The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), in collaboration with the Nanda Talukdar Foundation, has successfully completed a landmark initiative to digitally preserve three endangered indigenous languages of Assam – Khamyang, Tai Phake and Singpho. This effort marks a crucial step towards safeguarding Assam’s fragile linguistic and cultural heritage.

What was done?

• The initiative was carried out under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in April 2025 as part of the broader ‘Digitizing Assam’ initiative.
• The project involved systematic digitisation of manuscripts, printed texts, audio recordings, and visual documentation.
• All materials have now been made publicly accessible online for students, researchers and citizens.

Why is it significant?

• Khamyang language is on the verge of extinction, with only one known fluent speaker left globally.
  • Bhogeswar Thomung, an 84-year-old Buddhist priest from Powaimukh, is the only person left in the world capable of fluently speaking, reading, and writing the language.
  • Khamyang is a critically endangered Tai language spoken by the Khamyang people, mainly residing in Powaimukh village located near Margherita in the Tinsukia district, Assam. 
  • It is closely related to the other Tai languages in the Assam region: Aiton, Khamti, Phake, and Turung.
  • The Khamyang, as a distinct tribe, are found in Jorhat, Sibsagar and Golaghat District of Assam. There are also a few Khamyang villages in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Tai Phake manuscripts included classical texts such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana, highlighting deep civilisational links.
  • Tai Phake is a Southwestern Tai language spoken in Assam, mainly in the Buri Dihing Valley in the Dibrugarh district, and also in Arunachal Pradesh state. 
  • Tai Phake is written with a version of the Myanmar / Burmese alphabet known as Lik Tai.
• Singpho language documentation followed UNESCO-endorsed endangered language documentation protocols, including structured audio recordings.
  • Singpho is a dialect of the Jingpho language, spoken by the Singpho people of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. 
  • The Jingpho/Singpho or Kachin language is a Tibeto-Burman language mainly spoken in Kachin State of Myanmar and Yunnan Province of China.

Key outputs of the project

• Tai Phake: 262 manuscripts, nearly 20,000 digitised pages.
• Singpho: Old printed texts plus 350+ recorded speech units.
• Khamyang: 12 manuscripts, 650 pages, and a basic audio vocabulary archive.
• Hundreds of photographs capturing rituals, traditions and daily life, ensuring cultural context alongside language.

Constitutional and Global Frameworks

This initiative aligns with several protective frameworks:

• UNESCO Protocols: Documentation followed the UNESCO guidelines for endangered languages.
• Article 29: Protects the right of any section of citizens to conserve their distinct language, script, or culture.
• Assam Accord (Clause 6): Mandates the constitutional, legislative, and administrative safeguards to protect the cultural, social, and linguistic identity of the Assamese people.

The digital repository is now available as open-source material, providing a vital resource for scholars and the indigenous communities to revitalize their mother tongues.

Exam Hook:
Q. Consider the following statements:

1. Khamyang is critically endangered with only one known fluent speaker.
2. Tai Phake manuscripts include Indian epics like the Ramayana.
3. Singpho language documentation followed UNESCO protocols.

Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer: 1, 2 and 3

Source