Assamese Language Pronunciation rules: How much we know? (Consonants).....অসমীয়া ভাষাৰ উচ্চাৰণৰ নিয়ম: আমি কিমান জানোঁ? (ব্যঞ্জনবৰ্ণ)

I have already discussed about the vowels in the Assamese language. (Please read the post "Assamese Language Pronunciation rules: How much we know? (Vowels)) Now, here I will discuss the consonants of Assamese language. Followings are the consonants present in the Assamese language.

ক খ গ ঘ ঙ চ ছ জ ঝ ঞ ট ঠ ড ঢ ণ ত থ দ ধ ন প ফ ব ভ ম য ৰ ল ৱ শ ষ স হ ক্ষ ড় ঢ় য় ৎ ং ঃ  ঁ

Now, lets discussed them.

ক = has the sound of 'c' in call and committee. কল (kal) 

খ = has the mixed sound of 'k' and 'h' uttered all at once. খদ্দৰ (khaddar).

গ = has the sound of 'g' in God, Go.  গৰম (garam)

ঘ = has the mixed sound of g and h uttered all at once. ঘৰ (ghar)

ঙ = has the sound of 'ng' in long, song.  খঙ (khong)

চ and ছ = has the sound of 's' in son, sin and sound of 'sh' in shine. চিকাৰ (sikar), ছয় (soy)

জ = has the sound of 'j' in joy. জখলা (jakhalā )

ঝ = has the mixed sound of j and h uttered all at once. 'jh' in jhāṛu (ঝাড়ু), Jharkhand  

ঞ (niya)= has the mixed nasal sound of ইঁ and অঁ. 

but when it combined with চ, ছ, জ and  ঝ it pronounced like simple 'n' or ন.

পঞ্চম (pancham)

when it coccurs independently it pronounces like ইঁঅঁ

গঞা (gayāñ)

ট and ত= has the sound of 't' in talk, tank. টেঙা (tengā), তেজ (ṭej)

ঠ and থ (tha) = has the mixed sound of t and h uttered all at once, 'Th' in Thar. ঠাই (ṭhāi), থাল (ṭhāl)

ড and দ = has the sound of 'd' in dog. ডাৱৰ (ḍāwar), দাপোণ (ḍāpon)

ঢ and ধ = has the mixed sound of d and h uttered all at once, 'Dh'' in Dhaka. ঢৰা (ḍharā), ধাউতি (ḍhāuti)

ণ and ন = has the sound 'N' in Nail.  নদী (nadī), চিকুণ (sikun)

প = has the sound 'p' of in paw. পইচা (poisā)

ফ = has the sound 'f' of in fog, fall, food. ফণি (fani)

ব = has the sound of 'b' in ball.  বতাহ (batāh)

ভ =has the mixed sound of b and h. 'Bh'  Bhāi (ভাই)

ম = has the sound of 'm' in may, man. মই ( mŏi)

য = has the same sound of জ. যেতিয়া (jetiā)

ৰ = has the sound of 'r' in raw. ৰঙা (rangā)  

ল = has the sound of 'l' in love lot লাহে লাহে (lāhē lāhē)

ৱ = has the mixed  sound of v and w. 'w' in warning.  গুৱা (guvā/guwā)

শ, ষ and স = is sometimes pronounced as 'kha' and sometimes as 'ha'. 

শগুণ (hagun), ষাঠি (hāthi), সীতা (hītā), বিষয় (bikhaya), দশক (dakhak), অসম (akham)

হ = has the sound of 'h' in 'hot. হাত (hāt)

ক্ষ = is sometimes pronounced as 'khya' and sometimes as 'kkha'. ৰক্ষা (rakhyā),     দক্ষিণ (dakkhin)

ড় = has the sound of 'r' in raw. গাড়ী (gāri)

ঢ় =sound like 'ŗha'.  পঢ়া (porhā)

য় = has the sound of 'y' in young. হয় ( hŏy)

ৎ = has the sound of 't' in hot. উৎপাদন (utpadan)

 ং = has the sound of 'ng' in English. খং (khang)

 ঃ = is like final breathing 'h'. পুনঃ (punah)

  ঁ = gives a nasal sound to the letter at the top of which it is put.কুঁৱা (kuñwā) nasal sound.

Ok knowing how to pronounce the letters is not sufficient in Assamese. There are more rules regarding how to pronounce when one consonant is joint with other (conjunct consonants) and the position of the consonants. So as per my observation, here is the point many Assamese speaking people do the mistake. Let's talk about those rules.

 

In Assamese, all letters in a conjunct consonant are pronounced separately. লক্ষ্মী (লক্ষ্‌মী lakkhmi)

   

    If  গ is added after ঙ (ঙ্গ)  then গ is not pronounced. Like ভাঙ্গিলে (ভাঙিলে bhangile), সঙ্গ (সঙ্ hong), ‌ ৰঙ্গ (ৰঙ rong)

    If ঞ is added after জ (জ্ঞ)  then both combined sound as গ্যঁ. Like  জ্ঞান (গ্য়াঁন gyan)  যজ্ঞ (যগ্যঁ jagya)

    If ঞ is added before জ (ঞ্জ)  then ঞ is pronounced as ন. like  আঞ্জা (আন্‌জা anja)

    If ঞ is added before চ (ঞ্চ) ছ  (ঞ্ছ) then ঞ is pronounced as ন. like  কাঞ্চন (কান্‌চন kaansan) বাঞ্ছা (বান্‌ছা baansa) 

    If য is added after  consonants  then  য is pronounced as ই অ    অন্য (Anya)  ধন্য (dhanya) sometimes অন্য (অইন aina)  ধন্য (ধইন dhaina)

    If হ added with য (হ্য) then both produced ঝ্য sound together. সহ্য (সঝ্য hoijya)

    When হ is added with ম (হ্ম) it sounds like 'hma' in Brahmaputra: ব্ৰহ্মপুত্ৰ  (ব্ৰহ্‌ম'পুত্ৰ)

Now what I understand is that শ, ষ and স are sometimes pronounced as 'kha' or sometimes as 'ha'. Pronouncing all the words as 'ha' is also incorrect and 'kha' is also incorrect. We need to check where to pronounce as 'ha' and where to 'kha'. (Please comment if I am wrong here) Now there are more rules for these three letters. 

• If in a word these শ, ষ and স are present after ৎ then they are pronounced as  'চ' (sa), pronounced like Sanskrit words. like উৎসৱ (উৎচৱ utsob), উৎস (উৎচ  utso) etc
• If these শ, ষ and স are added with other consonants then they are pronounced as  'চ' (sa), pronounced  like Sanskrit words. বিস্তীৰ্ণ (বিচ্‌তীৰ্ণ bistirna), অষ্টম (অচ্‌টম) ostam, বিশ্বাস (বিচ্ৱা‌স) 

These are what I have found about how to pronounce in the Assamese language. Hope it will help you. If I am wrong at any point please comment with references and correct my knowledge about it. 

References: The above information is collected from the following sources if you want more go through them

1. সত্যনাথ বৰা (১৯২৫) অসমীয়া ভাষাৰ বহল ব্যাকৰণ।
2. Bidhu Bhusan Das Gupta Assamese self-taught (1956)
3. তুলতুল বৰুৱা (১৯৯৮) সৰল ব্যাকৰণ আৰু ৰচনা।