অসমীয়া ব্যাকৰণ আৰু ভাষাতত্ত্ব The words in the above list with the exception of api, ceian, bhem and mend have undergone phonetic changes according to definite | rules. They may accordingly be regarded as pure Assamese words. Ass. a, meaning mother, is probably derived from V. dpi (=woman, mother). Both forms are in current use in Assamese. The Sanskrit equi- valent of v.bhem is probably bhima (=formidable). It is not known when such tatsama words as api, cetan, bhem, mend, etc. merged into Assamese. It is presumed that these words as well as the others in the list are not found in Sanskrit in the same form and sense, The Vedic sense has been maintained in Assamese. They are not to be found, 1 presume, in any prakrtic language of Eastern India and they could not have found their way into Assamese through such languages. The reasonable conclusion would appear to be that the Assamese have used them since the Vedic or pre-Vedic time.. | Here, again, I must admit that resemblances may, in some cases, be accidental. But I cannot pursuade myself to believe that all coinci- dences are accidental. In any case they may be of some help to scholars for more searching inquiry in future. In the interest of scientific study itself it is desirable to indicate the various ways in which such inquiry should be made and to furnish some materials for forming an idea as to the truth or otherwise of the assumptions here made. GRAMMAR (a) Sandhi:The rules of Assamese Sandhi ( $ $ 64-79) follow to some extent the Vedic rules. It should be remembered that the ancient Assamese language was not brought under literary cultivation and accord- ingly the Assamese rules show variations here and there. (b) vikarsa (or Dissolution) :-Unlike Sanskrit the Vedic Indians used bases in their simple and crude form and for easy pronunciation inserted euphonic vowels whereever necessary. They also avoided suc- cessive agglutinations of formative and inflexional particles which are very noticeable in Sanskrit. It should, however, be remembered that Vedic Sanskrit is the result of a process of refinement originating in the literary activity of a still earlier period of which no record survives. In Assamese similar simple and crude form is common. I give below a few examples : Vedic. Sanskrit. Vakala (T.B, III. 7.42), Valkalar. Vasari (Rk. I. 31.15). vasati, Vasti. Sasa (herb, grass : Sasya. | Rk. I. 51.3). Para'ah (Rk, I. 59.6). Pirvah. Sakat (Rk . 10.6). Sakta. Assamese Bakal, Bakali, Basati. Sah. Meaning. bark of a trce. dwelling, abode. crop, corn. Puruva. Sakat. ancient, large, able,
