In this course, we will learn the Assamese compound letters or Juktakhors (যুক্তাক্ষৰ). This is also known as conjunct letters. Juktakhors are formed when two or more Assamese consonants join together to form a new symbol and a combined sound. Another term used in Assamese for this for of letters is Xonjukta Byonjon (সংযুক্ত ব্যঞ্জন)৷ It literally means joint consonants.

We will also continue developing our reading skills to cover almost any symbol one would encounter while reading an Assamese text.

In English, every consonant needs to be followed with a vowel to have its independent sound pronounced unless it is at the end of the word. But in Assamese, every consonant in most of the time has a built in vowel sound in it and normally it sounds like an 'awe' i.e. ক sounds like ko. Observe the following words and how they sound:

ৰবট (Assamese) <=> robot (English)

হল (Assamese) <=> hall (English)

In above example, we need a vowel 'o' or 'a' between the consonants to produce its individual sounds. In Assamese, we do not need a vowel like অ in-between the consonants, it still sounded like the English word.

In Assamese, on the other hand, to remove the vowel sound after a consonant and join two of them, we need to use the juktakhors. i.e.

In the word product, the 'ct' creates a combined sound with no vowels in between. If we product the same sound in Assamese, we will have to use a juktakhor joining ক & ট to form ক্ট

product(English) => প্ৰডাক্ট (Assamese)

Juktakhor is a compound word. Jukta (combined) + Akhor (alphabet/letter). So it literally means combined letters. There are over two hundred such combinations and tricky part is that the juktakhors take a new shape which may be quite different than the original letters that joined to form it. Take some time to go over them carefully as at times they may look the same.