Tai Ahom language

The Tai Ahom language is a Tai language historically spoken by the Ahom people, who migrated to the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam, India, in 1228 under the leadership of Sukaphaa. It belongs to the Southwestern Tai branch of the Kra-Dai language family, closely related to modern languages like Shan (spoken in Myanmar), Zhuang (in southern China), and, to a lesser extent, Thai and Lao. Its origins trace back to the Tai dialects of Mong Mao (present-day Yunnan, China), from where the Ahom migrated.

### Linguistic Features

Tai Ahom is a tonal language, typical of the Tai family, though the exact number of tones in its original spoken form is uncertain due to its extinction in everyday use by the early 19th century. Like other Southwestern Tai languages, it likely had five to six tones, which shifted pitch to distinguish meaning between otherwise identical syllables. Its grammar is analytic, relying on word order and particles rather than inflection, with a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure. Vocabulary was heavily Tai-based but absorbed loanwords from local languages like Assamese (an Indo-Aryan language) and Tibeto-Burman tongues over centuries of contact.

The language was written in the Ahom script, a Brahmic-derived system adapted from the Tai Nuea script. This script is syllabic, with characters representing consonant-vowel combinations, and includes diacritics for tones and final consonants. It was used primarily in *Buranjis* (historical chronicles), religious texts, and administrative records, preserving a rich corpus of Ahom literature.

### Decline and Extinction

Tai Ahom began declining as a spoken language from the 16th century onward due to cultural and political shifts in the Ahom Kingdom. The adoption of Assamese as the court language under kings like Rudra Singha (r. 1696–1714) accelerated this process, as the Ahom elite integrated with the broader population through "Ahomisation." By the 17th century, Assamese—an Eastern Indo-Aryan language—became dominant, and Tai Ahom was relegated to liturgical use by *Deodhani* and *Mo-lung* priests in rituals like Ban-Phi and Phuralung. By the early 19th century, after the fall of the Ahom Kingdom to British rule in 1826, it had effectively died out as a living language, surviving only in manuscripts and priestly recitations.

### Revival Efforts

Though extinct in daily speech, Tai Ahom has seen revival attempts since the late 20th century, driven by cultural pride among the Ahom community. Scholars and activists, such as the Institute of Tai Studies and Research in Assam, have worked to reconstruct the language using surviving *Buranjis* and comparative linguistics with related Tai languages like Shan and Tai Mao. The Ahom script was added to the Unicode Standard in 2015 (version 8.0), enabling digital preservation and use. Modern efforts include teaching basic vocabulary and phrases, often drawing from the approximately 1,500–2,000 words preserved in texts, though pronunciation remains speculative due to the lack of native speakers.

### Current Status

Today, Tai Ahom is classified as an extinct language by linguists, with no native speakers since at least the 1830s. However, its liturgical use persists in some Ahom religious practices, and revivalists aim to restore it as a heritage language. The lexicon reflects its Tai roots—words like *phi* (spirit), *ban* (village), and *lung* (great)—but also shows Assamese influence, such as *xai* (from Assamese *sai*, meaning "to see"). Its study offers insights into the Tai diaspora and Assam’s linguistic history, though full revitalization faces challenges due to limited documentation and the dominance of Assamese in the region.