Bengali language From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Bangla redirects here. For Bengali speaking people, see Bengali people. Bengali বাংলা Bangla The word Bangla written inBengali script Spoken in Bangladesh, India and significant communities in UK, USA, Saudi Arabia,Malaysia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Myanmar, Canada Region Bangladesh, Nepal, West Bengal, Tripura,Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam,Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar. Widely spoken inNew Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Prominent speakers in Pune, Hyderabadand Chennai. Total speakers 300 million[1] Ranking 6[2][3] Language family Indo-European • Indo-Iranian o Indo-Aryan Eastern Group Bengali-Assamese Bengali Writing system Bengali script Official status Official language in Bangladesh, India (West Bengal, Tripura and Barak Valley) (comprising districts of south Assam- Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi), Sierra Leone (to honour Bangladeshs contributions to UN Peacekeeping Mission in Sierra Leone)[4] Regulated by Bangla Academy (Bangladesh) Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi (West Bengal) Language codes ISO 639-1 bn ISO 639-2 ben ISO 639-3 ben Linguasphere – Global extent of Bengali This page contains Indic text. Without rendering support you may see irregular vowel positioning and a lack of conjuncts. More... Bengali or Bangla (Bengali: বাংলা, [ˈbaŋla]) is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script. With nearly 230 million total speakers, Bengali is one of the most spoken languages (ranking sixth[2][3]) in the world. Along with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Bengali evolved circa 1000-1200 AD from the Magadhi Prakrit, a declined, vernacular form of the ancient Sanskrit language. It is now the primary language spoken in Bangladesh and is the second most spoken language in India.[5][6] With a long and rich literary tradition, Bengali binds together a culturally diverse region and is an important contributor to Bengali nationalism. In Bangladesh, the strong linguistic consciousness led to the Bengali Language Movement, during which on 21 February 1952, several people were killed during protests to maintain the writing of Bengali in the Bengali script and to gain its recognition as a state language of the then Dominion of Pakistan. The day has since been observed as Language Movement Day in Bangladesh, and was proclaimed the International Mother Language Day by UNESCO on 17 November 1999. Contents [hide] • 1 History • 2 Geographical distribution o 2.1 Official status o 2.2 Dialects • 3 Spoken and literary varieties • 4 Writing system o 4.1 Orthographic depth o 4.2 Uses o 4.3 Romanization • 5 Sounds o 5.1 Diphthongs o 5.2 Stress o 5.3 Intonation o 5.4 Vowel length o 5.5 Consonant clusters • 6 Grammar o 6.1 Word order o 6.2 Nouns o 6.3 Verbs • 7 Vocabulary • 8 Sample audio • 9 Sample text • 10 See also • 11 Notes • 12 References • 13 External links [edit] History Pages from the Charyapada Genealogically, Bengali belongs to the group of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, here marked in yellow. Like other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Bengali arose from the eastern Middle Indic languages of theIndian subcontinent. Magadhi Prakrit and Pali, the earliest recorded spoken languages in the region and the language of the Buddha, evolved into Ardhamagadhi (Half Magadhi) in the early part of the first millennium CE.[7][8] Ardhamagadhi, as with all of the Prakrits of North India, began to give way to what are calledApabhramsa languages just before the turn of the first millennium.[9] The local Apabhramsa language of the eastern subcontinent, Purvi Apabhramsa or Apabhramsa Abahatta, eventually evolved into regional dialects, which in turn formed three groups: the Bihari languages, the Oriya languages, and the Bengali-Assamese languages. Some argue that the points of divergence occurred much earlier—going back to even 500[10] but the language was not static: different varieties coexisted and authors often wrote in multiple dialects. For example, Magadhi Prakrit is believed to have evolved into Apabhramsa Abahatta around the 6th century which competed with Bengali for a period of time.[11] Usually three periods are identified in the history of Bengali:[9] 1. Old Bengali (900/1000–1400)—texts include Charyapada, devotional songs; emergence of pronouns Ami, tumi, etc.; verbinflections -ila, -iba, etc. Assamese branch out in this period and Oriya just before this period (8th century-1300). 2. Middle Bengali (1400–1800)—major texts of the period include Chandidass Srikrishnakirtan; elision of word-final ô sound; spread of compound verbs; Persian influence. Some scholars further divide this period into early and late middle periods. 3. New Bengali (since 1800)—shortening of verbs and pronouns, among other changes (e.g. tahar → tar his/her;koriyachhilô → korechhilo he/she had done). Historically closer to Pali, Bengali saw an increase in Sanskrit influence during the Middle Bengali (Chaitanyaera), and also during the Bengal Renaissance.[12][citation needed] Of the modern Indo-European languages in South Asia, Bengali and Marathi maintain a largely Pali/Sanskrit vocabulary base while Hindi and others such as Punjabi, Sindhi and Gujarati are more influenced by Arabic and Persian.[13] Shaheed Minar, or the Martyrs monument, in Dhaka, commemorates the struggle for the Bengali language. Until the 18th century, there was no attempt to document Bengali grammar. The first written Bengali dictionary/grammar, Vocabolario em idioma Bengalla, e Portuguez dividido em duas partes, was written by the Portuguese missionary Manoel da Assumpcam between 1734 and 1742 while he was serving inBhawal.[14] Nathaniel Brassey Halhed, a British grammarian, wrote a modern Bengali grammar (A Grammar of the Bengal Language (1778)) that used Bengali types in print for the first time.[1] Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the great Bengali reformer,[15] also wrote a Grammar of the Bengali Language (1832). During this period, the Choltibhasha form, using simplified inflections and other changes, was emerging fromShadhubhasha (older form) as the form of choice for written Bengali.[16] Bengali was the focus, in 1951–52, of the Bengali Language Movement (Bhasha Andolon) in what was thenEast Pakistan (now Bangladesh).[17] Although the Bengali language was spoken by the majority ofBangladeshs population, Urdu was legislated as the sole national language.[18] On February 21, 1952, protesting students and activists were fired upon by military and police in Dhaka University and three young students and several other people were killed.[19] Later in 1999, UNESCO decided to celebrate every 21 February as International Mother Language Day in recognition of the deaths of the three students.[20][21] In a separate event on May 19, 1961, police in Silchar, India, killed eleven people who were protesting legislation that mandated the use of the Assamese language.[22] [edit] Geographical distribution Distribution of native Bengali speakers in South Asia (the darker shade of pink denotes Bangladesh) The extent of Bengali inside Bangladesh. Bengali is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises Bangladesh, theIndian state of West Bengal and many parts of Assam and Tripura. Besides this region it is also spoken by majority of the population in the union territory Andaman and Nicobar Islands. There are also significant Bengali-speaking communities in: • the Middle East • Europe • North America • South-East Asia [edit] Official status See also: States of India by Bengali speakers Bengali is the national and official language of Bangladesh and one of the 23 official languages recognised by the Republic of India.[23] It is the official language of the states of West Bengal and Tripura.[24] It is also a major language in the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.[25][26] It was made an official language of Sierra Leone in order to honour the Bangladeshi peacekeeping force from the United Nations stationed there.[27] It is also the co-official language of Assam, which has three predominantlySylheti-speaking districts of southern Assam:[28] • Cachar • Karimganj • Hailakandi The national anthems of both India and Bangladesh were written by the Bengali Nobel laureateRabindranath Tagore.[29] In 2009, elected representatives in both Bangladesh and West Bengal called for Bengali to be made an official language of the United Nations.[30] [edit] Dialects Main article: Bengali dialects Regional variation in spoken Bengali constitutes a dialect continuum. Linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterjeegrouped these dialects into four large clusters—Rarh, Banga, Kamarupa and Varendra;[1] but many alternative grouping schemes have also been proposed.[31] The south-western dialects (Rarh) form the basis of standard colloquial Bengali, while Bangali is the dominant dialect group in Bangladesh. In the dialects prevalent in much of eastern and south-eastern Bengal (Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka and Sylhetdivisions of Bangladesh), many of the stops and affricates heard in West Bengal are pronounced asfricatives.[citation needed] Western alveolo-palatal affricates চ [tɕ], ছ [tɕʰ], জ [dʑ] correspond to easternচʻ [ts], ছ় [s], জʻ [dz]~[z]. The influence of Tibeto-Burman languages on the phonology of Eastern Bengali is seen through the lack of nasalized vowels. CM help sought to protect Bengali Hindus Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, Jan 3 – The All Assam Bengali Youth Students Federation on Monday demanded of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi the necessary action to protect the Bengali Hindus of Assam against the alleged arbitrary imputation as foreigners and attempts to deport to Bangladesh. The federation alleged that Bengali Hindus residing in Assam and those who migrated to India compelled by circumstances arising out of the partition were being harassed as D Voters and illegally kept in detention camp. The federation pointed out that Bengali Hindus have been residing in Assam for generation together and have contributed to all round development of the State. “A section of the Hindu Bengalis had to migrate to Assam and other neighbouring States of India being the victims of partition in 1947. Many of them as well as their forefathers fought for the independence of the country,” said the federation accusing the government of oppressing the Bengali Hindus by dubbing them as foreigners. It needs to be mentioned here that even the Bharatiya Janata Party, Assam Pradesh has raised this issue of oppression of the Bengali Hindus in different parts of the State. The federation has urged the Chief Minister to release all the persons of Bengali community from different detention camps of Assam. “We insist on the government to withdraw the proceedings against the Bengali Hindus pending in different foreigners tribunals and other courts and declare them as Indian citizens,” said the federation adding that the Bengali Hindu community wanted that the government machinery be restrained from detaining any person of the community or referring any case to the foreigners tribunals any more. “We also demand withdrawal of the process of D Voters started against the Hindu Bengalis as soon as possible,” said the federation. Protesting against the alleged harrassment of the Bengali Hindus, the federation staged a demonstration at Dispur Last Gate today. Union Home Ministers Statement on Situation in North Cachar Hills District Bomb blast at Dhemaji District, Assam Ban on NDFB Memorandum of Settlement on Bodoland Territorial Council Scheme for Surrender-Cum-Rehabilation of militants in North-East Demoralisation Among Caders of ULFA Tripartite Talks to Review The Implementation of The Assam Accord Held in New Delhi ISI Activities in Assam: Chief Minister Illegal Migration into Assam: Governor Report Monday, January 30, 2006 Debojit-We are not amused These days there is an unprecedented wave of solidarity across Assam for a wannabe Bengali singer from Silchar. This lad from the Barak Valley in Assam had mesmerized an entire state and has been successful in garnering record number of SMS votes from Assam and the northeast. It is because of these votes that he had been able to reach to the final stage of the bitterly contested Sa Re Ga Ma Contest. There has been hue and cry over the votes as this seems to have come from largely in support of “Assam” rather than for hissinging talents. This argument has lots of weights. Now, for any one who is oblivious of Assam and its many fault lines, Debojit is an Assamesse and this has made Assam rise for his support. But that is not. He is a Bengali from Barak Valley; where in the 60s, the Assam Police killed many students in Silchar and Karimganj when they refused the imposition of Assamesse language over their mothertongue, Bengali. Even now people remember the incidents very vividly. And during the 6 year long Assam Agitation, hundreds of Bengali students were hounded out from the schools and colleges and universities (the Guwahati University in particular) across the Brahmaputra Valley and denied a future. Bengalis then fought bitterly (much more bitterly than the Sa Re Ga Ma contest) to have their own university where they could study without the fear of being kicked and punched. If Debojit (assuming he is just another common boy, without the fame) were to study today in any one of the colleges in the Brahmaputra Valley, I am sure he would never prefer to stay in the hostels of the colleges; he would rather prefer to rent a room in some Bengali neighbourhood, even if that means commuting long distances. It remains as torturous as ever for a Bengali to live in the hostels of the professional colleges of the state, with the constant slang of Kela Bongal (Kela in Assamesse means the male organ and Bongal is for the Bengalis) heaped on them. They are constantly reminded that they have infiltrated into their state (and they conveniently forget that they themselves came from Thailand in the 12th Century, whereas Bengalis were living just a few hundred kilometers away in the subcontinent itself) and they are not to ask for anything more than just survive. Many of them had been denied even the basic rights of a citizen and clubbed into a category of “doubtful” voters; they are not able to exercise their franchisee until the tribunal clears them, which remains a dreadfully slow process as all government process remain. Even as Debojit sings and people across India are astounded by the level of support displayed by Assam, the fact remains that this episode does not make any difference to the Bengalis living in the state. As and when the contest is over, they will again have to think of the sundry organizations seeking donations flocking to them (no the ULFA is unable to seek donations on the street as it did in its heydays) and they will continue to be wary of Assam Police. They will continue to talk of the Assamesse-Bangali Gondogol (means riots) and the deep bruises that they have left. They continue to remain anxious if they would be able to get that Permanent Resident Certificates and such other papers. So why is the sudden cajoling of the Hindu Bengalis by their erstwhile (until very recently) persecutors, the Assamesse community? The website of the ULFA claims that the indigenous people of Assam had been reduced to street beggars (I have yet to come across a Assamesse beggars; most beggars in Assam are migrants) by the immigration of Bengalis and others. And remember this organization has sacrificed thousands of youths in its struggle for an independent Assam that it has been waging for almost a quarter of a century now. If Assam is to get independence today, they will turn it into something worse than the Balkans. ULFA leaders had repeatedly issued threats against our community and now some newspapers say that ULFA cadres had threatened the organizers of Sa Re Ga Ma to make sure that the Bengali from Silchar wins the title. I could not make any head and tail about it. How come ULFA make such an effort? And then there is the powerful AASU (All Assam Students Union) which led the virulent Assam Agitation that crippled the state for six long years and Bengalis had to bear the brunt of its storm troopers. Now, even this organization calls a press conference and asks people to vote for “Amar Debojit” (Our Debojit). And now here I am searching for words. It seems that the Assamesse had realized (albeit belatedly) that the only way that they can resist the silent Muslim invasion of Assam is by wooing their once avowed enemy, the Hindu Bengalis. It does not take a mathematician to calculate that the statistics of demography are titling heavily against the Hindu Assamesse. The Muslims who claim to be Assamesse are increasingly hobnobbing with the Muslims of Bangladesh creating panic among the Assamesse. It is only with the support of Hindu Bengalis (who constitute 6.7 million out of the total population of 26 million in the state) that the Assamesse have any chance of saving their identity and culture against the demographic invasion launched by the Muslims. And with Bengalis having wider reach in almost all fields of politics, media, journalism, it makes perfect sense to flatter them. And it was to protect their identity and culture that they killed Bengalis, burned their homes and raped their women. What an irony? What we need is not SMS Votes for one individual, we want a formal apology from the Assamesse community for the atrocities committed on us and a pledge to make Bengalis part and parcel of the state, without making them lose their distinct identity and culture and language. And also a pledge that whenever a time comes (which will surely come) when Bengalis will be poised to regain their lost land, the Assamesse community will help them with everything possible to realize their objective. And this pledge should come from every one. A few months of sweet-talk cannot erase the memory of those terrible yea
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 14:50:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015