With nearly 230 million native speakers, Bangla or Bengali is the national language of Bangladesh and an official language of India. It has numerous dialects,. Found: Wikipedia, Feb. 10, 2009(Bengali or Bangla is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakit and Sanskrit.
Languages of Bangladesh | |
---|---|
Official | Bengali, English |
National | Bengali |
Regional | UnofficialChittagonian, Sylheti, Rangpuri |
Minority | Bishnupuriya, Chakma, Hajong, Tangchangya, Oraon Sadri, Khasi, Koda, Mundari, Pnar, Santali, War-Jaintia, Kurukh, Sauria Paharia, A'Tong, Chak, Chin, Asho, Bawm, Falam, Haka, Khumi, Koch, Garo, Megam, Meitei Manipuri, Mizo, Mru, Pangkhua, Rakhine/Marma, Kok Borok, Riang, Tippera and Usoi |
Immigrant | Bihari[citation needed] • Rohingya • Urdu[citation needed] |
Foreign | Arabic, English, Hindi and Hindustan |
The national language, Bengali, is the first and English, is the second official language of Bangladesh according to the third article of the Constitution of Bangladesh.[1] With 98% of Bangladeshis fluent in Bengali (including dialects) as their first language, Bangladesh is the only monolingual country in South Asia.[2]Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987 made it mandatory to use Bengali in all government affairs except in the cases of foreign relations.[3]
The indigenous people of northern and southeastern Bangladesh speak a variety of native languages.
- 2Non-Indo-Aryan languages
- 3Other languages
Indo-Aryan languages[edit]
The lowlands of Bangladesh form the eastern half of the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal and the Bengali language is spoken by the majority of the country's inhabitants. There are also some Eastern Indic language varieties, which are variously classified either as dialects of Bengali or separate but closely related languages. They can be thought of forming a dialect continuum.
- Bengali branch:
- Bengali proper: spoken all over the country.
- Bishnupriya Manipuri: An Indo-Aryan language by the Bishnupriya Manipuri people who live in Bangladesh. Bishnupriya Manipuri is distinct from the Bengali languages and contains many features and elements of the Tibeto–Burman languages.
- Chakma: Spoken in the Chittagong Hill Tract Region. Unrelated to the Tibeto-Burman languages commonly found in the region.
- Chittagonian: Spoken in the South–East region of Chittagong, it is often considered to be a dialect of Bengali, but both languages are largely mutually unintelligible.
- Hajong: Originally a Tibeto-Burman language that has shifted over time to an Indic language.
- Marma: Originated from Tibeto-Burman language and mother tongue of Marma ethnic people.
- Rohingya: Spoken in Arakan State, Burma and by refugees from that region, currently living in Bangladesh's Chittagong Division. It is also often called Arkani by native speakers.
- Sylheti: Spoken by Sylhetis in the North–East region of Sylhet.
- Tangchangya: Tanchangya is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Tanchangya people of Bangladesh. It is closely related to Chakma.
- Sadri language: Also a major language of Jharkhand State, India.
- Bihari: Spoken primarily by the refugees from Bihar State, India.
Non-Indo-Aryan languages[edit]
The indigenous languages of the region are members of the Austroasiatic, Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman families. Most of these languages are spoken in mountainous areas.
Austroasiatic languages[edit]
While the more widely spoken and better-known Austroasiatic languages are spoken in Southeast Asia (e.g. Khmer and Vietnamese), smaller languages of that family are spoken by indigenous communities of northern and eastern Bangladesh.
- Khasi: also a major language of Meghalaya State, India
Dravidian languages[edit]
Two Dravidian languages are spoken by indigenous communities of western Bangladesh.
Tibeto-Burman languages[edit]
The mountainous areas along the northern and eastern edges of the Indian Subcontinent are inhabited primarily by speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages. Indigenous Tibeto-Burman-speaking communities are found through the northern, eastern, and especially the southeastern parts of Bangladesh.
![Roots Roots](/uploads/1/2/6/3/126301487/429719526.png)
- Chin languages:
- Garo: also a major language of Meghalaya State, India
- Meitei Manipuri: also a major language of Manipur State, India
- Mizo: also a major language of Mizoram State, India
- Rakhine/Marma: also a major language of Arakan State, Burma
- Tripuri languages: a major language group of Tripura State, India
Other languages[edit]
English (previous colonial)[edit]
English is used marginally in the Judiciary.[4] Before the commencement of Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987, English had a considerable presence in the official affairs, but since 1987, the usage of English waned significantly in the government affairs to the exclusion of a marginal presence in the higher tier of the Judiciary. However, English is taught as a compulsory subject in all schools, colleges and universities.
Arabic (previous ceremonial language, religious and minor literary language)[edit]
![Language Language](/uploads/1/2/6/3/126301487/252368571.jpg)
Arabic (عربي) was an official language ever since the territory of the modern state People's Republic of Bangladesh became a part of the Bengal Sultanate. However some disagree and believe the presence of Arabic came before during the Delhi Sultanate. Arabic is used in many Muslim congregations such as the weekly Jumu'ah Salah in which a sermon (khutbah) is given in Arabic in addition to Bengali. In the Constitution of Bangladesh, there are two references to Arabic to in the introduction and Part I of the constitution. The document begins with the Arabic phrase بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ which is translated as “In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful”. Article 2A declares that Islam is the state religion of the republic.
Arabic is the religious language of Muslims. The Quran, Sunnah, Hadith and Muslim theology is taught in Arabic with Bengali translation. The Bangladeshi diaspora living in the Middle East has further increased the number of people who can speak Arabic in Bangladesh. Arabic is taught as a religious language in mosques, schools, colleges, universities and madrassahs as well as in tradition Bengali Muslim households. A majority of Bangladesh's Muslim population has had some form of formal or informal education in the reading, writing and pronunciation of the Arabic language as part of their religious education.
Persian (previous literary and court language)[edit]
- 'Persian in Bangladesh' — Banglapedia
From ancient times Bengal and Persia had been in contact with each other. There were many trading posts around coastal Bengal.[5] As people converted to Islam, they became acquainted with Arabic scriptures, as well as with Persian, the language of the Sufi preachers. The influence of the language spread rapidly after it gained the status of court language and it was the official for over 600 years (1203-1837 AD).
Urdu (previous language)[edit]
Urdu (اردو) was an official language in post-partition 1947 to 1971. It is still spoken by some refugees from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (most are now Bangla speakers), and in Old Dhaka. They are also living in other parts of Bangladesh.
References[edit]
- ^'Article 3. The state language'. The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd. Ministry of Law, The People's Republic of Bangladesh. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^Faquire, A.B.M. Razaul Karim (December 2010). 'Language Situation in Bangladesh'. The Dhaka University Studies. 67: 63–77.
- ^'Bangla Bhasha Procholon Ain, 1987' বাংলা ভাষা প্রচলন আইন, ১৯৮৭ [Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987]. Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. Government of Bangladesh. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^'Bangla Rules in All Domains of National Life'. Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^'Persian - Banglapedia'. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
Further reading[edit]
- UNESCO, 'Bangladesh: Some endangered languages (information from Ethonologue, UNESCO)', June 2010.
External links[edit]
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