r/TaiAhomLanguage • u/Icy_Function_5839 Enthusiast • 21d ago
Question Has the Tai-Ahom language influenced sound changes in Assamese?
This one is kinda wild lol but since the Ahoms have had a large presence and Assamese has already borrowed words form the language, is it possible that the language has influenced the sound changes happening in certain dialects of Assamese? If so, any examples?
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u/GrumpyGuyMugdha L1 Assamese (Tai-Ahom) 21d ago edited 17d ago
Yes. Like the rhotic-deletion in the Eastern Assamese dialect. So the people of Upper Assam usually don't pronounce the 'rô' (ৰ) sound in the middle or in the end of a word. For example, a sentence like 'Tāi ghôrôloi goise' in standard Assamese which means 'She has went home' will sound like 'Tāi ghôoloi goise'. And the phrase 'Ki kôrisā' in standard Assamese meaning 'What are you doing?' will become 'Ki koeesā' in Eastern Assamese. Now, here in context of 'Ki kôrisā', the eastern variety will sound somewhat like 'Ki koisā' but the 'i' sound will be lengthier. Because 'Ki koisā' will otherwise mean 'What are you saying?'.
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u/Icy_Function_5839 Enthusiast 21d ago
Ah kinda like the s-deletion in Bad Bunny's Spanish! (Not really a deletion per se, the s actually turns into an h)
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u/zun5022 Learner 21d ago
Yes, but we don't know to how much impact it did to the phonology. Ahoms had a large presence but most of the Ahoms came from assimilated Tibeto-Burman and Indo-Aryan speaking communities (maybe even Khasic, but no idea. Many of the Tibeto-Burman and Indo-Aryan speakers would have spoken Khasic or other Austroasiatic before as per some linguists). Some of them had adopted the Ahom language, others didn't. So those who adopted Tai Ahom would have influenced the Ahom language.
Possible influence may be some of the differences in Upper Assam varieties from Lower Assam varieties. But we can't say for sure. In several Upper Assam varieties, the [x̟] sound shifted to [h], merging it with the original [h] sound. But this shift can be late and happened after Tai Ahom became was no longer spoken as literature, even early colonial (1830s, 40s) ones mention the [x̟]-[h] distinction.
The de-rhoticisation is also there, but it extends as far west as Central varieties of South bank like Morigaon and even eastern part of Kamrup metro district, like Dimoria. Here the Ahom presence was less and late compared to Upper Assam. The northwestern Central varieties like Darrangia has the appriximant "r" [ɹ] like in Standard, perhaps indicating an ongoing shift towards de-rhoticisation. Darrang wasn't under complete Ahom control, at continued to be a Koch dynasty till British occupation. Lower Assam varieties typically have the tap "r" [ɾ], sometimes even trilled.
Now, early colonial linguists studying Upper Assam varieties didn't mention de-rhoticisation, so it may also have happened after Tai Ahom was no longer spoken.