The Hajong Language varies within the clans because of regional variations. There are five notable clans of the Hajong people.
Doskinâ'
Korebari
Susung'yâ'
Barohazari'
Miespe'ryâ'
Writing system
The Hajong language is written by using both the Latin and the Bengali scripts.[7] Although both scripts are used in India, the Hajongs in Bangladesh expect to use the Bengali script since most education is in Bengali medium.[8] However, Hajongs living is Dhemaji and surrounding areas use Assamese script. In each script, there is one added unique symbol for the close back unrounded vowel /ɯ/. In Latin script, it is written with "â" or simply a' or e' and in the Eastern Nagari script with "অৗ" at the end of a syllable.[9]
Phonology
Hajong has 23 consonant phonemes, 8 vowel phonemes, and 2 approximants that have some characteristics of consonants: /w/ and /j/ act as diphthongs. The vowel phonemes are /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, /ɛ/, /o/, /ɔ/ and /ɯ/ (close, back, unrounded). Unlike other Indo-Aryan languages, Hajong language has only one 'i' and 'u'. It is somewhat ambiguous whether the final vowel is a phoneme or an allophone of [a] in the environment of other close vowels.[9] The extra vowel /ɯ/ does not occur in other Indo-Aryan languages but is typical for the Tibeto-Burman family.[10]Codasj and ch in the final position of a syllable turns into an s sound. Hajong includes some vowel harmony and the devoicing of final consonants.[9] For separating syllables the apostrophe sign (') or hyphen (-) is used.
Consonant phonemes
Consonants
Example
Meaning
Velar
k
kan
ear
kh
khawa
food
g
gang
river
gh
ghor
house
ng
gang
river
Dental
t
tula
your
th
tho
keep
d
dang'o
big
dh
dhor
hold
n
nak
nose
l
tel
oil
s
sor
move
r
rang'a
red
Palatal
ch
cha
tea
j
jor
fever
jh
jhala
spicy
sh
shongko
conch
Bilabial
p
pukhi
bird
ph
phol
fruit
b
bak
tiger
bh
bhou'i
field
m
mao
mother
Glottal
h
hilde'
yellow
Vowel phonemes
IPA
Latin
Assamese
Pronunciation
/a/
a
আ
a of car
/i/
i
ই
i of kill
/u/
u
উ
u of put
/ɛ/
e
এ
a of thank
/e/
ei
ঐ
ay of say
/o/
ou
ঔ
o of old
/ɔ/
o
অ
eo of George
/ɯ/
e'
অৗ
i of girl
Vowels play an important role in changing the meaning of words and the grammatical structure of sentences. Unlike in most other Indo-Aryan languages like Assamese and Bengali, Hajong has no distinction between longer and shorter /i/ and /u/. The Assamese script lacks some vowels unique to Hajong phonology, which is gradually leading to a vowel shift. Since vowels play an important role in Hajong grammar, the grammatical structure is also changing.
Diphthongs
Hajong phonology has diphthongs which are iotized vowels with j(y) and w. Diphthongs are usually combinations of i or u with other vowel phonemes. Common examples of diphthongs are ya, as in Dyao, which is the combined form of i and a; wa, as in khawa, which is the combination of u and a; yuh, as in muh'yuh, combination of i and uh, and wuh, as in tuhwuhi, combination of u and uh.
Grammar
Hajong primarily has a canonical word order of subject–object–verb, and the subject, object, and verb of a sentence appear or usually appear in that order. Hajong has a strong tendency to use postpositions, rather than prepositions; to place auxiliary verbs after the action verb; to place genitive noun phrases before the possessed noun; and to have subordinators appear at the end of subordinate clauses.
Hajong is an agglutinative language in which words are often combined and compressed, and there is often no pause between words of a sentence.
Even though it is considered an Eastern Indo-Aryan language, Hajong does not conjugate verbs in the same way as Bengali or Asamiya but rather has a simplified system. The case endings in Hajong are also unique compared to other Indo-Aryan languages and may represent affinity with Tibeto-Burman languages.[11][5] The following table is taken from Phillips:[5]
Hajong
Hajong (in IPA)
English
Case
বুৰি-ৰৗ
buri-rɯ
the old woman
unmarked
বুৰি-ৰৗগে
buri-rɯge
to the old woman
dative
বুৰি-লৗ
buri-lɯ
of the old woman
genitive
বুৰি নি
buri ni
to/at the old woman
locative
বুৰি ভায়
buri bʰaʲ
to the old woman
allative
বুৰি থিকি
buri t̪ʰiki
from the old woman
ablative
বুৰি দিঅৗ
buri diɯ
through/by the help of the old woman
instrumental
The genitive and unmarked or accusative cases have two forms; re'/ra and le'/la. For words ending with the vowels /a/, /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ it becomes ra and la and for /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/ and /ɯ/ it becomes re' and le'. The vowels /ɛ/(e) and /ɔ/(o) are used to end interrogative sentences, like 'Bhat khase?'(have you taken your food?) and 'Bhat khabo?'(Do you want to eat?); and the vowels /e/(ei) and /o/(ou) are used at the end of declarative sentences, as in 'Bhat khasei.'([I] have taken my food.) and 'Bhat Khabou'([I] will eat.). Adding the suffix be' or ba to interrogative words turn them into indefinite pronouns; for example, kibe' means something, kei'be' means someone, kumaba means somewhere and also ke'ibe', kageba, kunde'be' and kalaba means 'I don't know who/whom/which/whose' respectively in English. Similarly adding the suffix ha and ga to verbs means 'come and (verb)' and 'go and (verd)' respectively; for example, khaha means come and eat, niha means come and take; khaga means go and eat and niga means go and take.
Honorifics
A unique feature of Hajong is the use of honorifics. When talking about someone superior in status, a speaker usually uses special nouns or verb endings to indicate the subject's superiority. Unlike Assamese, Bengali, Sylheti and other Indo-Aryan languages, there is no word like আপুনি/আপনি/আফনে(apuni/apni/afne) to substitute you. Instead, Hajong has a different way to indicate supremacy of the other person. For elders and others of high ranking, people second-person and third-person pronouns are never used. One must always refer elders with their name or their honorary title. Ending words with 'ge' and 'ha' is also a form of showing respect to another person.
Sample phrases
Phrases from the Hajong – English Phrase Book:[12]
^ abEberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). Hajong Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
^Hajong, Biren (2002). The Hajongs and their struggle. Smt. Sushmita Hajong. OCLC499982956. Foreword(2) by Satyendra Narayan Goswami.
^ abcPhillips, V. C. (2011). "Case Marking in Hajong"(PDF). In G. Hyslop; S. Morey; M. Post (eds.). North East Indian Linguistics: Volume 3. Delhi: Foundation Books. pp. 224–240.
^Singh, R. P. (2013). "Hajong". In Danver, Steven (ed.). Native Peoples of the World. Vol. 2. Sharpe Reference. p. 531. ISBN978-0-7656-8222-2. [The Hajongs] speak the Hajong language, originally a Tibeto-Burman tongue that later mixed with Assamese and Bengali.