Grammaticalization and the Discourse Distribution of Serial Verbs in Assamese

Abstract

Assamese, the majority language of Assam state in Northeast India, is not often included among "Southeast Asian" languages. An Indo-Aryan language, its closest genetic relatives are Bengali and Oriya, and its relation to Hindi is not thought to be remote (Pattanayak 1966; Grimes 1996). However, as the easternmost Indo-Aryan language, Assamese is also situated precisely at the western frontiers of Southeast Asia. Mainly spoken in the plains of the Brahmaputra river valley, it has long been in contact with speakers of the many Tibeto-Burman, Austro-Asiatic and Tai languages found throughout the plains and, particularly, throughout the surrounding hills (Kakati 1995). Assamese is spoken as a second or trade language by millions of Northeast Indians, and has been fully or partially creolized repeatedly throughout its history; the most well-documented example of this is "Nagamese", an Asssamese-based creole which many residents of Nagaland and neighbouring areas now speak as a first language (Bhattacharjya 2001). As might be anticipated given these available influences, Assamese has shed some stereotypically South Asian features and taken on some features more commonly found in Southeast Asian languages.