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45-515: Charaideo or Che-Rai-Doi (Literally: the shining city on the hills in Ahom language ) is a historic town situated in Charaideo district , Assam , India . Charaideo was established by the first Ahom king Chao Lung Siu-Ka-Pha in the year 1253 CE as the first capital of the Ahom kingdom . Even though the capital was shifted to different cities over the course of 600 years of Ahom rule, Charaideo remained

90-562: A Northwestern subgrouping of Southwestern Tai owing to close affinities with Shan , Khamti and, more distantly, Thai . The immediate parent language from which Ahom is descended has been reconstructed as Proto-Tai , a language from 2000 years ago, in the Kra–Dai family (unrelated to Chinese, but possibly related to the Austronesian languages ), within the (proposed but debated) subgroup of Kam–Tai , although some say that Tai languages are

135-535: A Proto-Tai coda inventory that is identical with the system in modern Thai. Pittayaporn's Proto-Tai reconstructed consonantal syllable codas also include *-l, *-c, and possibly *-ɲ, which are not included in most prior reconstructions of Proto-Tai. Below is the consonantal syllabic coda inventory: Norquest (2021) reconstructs the voiceless retroflex stop /ʈ/ for Proto-Tai. Examples of voiceless retroflex stops in Proto-Tai: Norquest (2021) also reconstructs

180-648: A discrete family, and are not part of Kra–Dai. Ahom is distinct from but closely related to Aiton , which is still spoken in Assam to this day. Ahom has characteristics typical of Tai languages, such as: When speaking and writing Ahom, much is dependent upon context and the audience interpretation. Multiple parts of the sentence can be left out; verb and adjectives will remain, but other parts of speech, especially pronouns, can be dropped. Verbs do not have tenses, and nouns do not have plurals. Time periods can be identified by adverbs, strings of verbs, or auxiliaries placed before

225-494: A list of diagnostic words to determine tonal values, splits, and mergers for particular Tai languages. At least three diagnostic words are needed for each cell of the Gedney Box. The diagnostic words preceding the semicolons are from Gedney (1972), and the ones following the semicolons are from Somsonge (2012) and Jackson, et al. (2012). Standard Thai (Siamese) words are given below, with italicised transliterations. Note that

270-528: A major Ahom script was provided by Golap Chandra Barua, the same man responsible for fabricating samples of translated Ahom script. It was discovered years later, by Professor Prasert na Nagara , that the translation was unreliable. Despite these difficulties, along with the lack of native speakers and specific text, studies in Ahom have prevailed, and certain available scripts have been translated and transliterated, using known words, characters and context. In 1954, at

315-670: A meeting of Ahom people at Patsaku, Sibsagar District, the Tai Historical and Cultural Society of Assam was founded. Since the late 1960s, Ahom culture and traditions have witnessed a revival. In 1981 the Eastern Tai Literary Organization has been founded in Dhemaji, which produced language text books and publications in the Ahom script. Schools in Dibrugarh and Sibsagar districts started offering Tai language classes, teaching

360-432: A mix of Tai Ahom, Phakey, Khamti and Central Thai. The scholar Terwiel notes that the view of the Ahom language being a dead language is hotly contested by Ahom priests and spokesmen of the revival movement. According to them, the language did not die out because Ahom priests still use the language for religious purposes. Some even claim that the priestly class speaks Ahom as their mother tongue. Upon further investigation, it

405-592: A series of breathy voiced initials (*bʱ, *dʱ, *ɡʱ, *ɢʱ) for Proto-Tai. Examples of breathy voiced initials in Proto-Tai: Some sound correspondences among Proto-Tai, Proto-Northern Tai, and Proto-Southern Tai (i.e., the ancestor of the Central and Southwestern Tai languages) uvular initials given in Ostapirat (2023) are as follows. Initial velar correspondences, on the other hand, are identical. Li (1977) reconstructs

450-659: A tone system, but because the Ahom script did not spell out any tones, the tones are now unknown. The Ahom language has the following pronouns: Ahom uses the proximal demonstrative nai meaning 'this' and the distal demonstrative nan meaning 'that'. Tai-Ahom mainly used an SVO word order, but an SOV word order has also been attested. Classifiers are used when forming plurals, counting entities and when specifically referring to one single entity. Some classifiers are: 'kun' (used for persons), 'tu' (used for animals) and 'an' (general). For example 'khai song tu' means two buffalo, where 'khai' means buffalo, 'song' means two and 'tu'

495-417: Is not directly attested by any surviving texts, but has been reconstructed using the comparative method . It was reconstructed in 1977 by Li Fang-Kuei and by Pittayawat Pittayaporn in 2009. The following table shows the consonants of Proto-Tai according to Li Fang-Kuei 's A Handbook of Comparative Tai (1977), considered the standard reference in the field. Li does not indicate the exact quality of

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540-472: Is reconstructed with disyllabic words that ultimately collapsed to monosyllabic words in the modern Tai languages. However, irregular correspondences among certain words (especially in the minority non-Southwestern-Tai languages) suggest to Pittayaporn that Proto-Tai had only reached the sesquisyllabic stage (with a main monosyllable and optional preceding minor syllable ). The subsequent reduction to monosyllables occurred independently in different branches, with

585-561: Is the Bali Maidam near Nimonagarh. This Maidam is called Bali Maidam, because while British plundered it, they got obstruction from excess sand (bali) in the surrounding of the Maidam. In 2023 Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose the Maidams for a UNESCO nomination as a World Heritage Site . The site was formally recognised as such on 26 July 2024. Ahom language The Ahom people established

630-526: Is the classifier for animals. The following interrogatives are found: Ahom has the following basic numerals: 0 in Ahom script is "𑜰". Below is a comparative table of Ahom and other Tai languages. Proto-Tai language Proto-Tai is the reconstructed proto-language (common ancestor) of all the Tai languages , including modern Lao , Shan , Tai Lü , Tai Dam , Ahom , Northern Thai , Standard Thai , Bouyei , and Zhuang . The Proto-Tai language

675-494: Is very similar to the situation in Middle Chinese . For convenience in tracking historical outcomes, Proto-Tai is usually described as having four tones, namely *A, *B, *C, and *D, where *D is a non-phonemic tone automatically assumed by all dead syllables. These tones can be further split into a voiceless (*A1 [1], *B1 [3], *C1 [5], *D1 [7]) and voiced (*A2 [2], *B2 [4], *C2 [6], *D2 [8]) series. The *D tone can also be split into

720-553: The Ahom kingdom and ruled parts of the Brahmaputra river valley in the present day Indian state of Assam between the 13th and the 18th centuries. The language was the court language of the kingdom, until it began to be replaced by the Assamese language in the 17th century. Since the early 18th century, there have been no native speakers of the language, though extensive manuscripts in the language still exist today. The tonal system of

765-540: The Mughal Empire and other invaders. The rapid expansion resulted in the Ahom people becoming a small minority in their own kingdom, of which they kept control. During the 17th century, the Assamese language entered the Ahom court and co-existed with the Tai-Ahom for some time before finally replacing it. Eventually the Ahom peasants too adopted the Assamese language over the Ahom language for secular purposes, while Ahom

810-454: The diphthong *ɯa(C). Unlike its modern-day monosyllabic descendants, Proto-Tai was a sesquisyllabic language (Pittayaporn 2009). Below are some possible Proto-Tai syllable shapes from Pittayaporn. Legend : During the evolution from Proto-Tai to modern Tai languages, monosyllabification involved a series of five steps. Robert M. W. Dixon (1998) suggests that the Proto-Tai language

855-540: The 'Tai Ahom Yuva Chatra Sanmilan, Assam' (TAYCSA), demanded that the Tai-Ahom language be included in the school curriculum of the state of Assam. They also demanded the creation of a two-year diploma course in Mahdavdeva University. An online dictionary containing nearly 5,000 entries (see External links) has been created by analyzing old manuscripts, especially the Bar Amra. A descriptive grammar of Ahom, based on

900-478: The *DS (short vowel) and *DL (long vowel) tones. With voicing contrast, these would be *DS1 [7], *DS2 [8], *DL1 [9], and *DL2 [10]. Other Kra–Dai languages are transcribed with analogous conventions. The following table of the phonetic characteristics of Proto-Tai tones was adapted from Pittayaporn. Note that *B and *D are phonetically similar. Proto-Tai tones take on various tone values and contours in modern Tai languages . These tonal splits are determined by

945-515: The arrival of Sukaphaa the place was a place of worship for local tribes like Moran, Borahi. Though the capital of the Ahom kingdom moved many times, Charaideo remained the symbolic center. It contains sacred burial grounds of Ahom kings and queens and is also the place of ancestral Gods of the Ahoms . The Ahom kings and Queens were buried after extensive and long royal burial rituals. The tombs (Maidam) of Ahom kings and queens at Charaideo hillocks resemble

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990-799: The border between northern Vietnam and the Guangxi province of China, to the Hukawng Valley , along the upper reaches of the Chindwin river , northern Burma . In the 13th century, they crossed the Patkai Range . and settled in the Brahmaputra River valley, in Northeast India. After increasing their power in Upper Assam, the Ahom people extended their power to the south of the river Brahmaputra and east of

1035-424: The consonants denoted here as [ tɕ , tɕʰ and dʑ ], which are indicated in his work as [č, čh, ž] and described merely as palatal affricate consonants . The table below lists the consonantal phonemes of Pittayawat Pittayaporn's reconstruction of Proto-Tai. Some of the differences are simply different interpretations of Li's consonants: the palatal consonants are interpreted as stops, rather than affricates, and

1080-399: The creation of the first adequate modern dictionary by Nomal Chandra Gogoi in 1987, titled The Assamese-English-Tai Dictionary . This dictionary allowed a reader to find the translation of 9,000 Assamese words into English and Tai. This dictionary filled in missing gaps of the Ahom vocabulary with Aiton and Khamti words and if those were not available, Lanna and Thai words were used. The result

1125-659: The diagnostic words listed above cannot all be used for other Tai-Kadai branches such as Kam–Sui , since tones in other branches may differ. The table below illustrates these differences among Tai and Kam–Sui etyma . In 2007, Peter K. Norquest undertook a preliminary reconstruction of Proto-Southern Kra-Dai, which is ancestral to the Hlai languages , Ong Be language , and Tai languages . There are 28 consonants, 5–7 vowels, 9 closed rimes (not including vowel length), and at least 1 diphthong , *ɯa(C). Proto-Southern Kra-Dai medial consonants also include: Proto-Southern Kra-Dai also includes

1170-587: The following conditions: In addition, William J. Gedney developed a "tone-box" method to help determine historical tonal splits and mergers in modern Tai languages. There is a total of 20 possible slots in what is known as the Gedney's Tone Box . Proto-Tai tones correspond regularly to Middle Chinese tones . (Note that Old Chinese did not have tones.) The following tonal correspondences are from Luo (2008). Note that Proto-Tai tone *B corresponds to Middle Chinese tone C, and vice versa. Gedney (1972) also included

1215-445: The following initial clusters: Pittayaporn (2009) reconstructs two types of complex onsets for Proto-Tai: Tautosyllabic consonant clusters from Pittayaporn are given below, some of which have the medials *-r-, *-l-, and *-w-. Pittayaporn's Proto-Tai reconstruction also has sesquisyllabic consonant clusters . Michel Ferlus (1990) had also previously proposed sesquisyllables for Proto-Thai-Yay . The larger Tai-Kadai family

1260-429: The glottalized consonants are described using symbols for implosive consonants . However, Pittayaporn's Proto-Tai reconstruction has a number of real differences from Li: There is a total of 33–36 consonants, 10–11 consonantal syllable codas and 25–26 tautosyllabic consonant clusters. Tai languages have many fewer possible consonants in coda position than in initial position. Li (and most other researchers) construct

1305-573: The grammar found in old manuscripts, is being worked on. A sketch has been released, titled “A Sketch of Tai Ahom” by Stephen Morey. The Tai Ahom consonants have been reconstructed as the following, by analyzing old texts: The semi-vowel /w/ is missing from the system, however it is an allophone of /b/ that occurs only in the word final position. Consonants found in the word final position are: /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ, j, b [w]/. Vowels can occur in syllable medial and final positions only. The following vowel inventory has been reconstructed: The language had

1350-556: The language by following the phonology of existing sister languages, especially Tai-Aiton and Tai-Phake . The Institute of Tai Studies and Research (ITSAR), is a Tai-Ahom language teaching institute in Moran , Sivasagar , Assam , India, established in 2001 and affiliated to Dibrugarh University . It offers a one-year Tai-Ahom language diploma course and a three-month certificate course in spoken Tai-Ahom. Other initiatives have been taken, such as workshops and language classes. In 2019,

1395-415: The language is entirely lost. The language was only partially known by a small group of traditional priests of the Ahom religion , and it was being used only for ceremonial or ritualistic purposes. There has been efforts to revive the language in recent times. A reconstructed version is taught in various educational institutions in Assam by AHSEC and Dibrugarh University . Tai-Ahom is classified in

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1440-406: The meaning of words as tones are important to distinguish the meaning of words in tonal languages. Fabricated samples of the Ahom script delayed translation of legitimate Ahom texts. Several publications were created based on the fabricated samples, leading to incorrect grammatical analysis and dictionary resources that acted as a barrier to future researchers. A later translation of Ahom Buranji ,

1485-683: The resulting apparent irregularities in synchronic languages reflecting Proto-Tai sesquisyllables. Examples of sesquisyllables include: Other clusters include *r.t-, *t.h-, *q.s-, *m.p-, *s.c-, *z.ɟ-, *g.r-, *m.n-; *gm̩.r-, *ɟm̩ .r-, *c.pl-, *g.lw-; etc. Below are Proto-Tai vowels from Pittayaporn. Unlike Li's system, Pittayaporn's system has vowel length contrast. There is a total of 7 vowels with length contrast and 5 diphthongs . The diphthongs from Pittayaporn (2009) are: Proto-Tai had three contrasting tones on syllables ending with sonorant finals ("live syllables"), and no tone contrast on syllables with obstruent finals ("dead syllables"). This

1530-412: The river Dikho, which corresponds to the modern day districts of Dibrugarh and Sibsagar, Assam, where the Ahom still reside today. Tai-Ahom was the exclusive court language of the Ahom kingdom , where it was used to write state-histories or ' Buranjis '. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the small Ahom community expanded their rule dramatically toward the west and they successfully saw off challenges from

1575-417: The rules of Tai grammar. It has also changed greatly regarding semantics, literally translating Assamese into Tai words, which leads to sentences which do not make sense to any Tai speaker. Terwiel therefore calls this revived language 'pseudo-Ahom'. Nevertheless, this revived language has been used passionately by revitalists and many neologisms have been created. The demand for translation into Tai-Ahom led to

1620-559: The scholar Morey reported that Ahom priests have resorted to compounding words to differentiate between words that are homophones in the revived language, since Ahom lost its tone system. For example in old Ahom, the word su for tiger and su for shirt would have sounded differently by pronouncing them with a different tone. In revived Ahom, they are now differentiated by compounding them with another word: tu for animal and pha for cloth respectively. Subsequently, tu su and pha su can be differentiated. An effort has been made to revive

1665-536: The shape of the pyramids and are objects of wonder revealing the excellent architecture and skill of the sculptors and masons of Assam of the medieval days. The actual number of Maidam were more than 150 but only 30 Maidams are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India and Assam State Archaeology Department, and the remaining Maidams are unprotected. Most of these unprotected Maidams are encroached by people and getting damaged. The biggest unprotected Maidam

1710-514: The symbolic centre of Ahom power in Assam. It is now famous for its vast collection of maidams ( tumuli ) which are the burial mounds of the ruling Ahom kings and members of the Ahom royalty. It is located about 30 km from Sivasagar town in Charaideo district. Charaideo (also Ahom : Che-Rai-Doi ; Charai-khorong ), was the permanent settlement of the first Ahom king Chaolung Sukaphaa . It

1755-566: The verb. Ahom, like other Tai languages, uses classifiers to identify categories, and repetitions of words to express idiomatic expressions. However, the expressions, classifiers, pronouns, and other sentence particles vary between the Tai languages descended from Proto-Tai, making Tai languages mutually unintelligible. It has its own script, the Ahom script . The Ahom people and their language originated in Yunnan in south-west China . They migrated from

1800-445: The written language (and ritualistic chants) survive in a vast number of written manuscripts, Ahom is therefore usually regarded as a dead language. It retains cultural significance and is used for religious chants and to read literature. This is complicated however by the fact that the phonology with its tone system has been completely lost, because the Ahom script does not mark tone and under-specifies vowel contrasts, which obscures

1845-803: Was fusional in its morphology because of related sets of words among the language's descendants that appear to be related through ablaut . Proto-Tai had a SVO ( subject–verb–object ) word order like Chinese and almost all modern Tai languages . Its syntax was heavily influenced by Chinese. Examples of Kra-Hlai-Tai isoglosses as identified by Norquest (2021): Examples of Hlai-Be-Tai isoglosses as identified by Norquest (2021): Examples of Be-Tai isoglosses as identified by Norquest (2021): Ostapirat (2023) notes that as in Proto-Hmong–Mien , prenasalized consonant initials in Proto-Tai often correspond with prenasalized consonant initials in Old Chinese (with

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1890-473: Was a hodgepodge of multiple Tai languages, that was only linked to the Ahom language by the Ahom script in which the dictionary entries were written. The scholar Terwiel recommended in 1992 to base neo-Ahom on the grammar and tones of the very closely related Aiton language, which is still spoken in Assam. Summarizing, the revivalists use a language consisting of a mixture of Tai words from multiple Tai languages, overlaid on an Assamese grammatical base. In 1999,

1935-436: Was determined that the priests could decipher the Ahom script and read the words aloud. However, because they did not know any tones, they did not have any idea of the meaning of the words except for the simplest expressions. According to Terwiel, there are great differences between the old Ahom language of the manuscripts, which is easily recognizable as a Tai language, and what the revivalists call Ahom, which does not follow

1980-558: Was earlier referred to as Che-Tam-Doi-Phi (literally City-Hill-God ) meaning "city of the sacred hill". The name Charaideo originated from Tai-Ahom word Che Rai Doi or Doi Che Rai which means the shining city on the hills . The word Che-Rai-Doi became Charaideo or Charai-khorong in Assamese . According to the Tai-Bailung-Mohong Buranji (a manuscript in Tai), King Sukaphaa was buried in his capital city Che-Rai-Doi. Before

2025-534: Was restricted to religious use by Ahom priests. The everyday usage of Ahom language ceased completely by the early 19th century. Although the language is no longer spoken, the exhaustive 1795 Ahom-Assamese lexicon known as the Bar Amra preserves the lexical forms of the language towards the end of the Ahom Kingdom . The language today is used chiefly for liturgical purposes, and is no longer used in daily life. While

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