Assamese - the language and its dialects

The rich state of Asom sees mainly Assamese being spoken by the people here. Assamese in fact has two main dialects, namely Kamrupia and Goalpariya. This is just a brief on both the dialects of Assamese language.

• Kamrupia - The Kamrupia dialect is the oldest and the very first ancient Aryan literary language spoken by the people residing in the Barak valley. The Kamrupia dialect in itself has four main dialects! The four dialects that comprises the Kamrupia dialect are - Barpetiya, Nalbariya, Kamrupi and South Kamrupi. 

• Barpetia - Spoken mainly by the people from Barpeta district, Barpetia dialect is used by a large section of people in Assam. 

• Nalbaria - The Nalbaria dialect is mostly spoken by the people of the Nalbari district of Assam. 

• Kamrupia - this dialect is spoken by the major segment of people in Assam. Along with Sanskrit, the great academics and holy people of the valley used Kamrupia for their written purposes. 

• South Kamrupia - South Kamrupi is used in the southern parts of Assam. It can be seen reflecting in the works of the Assamese author Indira Goswami.

• Goalparia - the Indo-Aryan dialect spoken by the people of Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Goalpara and Dhubri, is what constitutes the Goalparia dialect. The Goalparia dialect sees the concoction of words of different regions into one. The dialect again is divided into three major parts  - Eastern, Western and Intermediate.

• Eastern Goalparia - The Eastern Goalparia comprises of the dialect spoken by the people  living in the towns of Abhayapuri and Goalpara.

• Western Goalparia - The Western Goalparia is spoken by the people of Krishnai, Dudhnai and Dhupdhara, parts of Assaam

• Intermediate Goalparia - Salkocha dialect or the Jharrua is the intermediate dialect.

Whatever the dialect, more than 15 million people speak the Assamese language! Evolved before the seventh century AD, Assamese is our language. And we should always speak it with pride! Jai Aai Axom.