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 PUBLISHERS' NOTE

The publication of Dr. Banikanta Kakati's Assamese, Its Formation and Development is in consonance with the aims and objects of the Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies in Assam, as the book marks a distinct achievement in the history of Assamese scholarship. It deals, as the title indicates, with the growth of the Assamese language, and the treatment of the subject has been carried out throughout on approved scientific lines ; and as such the book will be helpful to the study of the development of other allied Indian langu- ages. Besides, Assamese has been subjected to various mis- representations specially regarding its status as a distinct language, as it had hitherto been mainly handled by inexpert writers who possess neither critical acumen nor the required knowledge of Assamese and its affinities. Dr. Kakati estab- lishes for the first time the individuality of Assamese, placing it in the proper perspective of its sister languages. Dr. Kakati has 'analysed the different sources from which Assamese has derived its vocabulary, and formulated the changes which the original words have undergone in their Assamese forms. The traces left behind in Assamese words of different influences exhibit the variety of the contact of the Assamese speakers with different races and cultures. The Aryan, the non-Aryan and the Austric have freely contributed to the richness of the Assamese vocabulary, which has been found adequate for the purpose of expounding abstract truths as well as for. describing reabstic scenes. Dr. Kakati breaks an entirely a new ground, and we only hope that the dialects and sub-dialects spoken in the tribal areas of Assam will be subjected to similar scrutiny, and for this we shall require a continuous band of well-equip- ped scholars, and decades of philological investigation on scientific lines. It can be predicted that the present publica- tion will serve, for many long years to come, as a model, guide and stimulus to such investigation. As far as the Department