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The Bengali dialects (Bengali: āĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ˛āĻž āĻāĻĒāĻāĻžāĻˇāĻž [baÅla upobĘąaĘa]) or Bengali varieties (āĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ˛āĻž āĻāĻžāĻˇāĻŋāĻāĻž [baÅla bĘąaĘika]) are the varieties of the Bengali language that are part of the Eastern Indo-Aryan language group of the Indo-European language family widely spoken in the Bengal region of South Asia. The spoken dialects of Bengali are mutually intelligible with neighbouring dialects.
Bengali dialects can be, thus classified along at least two dimensions: spoken vs. literary variations. And prestige vs. regional variations.
Classificationsâģ
Suniti Kumar Chatterji and Sukumar Sen classified Bengali dialects in five classes by, their phonology and pronunciation. They are:
1. Eastern Bangali dialect: Bangali dialect is: the most widely spoken dialect of Bengali language. It is spoken across the Khulna, Barisal, Dhaka, Mymensingh, Sylhet and Comilla Divisions of Bangladesh and the State of Tripura in India.
2. Rarhi dialect: Rarhi dialect is spoken across much of Southern West Bengal, India and Southwestern Bangladesh. It is spoken by almost 20 percent of Bengali people. The regions where it is spoken include the whole of Presidency division (including the city of Kolkata), the Northern half of Khulna Division , the Southern half of Burdwan division and the district of Murshidabad.
3. Varendri dialect: This variety is spoken in Rajshahi division of Bangladesh and Malda division of West Bengal, India (previously part of Varendra or Barind division). It is also spoken in some adjoining villages in Bihar bordering Malda.
4. Rangpuri dialect: This Bongo-Kamrupi dialect is spoken in Rangpur Division of Bangladesh, Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, India and its nearby areas of Bihar, Assam, Nepal and Bhutan. It is also known as Rajbanshi. And Goalparia language.
5. Manbhumi dialect: Manbhumi is spoken in westernmost Bengali speaking regions which includes the whole of Medinipur division and the northern half of Burdwan division in West Bengal and the Bengali speaking regions of Santhal Pargana division and Kolhan division in Jharkhand state.
Spoken and literary variantsâģ
More than other Indo-Aryan languages, Bengali exhibits strong diglossia between the formal, written language and "the vernacular," spoken language. Two styles of writing, "involving somewhat different vocabularies and syntax," have emerged :
- Shadhubhasha (āĻ¸āĻžāĻ§ā§āĻāĻžāĻˇāĻž) is the written language with longer verb inflections and a more Sanskrit-derived (āĻ¤ā§āĻ¸āĻŽ tôtshôm) vocabulary (āĻ¸āĻžāĻ§ā§ shadhu = 'chaste' or 'sage'; āĻāĻžāĻˇāĻž bhasha = 'language'). Songs such as India's national anthem Jana Gana Mana (by Rabindranath Tagore) and national song Vande MÄtaram (by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) were composed in Shadhubhasha. But its use is on the wane in modern writing.
- Choltibhasha (āĻāĻ˛āĻ¤āĻŋāĻāĻžāĻˇāĻž ) or Cholitobhasha (āĻāĻ˛āĻŋāĻ¤āĻāĻžāĻˇāĻž), a written Bengali style that reflects a more colloquial idiom, is increasingly the standard for written Bengali (āĻāĻ˛āĻŋāĻ¤ cholito = 'current' or 'running'). This form came into vogue towards the turn of the 19th century, in an orthography promoted in the writings of Peary Chand Mitra (Alaler ghare dulal, 1857), Pramatha Chowdhury (Sabujpatra, 1914) and in the later writings of Rabindranath Tagore. It is modeled on the dialect spoken in the Shantipur and Shilaidaha region in Nadia and Kushtia Districts. This form of Bengali is often referredââto as the "Kushtia standard" (Bangladesh) or "Nadia dialect" (West Bengal).
Spoken Bengali exhibits far more variation than written Bengali. Formal spoken Bengali, "including what is heard in news reports," speeches, announcements, and lectures, is modelled on Choltibhasha. This form of spoken Bengali stands alongside other spoken dialects. Or Ancholik Bangla (āĻāĻā§āĻāĻ˛āĻŋāĻ āĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ˛āĻž) (i.e. 'regional Bengali'). The majority of Bengalis are able to communicate in more than one dialect â often, speakers are fluent in Choltibhasha, one or more Ancholik dialect, and one. Or more forms of Gramyo Bangla (āĻā§āĻ°āĻžāĻŽā§āĻ¯ āĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ˛āĻž) (i.e. 'rural Bengali'), dialects specific to a village or town.
To a non-Bengali, these dialects may sound or look vastly different, but the differences are mostly in phonology and vocabulary, and not so much a grammatical one, one exception is the addition of grammatical gender in some eastern dialects. Many dialects share features with Sadhu bhasha, which was the written standard until the 19th century. Comparison of Bengali dialects gives us an idea about archaic forms of the language as well.
During standardisation of Bengali in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the cultural elite were mostly from the regions of Dhaka, Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah, 24 Parganas, Nadia and Kushtia. What is accepted as the standard form today in both West Bengal and Bangladesh is based on the West-Central dialect. While the language has been standardised today through two centuries of education and media, variation is widespread, with many speakers familiar with or fluent in both their socio-geographical variety as well as the standard dialect used in the media.
Regional dialect differencesâģ
Dialectal differences in Bengali manifest themselves in three forms: standardized dialect vs. regional dialect, literary language vs. colloquial language, and lexical (vocabulary) variations. The name of the dialects generally originates from the district where the language is spoken.
While the standard form of the language does not show much variation across the Bengali-speaking areas of South Asia, regional variation in spoken Bengali constitutes a dialect continuum. Mostly speech varies across distances of just a few miles and takes distinct forms among religious communities. Bengali Hindus tend to speak in Sanskritised Bengali (a remnant of the Sadhu bhasha), Bengali Muslims comparatively use more Perso-Arabic vocabulary and Bengali Christians converse in Christian Bengali when engaging in their own circles. Apart from the present dialects, there are a few more that have disappeared. For example, SÄtagÄiyÃŖ' (this is the name used in East Bengal for the dialect of the Southwestern Rarh region). The present dialects of Bengali are listed below with an example sentence meaning:
- English translation: "A man had two sons." (M=male indicated i.e. A man had two sons, P= person indicated, without gender, i.e. A person had two sons)
North Bengal dialectsâģ
This dialect is mainly spoken in the districts of North Bengal. The dialects of the North do not have contrastive nasal vowels, tend to conserve the h-word medially, often go through l-n and n-l transitions, often in nouns, and are the only dialects where ÃĻ can be found word terminally.
- Pabna : ÃĻk zôn mansher duiá¸a bÃĻtĖša/sawal silo. (P)
- Dinajpur: ÃĻk zôn mansher duikhona bÃĻáša/sawal silo. (P)
- Sirajganj : ÃĻk zon mainsher duido bÃĻáša sol silo. (P)
- Bogra: ÃĻk zon mansher duikona bÃĻáša/sol~sawal silo. (P)
- Malda: ÃĻk jhon manuser duiáša bÃĻáša/chhawal chhilô. (P)
- Rangpur: ÃĻk zon mansher duikna/duikhona bÃĻáša/sawal silo. (P)
- Rajshahi: ÃĻk zon mansher duiá¸a bÃĻáša/sawal silo. (P)
- Joypurhat: ÃĻk zon mansher duikona bÃĻta/sawal~sol silo
- East Purnia (Siripuria): ÃĻk jhonar dui chhawal chhil. (P)
Western dialectsâģ
These dialects are mostly spoken in and around the Bhagirathi River basin, in Central West Bengal and Southwestern Bangladesh . The standard form of the colloquial language (Choltibhasha) has developed out of the Nadia-Kushtia dialect.
- Meherpur: ÃĻk mansher duÄi seile silo.
- Chuadanga : ÃĻk jon lokir duiÅŖo seile silo. (M)
- Kolkata: ÃĻk jon loker duÅŖo chhele chhilo. (M)
- Kolkata (Women's dialect): ÃĻk joner dui chhele chhelo. (P)
- Howrah: ÃĻk loker duÅŖi chhele chhilo. (M)
- Howrah (Women's dialect): ÃĻk loker duÅŖi chhele chhilo. (M)
- Ghatal: ÃĻk loker duiÅŖi putro chhilo. (M)
- Katwa: kono loker duÅŖi chhele chhilo. (M)
Eastern dialectsâģ
- Manikganj: ÃĻk zoner duiá¸i saoal asilo. (P)
- Mymensingha: ÃĻk zôner dui put asil. (P)
- Netrakonori: ÃĻk zonor du fut asilo.
- Jamalpuri: ÃĻk zongor dui futro asilo be.
- Sherpuri: ÃĻk zongro dui futro asilo.
- Kishoreganj: ÃĻk zongir duida futro asilo.
- Tangali: ÃĻk zoner duida pola asal/asilo.
- Narsingdia: atta zoner duita fula silo.
- Narayanganj Basha: aita manusor duta fua silo.
- Kutti Dhakaiya: ati manukror duita fulai silo.
- Gazipuri: akta manushor duita fula silo.
- Dhakaiya: akta manusher duita abu asilo.
- Bikrampuri dialect: ÃĻk zôner duiÄa pola asilo. (P)
South Bengal dialectsâģ
- Khulna: ÃĻk zon manshir dui soal silo. (P)
- Bagerhat: ÃĻk zon manshir dui saoal silo. (P)
- Satkhira: ÃĻk zon mansher dui sawal silo
- Tamluk: ÃĻk bektir duiÅŖi puttro chhilo. (P)
Rajbanshi dialectsâģ
- Goalpara: ÃĻk zônkar dui bÃĻáša asil. (P)
- Rangpur: ÃĻkzôn mansher duikna bÃĻáša asin. (P)
- Jalpaiguri: ÃĻk jhônkar dui jhon bÃĻáša achhil. (P)
- Cooch Behar: ÃĻk jôna mansir dui kona bÃĻáša achhil. (P)
- Darjeeling (Terai): ÃĻk jhônkar duiáša bÃĻáša chhilo. (P)
Western Border dialectsâģ
This dialect is spoken in the area which is known as Manbhum.
- Manbhumi: ÃĻk loker duáša beáša chhilô. (M)
- East Medinipur: gote loker duiáša toka thilo. (M)
- Dhalbhum/East Singhbhum: ÃĻk loker duáša chha chhilo. (M)
- Pashchim Bardhaman district: kono loker duiáši chhele chhilo. (M)
- Ranchi: ÃĻk loker du beáša rahe. (M)
- Mayurbhanj: akáša loker duáša beáša chhilo. (M)
The latter two, along with Kharia Thar and Mal Paharia, are closely related to Western Bengali dialects, but are typically classified as separate languages. Similarly, Rajbangsi and Hajong are considered separate languages, although they are very similar to North Bengali dialects. There are many more minor dialects as well, including those spoken in the bordering districts of Purnea and Singhbhum and among the tribals of eastern Bangladesh like the Hajong and the Chakma.
Other dialects and closely related languagesâģ
This category is for dialects, mostly restricted to certain communities instead of a region, as well as closely related languages. Dobhashi was a highly Persianised dialect originating during the Bengal Sultanate period. The sadhu bhasha was a historical Sanskritised register of Bengali and Christian Bengali was a Europeanised dialect; both of which originated during the colonial period. Examples of heavily Sanskritised Bengali include the Jana Gana Mana.
- Dobhashi: "ÃĻk adomer dui aolad chhilô." (āĻāĻ āĻāĻĻāĻŽā§āĻ° āĻĻā§āĻ āĻāĻāĻ˛āĻžāĻĻ āĻāĻŋāĻ˛āĨ¤) (M)
- Christian Bengali: "ÃĻk homor dui putrô chhilô." (āĻāĻ āĻšā§āĻŽā§āĻ° āĻĻā§āĻ āĻĒā§āĻ¤ā§āĻ° āĻāĻŋāĻ˛āĨ¤) (P)
- Sadhu bhasha: "kono ÃĻk bektir duáši putrô chhilô" (āĻā§āĻ¨ āĻāĻ āĻŦā§āĻ¯āĻā§āĻ¤āĻŋāĻ° āĻĻā§'āĻāĻŋ āĻĒā§āĻ¤ā§āĻ° āĻāĻŋāĻ˛āĨ¤) (P)
- Heavily Sanskritised Bengali: "ÃĻka byaktira putradvaya chhila" (āĻāĻ āĻŦā§āĻ¯āĻā§āĻ¤āĻŋāĻ° āĻĒā§āĻ¤ā§āĻ°āĻĻā§āĻŦāĻ¯āĻŧ āĻāĻŋāĻ˛āĨ¤) (P)
- Assamese: "ezôn manuhôr duzon putek asil" (āĻāĻāĻ¨ āĻŽāĻžāĻ¨ā§āĻšā§° āĻĻā§āĻāĻ¨ āĻĒā§āĻ¤ā§āĻ āĻāĻāĻŋāĻ˛) (P)
- Hajong: "ekzôn manôlôg duida pôla thakibar" (āĻāĻāĻāĻ¨ āĻŽāĻžāĻ¨āĻ˛āĻ āĻĻā§āĻāĻĻāĻž āĻĒāĻ˛āĻž āĻĨāĻžāĻāĻŋāĻŦāĻžāĻ°) (P)
- Chakma: ek jônôtun diba pwa el.
- Kharia Thar: ÃĻhôk nôker duiÅŖa chhaoga rôhina. (M)
- Mal Paharia Language: ÃĻk jháģášáģr duiÅŖô beÅŖa achhlÃĻk. (M)
Phonological variationsâģ
Bengali dialects include Eastern and Southeastern Bengali dialects: The Eastern dialects serve as the primary colloquial language of the Dhaka district, mixed nowadays with the standard register. In contrast to Western and Central dialects where āĻã/Ę/ and āĻĄ /É/ are unvoiced and voiced retroflex stops respectively, far eastern dialects pronounce them as apical alveolar /tĖ / and /dĖ /, especially in less formal speech. These dialects also lack contrastive nasalised vowels or a distinction in āĻ° /r~Éž/, āĻĄāĻŧ/āĻĸāĻŧ /ÉŊ/, pronouncing them mostly as /Éš/, although some speakers may realise āĻ° /r~Éž/ when occurring before a consonant or prosodic break. This is also true of the Sylheti dialect, which has a lot in common with the Kamrupi dialect of Assam in particular, and is sometimes considered a separate language. The Eastern dialects extend into Southeastern dialects, which include parts of Chittagong. The Chittagonian dialect has Tibeto-Burman influences.
Fricativesâģ
Western-central Bengali palato-alveolar or alveolo-palatal affricates āĻ âģ, āĻ âģ, āĻ âģ, and āĻ âģ correspond to eastern Bengali âģ~âģ, âģ~âģ, âģ~âģ, and âģ~âģ. A similar pronunciation is also found in Assamese, a related language across the border in India.
The aspirated velar stop āĻ âģ, the voiceless aspirated labial stop āĻĢ âģ, and the aspirated dental stop āĻĨ âģ of western-central Bengali correspond to âģ, âģ and âģ in eastern Bengali. Retroflexes lose aspiration and variously remain like that or become alveolar. Breathy voiced stops lose breathiness. The voiced velar stop āĻ âģ can fricativize to âģ, and is mostly lost afterwards.
Many eastern Bengali dialects share phonological features with Assamese, including the debuccalisation of āĻ¸ & āĻļ âģ to āĻš âģ or āĻ âģ.
Tibeto-Burman influenceâģ
The influence of Tibeto-Burman languages on the phonology of eastern Bengali is seen through the lack of nasalised vowels, an alveolar articulation for the Retroflex stops āĻ âģ, āĻ âģ, āĻĄ âģ, and āĻĸ âģ, resembling the equivalent phonemes in languages such as Thai and Lao and the lack of distinction between āĻ° âģ and āĻĄāĻŧ/āĻĸāĻŧ âģ. Unlike most languages of the region, some Purbo Bengali dialects do not include the breathy voiced stops āĻ âģ, āĻ âģ, āĻĸ âģ, āĻ§ âģ, and āĻ âģ. Some variants of Bengali, particularly Chittagonian and Chakma Bengali, have contrastive tone; differences in the pitch of the speaker's voice can distinguish words. In dialects such as Hajong of northern Bangladesh, there is a distinction between āĻ and āĻ , the first corresponding exactly to its standard counterpart. But the latter corresponding to the Japanese âģ sound listen. There is also a distinction between āĻ and āĻ in many northern Bangladeshi dialects. āĻ representing the [ÉĒ] sound whereas āĻ represents an [i].
Comparison tableâģ
English | Standard Bengali | Khulnaiya | Barishali | Old Dhakaiya | Faridpuri | Varendri | Mymensinghiya | Rarhi | Chittagonian | Sylheti | Rangpuri |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
will eat (first person) | khabo | khabo | khamu | khaimu/khamu | khamu/khaum | khamÃĩ/khaimÃĩ | khamu/khaibam | khabo | haiyyum | xaimu/xamu | khaim/kham |
Taka | ášaka | áša(h)a | ášaha | ášÃĻka | taha | ášÃĻka | ášÃĻka | ášaka | ášÄŠa | ášexa | ášeka |
Dhaka | á¸haka | á¸aha | á¸aha | á¸haka | á¸haha | á¸haka | á¸haka | á¸haka | á¸haha | á¸axa | á¸haka |
Other Eastern Indo-Aryan languagesâģ
English | Assamese | Odia | Sambalpuri | Rohingya |
---|---|---|---|---|
will eat (first person) | kham | khaibi | khaimi | khai-yum |
Taka | tôka | tankÄ | tankÄ | tia |
Dhaka | Dhaka | Dhaka | Dhaka | Daha |
See alsoâģ
- Bengali vocabulary
- Bengali phonology
- Arabic dialects
- Punjabi dialects
- Hindi dialects
- English dialects
Notesâģ
- ^ Praci Bhasavijnan: Indian Journal of Linguistics. Bhasa Vidya Parishad. 2001.
- ^ āĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ˛āĻž āĻāĻžāĻˇāĻž āĻ āĻāĻĒāĻāĻžāĻˇāĻž, āĻ¸ā§āĻā§āĻŽāĻžāĻ° āĻ¸ā§āĻ¨, āĻāĻ¨āĻ¨ā§āĻĻ āĻĒāĻžāĻŦāĻ˛āĻŋāĻļāĻžāĻ°ā§āĻ¸
- ^ Bandyopadhyay, Anita (2001). "Problems of Phonetic Transcription in Bengali". Praci-Bhasha-Vijnan Indian Journal of Linguistics. 20: 79. OCLC 2256120.
We all know that there are 4 or 5 dialects of the Bengali language. These are, according to Professor Suniti Kumar Chatterji and Sukumar Sen - Rarhi, Barendra, Kamarupi, Banga and Jharkhandi as added by Dr. S. Sen.
NB Barendra refers to Varendri - ^ Nag, Oishmaya Sen (1 August 2017). "What Languages Are Spoken In Bangladesh?". WorldAtlas.
- ^ Huq, Mohammad Daniul (2012). "Chalita Bhasa". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ Huq, Mohammad Daniul (2012). "Sadhu Bhasa". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ Huq, Mohammad Daniul (2012). "Alaler Gharer Dulal". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ Morshed, Abul Kalam Manjoor (2012). "Dialect". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
Referencesâģ
- Ahsan, Syed Ali (2000), āĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ˛āĻž āĻāĻāĻžāĻĄā§āĻŽā§ āĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ˛āĻžāĻĻā§āĻļā§āĻ° āĻāĻā§āĻāĻ˛āĻŋāĻ āĻāĻžāĻˇāĻžāĻ° āĻ āĻāĻŋāĻ§āĻžāĻ¨, Bangla Academy, Dhaka, ISBN 984-07-4038-5
- Haldar, Gopal (2000), Languages of India, National Book Trust, India, ISBN 81-237-2936-7