Figure 1.1: Ahom Lexicons – Based on original Tai manuscripts (1964)

The image shows the first page of Ahom Lexicons based on Bar Amra. The entry follows the alphabetical
order.

7. Linguistic Account
Each sentence in Bar Amra begins with a Tai Ahom word and follows by an Ahom
phrase cham ba and then the meaning of the Tai Ahom word in Assamese written in Ahom

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Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 19:7 July 2019
Khammoun Phukan, M.A., B.Ed. and Arup Kumar Nath, M.A., Ph.D.
Dictionary Writing in Assam: A Study Through Select Classical Texts
<189-199>
script (Morey, 2006). As shown in the examples below. The meaning of cham ba is ‘which
means’ or ‘it means’.

Figure 1.2: Bar Amra (collected from Junaram S Phukon)

The manuscript shows the 3rd letter of Tai Ahom consonants. The image was downloaded from sealang.net,
which is an archive of Tai Ahom old manuscripts.

Examples: 7.1 ex] cM ba en] di kQ

khe cham ba no di -k
nodi-k
river PRT say a river -k
‘khe is said for a river’

Not all the pages are written in column as shown in the Figure 1.2, indeed, most of the
pages are in continuous text with sentences crossing over lines and even pages. One feature
of this manuscript is that the page number exhibits in the reverse (verso) side, and the number
is written on the left side of the page.

As we find in the example 7.1 the first word khe is a Tai Ahom word and the last two
syllables no di-k is an Assamese word. In between these two words the cham ba works as the
indigenous way of showing the link between these words. Following the Morey’s pattern, we
have opted for a literal translation, showing that the known Assamese term is marked with a
non-agent marker -k, which has a function that has been termed anti-agentive (Morey, 2006).
In all the versions of Bar Amra, it is found that all the Assamese words are suffixed either
with - k, - ok or with - r at the end. When a word is marked with - k it shows that the form is
nominal as in (7.1). In Assamese the suffix –k is associated with patient, but is also
associated with recipient, rather than the theme in ditransitive construction. Here in Bar Amra
the –k is used to mark the known item in definitional sentence (Morey, 2006).

On the other hand, a word marked with suffix - r exhibits for the verbal lexemes. For
example, the Assamese word mosibor is found in the following example from Bar Amra. In
Assamese dictionary mosa means wipe.

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Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 19:7 July 2019
Khammoun Phukan, M.A., B.Ed. and Arup Kumar Nath, M.A., Ph.D.
Dictionary Writing in Assam: A Study Through Select Classical Texts
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Examples: 7.2 kj cM ba e ma 4 borq
kai cham ba mo si bor
mosibo-r
wipe PRT say to wipe
‘kai is said to wipe’

Here we can see the –r suffixation is used to denote the non-finite verb (verbal) which
describes the verb but not showing the tense. In English mostly three types of non-finite verbs
are found: gerunds (I love swimming), infinitives (I want to go there), and participles (roasted
chicken). In Bar Amra, the –r is used only with the infinitives of non-finite form. Gerund and
participle form are not marked with –r suffixation.

This –r suffixation in the manuscript creates some ambiguities in deciphering the

actual meaning. For example, Morey (Morey & Post, 2010: 80) says that the Assamese word
jabor (7.3) is a verb. First of all, if we take it as a verb then it is an infinitival form of non-
finite verb. Morey says on the basis of using –r suffix at the end of the word. He mentions
that the “Assamese lexeme jabor is found in an Assamese dictionary under two entries, one a
verb meaning ‘to go’ and another a noun meaning ‘garbage’ (Morey & Post, 2010: 80).
Therefore, he says that if it is garbage then it would be written jaborok. In Assamese the non-
finite verb jabor, /যাবৰ/ and the noun which means garbage /জাবৰ/ are marked with two distinct
sounds. The problem is due to the absence of /য/ in Tai Ahom language. However, this word
is clearly meant for the verb form but there are several examples in the manuscript, which
have no evidences (e.g. sentence) of using any one of these suffixations. Therefore, it is not
clear that whether the lexeme /mu/ means not finite verb ‘go’ or it means noun ‘garbage’.

Example: 7.3 muu cM ba ya borq

mu cham ba ja bor
jabo-r
mu PRT say to go-r/garbage (?)
‘mu is said for garbage or ‘to go’’

We have also found some sentences which are not associated with any final suffixes.
For example,
Example 7.4 xI cM ba bI esa ta
khi cham ba bi ch ta (no ‘- k’ or ‘- r’)

Here in this sentence what does khi means is not clear. It seems khi means bista. In
Ahom Lexicon based on Bar Amra manuscript, the meaning of khi is given /utha/ (to get up),
/bistha/ (dung), /gu/ (ordure), /muŋraɡ/ (peacock), /kasta/ (distress). Though it closes to
‘dung’ which is bistha in Assamese but there is no anti-agentive marker, therefore, we cannot

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Khammoun Phukan, M.A., B.Ed. and Arup Kumar Nath, M.A., Ph.D.
Dictionary Writing in Assam: A Study Through Select Classical Texts
<189-199>
call it noun directly. /bi s ta / may mean the number twenty also. Like this without any
suffixation or agentive marker we find the following example (7.5), where /u do phai/ is
understood as asthma in Ahom Lexicons.

Example: 7.5 x] cM ba Auu eda fj

khe cham ba u do phai (no ‘-k’ or ‘-r’)

Some more examples showing the absence of non-agentive, suffixations, ambiguities:

Example: 7.6 ŋa cham ba ku pal
7.7 khe cham ba ka ru lik
7.8 khe cham ba gu ro k

Sometimes other than –k, -ok and –r, a final element appears as shown in the
following example. This is used as an Assamese clitic meaning ‘also’, ‘as well’.

Example: 7.9 lM cM ba dlq ela kuu

lam cham ba dal lo ku
dal-ok-u
branch PRT say a branch of tree –k-u
‘lam is said for a branch of tree’

Another important aspect of Bar Amra is the uses of colloquial or societal verities.
For example:
/ɡudhalike/ গূ ধলিকে (evening),
/tutibor/ টুটিবৰ (lessening),
/khorua/ খৰু ৱা (harelipped),
/ujuk/ উজু ে (easy),
/ɡhukuhok/ ঘূ কুহে (deep),
/baɡh birali/ বাঘ লবৰািী (wild cat).

8. The Linguistic Features of Lati Amra

There is no mention of a particular date of writing this manuscript. In personal
conversation with Medini M Mohung of Parijat, Sivasagar, it is found that the writing of this
manuscript is contemporary to Bar Amra or it may one or two years later of Bar Amra but he
assured that not prior to Bar Amra. The writing pattern of Lati Amra is as shown below.

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Khammoun Phukan, M.A., B.Ed. and Arup Kumar Nath, M.A., Ph.D.
Dictionary Writing in Assam: A Study Through Select Classical Texts
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Figure 1.3 Lati Amra Manuscript (owned from Junaram S Phukon)

The image shows some of the human body parts in Tai Ahom. The image was downloaded from sealang.net,
which is an archive of Tai Ahom old manuscripts.

Example: 8.1 ti lkq buuel niw ruu x]

ti lok bu le ni ru khav
til-ok
a mole-ok say ni ru khav
‘nirukhav is said for a mole’

8.2 na BI kq buuel s’ nI
na vi k bu le chai ni
navi-k
the navel-k say chai ni
‘chai ni is said for the navel’

The second characteristic of the manuscript is its entry of words in domain wise. It
includes ten domains, and these are as follows:

1. The words relating to human body

2. The words relating to building of house
3. The names of fishes
4. The names of vegetables
5. The names of arum plants
6. Words relating to grass and plants
7. The names of flowers
8. Ahom years
9. The days in Ahom
10. The months in Ahom

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Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 19:7 July 2019
Khammoun Phukan, M.A., B.Ed. and Arup Kumar Nath, M.A., Ph.D.
Dictionary Writing in Assam: A Study Through Select Classical Texts
<189-199>
 The examples given above (8.1, 8.2) provide the grammatical structure of Lati Amra.
It has only nouns and for denoting noun the suffixation of - k and - ok is exhibited in the
lexemes.

Although the manuscript is basically encyclopaedic structure relating to several

domains of Tai Ahom culture, it seems that in the domain of body parts of a human body,
several human behaviours are also mentioned. Without using anti-agentive marker, some
phrases are written. We can see in the given examples.

Examples: 8.3 co kquu rq pa nI buuAkq buu el ta nM l’

so ku r pa ni bu ak bu le ta nam lai
soku-r pani bua-k
eye-r water flow-k say ta nam lai
‘ta nam lai is said for the flow of tear’

This expression might be a verb, which we never know. There are some other
expressions, which are not actually the body parts, but some behavioural pattern, for
example; ahom bhire bhoha (to sit in Ahom fashion), athur uport athu tuli boha (to sit knee
upon knee).

Apart from these, the manuscript also provides every detailed parts of a human body.
For example, it gives a word for the place on forehead where the vermilion mark is put – non
nam, the ear-ring hole – pik bang etc. Interestingly the Assamese language does not have any
particular term for these body parts.

9. Typologically Both the Dictionaries Can Be Seen in the Following Ways

Table 1.1: Typological classifications of Bar Amra and Lati Amra

Sl. Criteria Bar Amra Lati Amra
No.
1 Density of entries Regional/social Restricted/special
2 Number of languages Bilingual Bilingual
3 Nature of entries Lexical Non-lexical
4 Axis of time Synchronic Synchronic
5 Arrangement of entries Alphabetical Casual/semantical
6 Purpose Referential Referential
7 Purpose of users Special reader Special reader

The table provides a typological characteristic to the dictionaries. It seems that both the dictionaries
share more or less same features except the nature of entries.

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Khammoun Phukan, M.A., B.Ed. and Arup Kumar Nath, M.A., Ph.D.
Dictionary Writing in Assam: A Study Through Select Classical Texts
<189-199>
10. Summing up
The writing of Bar Amra and Lati Amra provincializes the dictionary writing process
in Assam. Both the manuscripts are written in a different way. The pattern of using words and
the pronunciation are precisely maintained. Above all the dictionaries are the exclusive
treasurer of Tai Ahom words as well as the Assamese words used in Sivsagariya (said as
sivsagor variety or gargoinya variety of Assamese language before making it the standard
dialect of Assamese by the missionaries) people. Therefore, it can be realised as a dialectal,
or societal variations of Assamese. Needless to mention that the words included in the
manuscripts helped in the formation of the standardisation of Assamese language.
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Acknowledgement: Medini M Mohung (Parijat), Gulap Bargohain (Sepon)
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References

Barua, B. K. (2003). History of Assamese Literature. Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.

Barua, B.K. and Phukon, N. N. (1964). Ahom Lexicons Based on Original Tai Manuscripts.
Guwahati, DHAS.
Das, N.S. (2009). “The art of lexicography”. In Muhvic, V and Socanac, L (Eds.). Linguistics
–I. EOLSS, UK. Pp. 437-474
Malkiel, Y. (1967) “A typological classification of dictionaries on the basis of distinctive
features”. In Householder, F.W. and S. Saporta (Eds.) Problems in Lexicography. The Hague
Mouton. Pp 3-24.
Morey, S. D. (2006). “Constituent order change in the Tai languages of Assam”. In Linguistic
Typology, Vol 10. Pp. 327-367.
Sharma, D. (25.10.2018). “History and evolution of dictionaries in Assamese”. Workshop on
Lexicography. Tezpur University, Tezpur. Lecture.
Zeenat, T. and Morey, S. (2010) “Linguistic features of the Ahom Bar Amra”. In Morey, S.
and Post, M. (Eds.) North East Indian Linguistics, Vol.2. CUP. Pp 75-94.
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Dictionary Writing in Assam: A Study Through Select Classical Texts
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