--- In phoNet@egroups.com, "Piotr Gasiorowski" <gpiotr@i...> wrote:

>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: brian@g...
> To: phoNet@egroups.com
> Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2000 12:27 PM
> Subject: [phoNet] assam pronunciation
>
>
> As far as I know the native pronunciation is "uh-SAHM". Of the

two English pronunciations I've heard, a-SAM and ASS-am (only the
stress pattern is different), the first is closer to the original and
probably more widespread. The word meant 'peerless' in Ahom, the
ancient language of Assam (related to Thai, and not a member of the
Indo-European family). There is no reason, AFAIK, to pronounce it
with "sh". Perhaps your friends' opinion results somehow from the
ancient confusion between "Assamese" and "Assassins" (< Arabic
hashsha:shi:n 'hashish-eaters', the sect of Muslim fanatics so
notorious at the time of the Crusades). But this connection is
erroneous. By all means go on pronouncing Assam like everybody else.

>
>

Piotr
Thank you so much for your prompt reply to my query. It was the sort
of answer I was hoping for. I don't know why our friends were so
advised, perhaps it was heard over a bad telephone line! I found it
intriguing to learn that the original Assam language was akin to
Thai, considering the geography involved, although I believe there
are many related languages similarly separated by distance.

I shall keep the group accessible for a while before unsubscribing as
I doubt if I shall have any useful contribution to make.

Thank you again.