Languages of Bangladesh

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Languages of Bangladesh
Languages of Bangladesh map.svg
Official Bengali/Bangla
National Bengali/Bangla
Regional Bengali dialects
Minority Atong, Bawm, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Chakma, Garo, Hajong, Hakha-Chin, Kharia, [1] Khasi, Khumi, Koch, Koda, Kokborok, Kol, Kurukh, Lyngngam, Manipuri, Marma, Megam, Mizo, Mru, Mundari, Odia, [2] Oraon Sadri, Pangkhua, Pnar, Rakhine, Riang, Rohingya, Santali, Sauria Paharia, Tangchangya, Telugu, [3] Tippera, Urdu, [4] [5] Usoi, War
Immigrant Burmese, Urdu [6] [5]  • Rohingya
Foreign English
Keyboard layout
Bengali keyboard
KB-Bengali-Jatiyo.svg

"Languages spoken across Bangladesh" (2022) [7]

   Bengali (99%)
  others (1%)
Bangladesh linguistic diversity as per 2022 census [7]
LanguagePopulation
Bengali / Bangla 163,507,029
Others1,651,587
Total165,158,616

The national language and official language of Bangladesh is Bangla according to the third article of the Constitution of Bangladesh. [8] Almost 99% of Bangladeshis speak Bengali (including dialects) as their first language. [9] [7] Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987 made it mandatory to use Bengali in all government affairs except in the cases of foreign relations. [10] According to a 2022 census, Bengali is predominantly spoken by 99% of the country's population and it also serves as the national language of the nation. The indigenous people of northern and southeastern Bangladesh speak a variety of native languages. According to the Ethnologue, there are 36 indigenous living languages, which include 17 Tibeto-Burman, 10 Indo-Aryan, 7 Austroasiatic and 2 Dravidian languages in Bangladesh. [11] Bangladesh has 44 indigenous languages according to Professor Shameem Reza. [12]

Contents

Indo-Aryan languages

The lowlands of Bangladesh form the larger, central, and eastern half of the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal and the Bengali language is spoken by the majority of the country's inhabitants i.e. the Bengalis. 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 as forming a dialect continuum.

Non-Indo-Aryan languages

The Non-Indo-Aryan 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

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. There are two branches of Austro-Asiatic represented in Bangladesh.

Dravidian languages

Two Dravidian languages are spoken in Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions in western Bangladesh.

Tibeto-Burman languages

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, primarily the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Other languages

English

English is now second language of Bangladesh in 2023. Before the commencement of the Bengali Language Implementation Act, 1987, English had a considerable presence in official affairs, but since 1987 the usage of English has waned significantly in government. Due to the British colonization of the country, English is still a widely spoken and commonly understood language in Bangladesh. [13] English is taught as a compulsory subject in all schools, colleges and universities. In addition, there is an English-medium education system in Bangladesh which is widely attended. [14] The British Council Bangladesh offers English language courses.

Similar to the situation in other SAARC nations, there are significant disparities in English-language knowledge; a significant portion of the population speaks English fluently or even natively (especially among the educated class), while an even larger portion of the population has little to no knowledge of English. Among the middle and upper class, many can read and write fluently due to professional requirements, but may have difficulty speaking English.

During the colonial period, laws were written in English. Currently, most laws are written in Bengali, the exception being amendments to laws passed before 1987, which are generally written in English. Many legal, administrative, and financial forms used by the government and banks are in English only. English is also used in the judiciary. [15]

Arabic

Bangladesh's largest international airport, the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, has signage in Arabic. Shahjalal International Airport (10).jpg
Bangladesh's largest international airport, the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, has signage in Arabic.

Since the conquest of Bengal by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khalji in 1203 CE, Arabic (عربي) enjoyed the status of being an official language up until the British Raj period. However, its presence dates back to the 8th century CE, as a language of trade. In the 13th century, Muslim preacher Taqiuddin al-Arabi established what is thought to be the earliest Islamic institution in Bangladesh that has intact ruins. Arabic literature began to flourish first in medieval Bengal with works like Ḥawḍ al-Ḥayāh (12th century) by Qadi Ruknuddin Samarkandi, Maqāmāt by Abu Tawwama, Majmūʿah Khānī fī ʿAyn al-Maʿānī (1280s) by Kamiluddin bin Karim as well as the many works of 14th-century Bengali scholar Nur Qutb Alam. Islamic scholar Muhammad ibn Yazdan Bakhsh Bengali transcribed three volumes of Sahih al-Bukhari by hand in Ekdala, and gifted it to the Sultan Alauddin Husain Shah. The manuscript of this work is currently kept at the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library in the neighbouring Republic of India. [16] Until today, Arabic literature relating to Islam continues to be regularly written and published by Bangladeshis such as Sultan Zauq Nadvi and Muhammad Abdul Malek. [17]

Despite losing an official status from the colonial times onward, the Arabic language is used in many Muslim congregations such as the weekly Friday prayer in which a sermon (khutbah) is given in Arabic, in addition to Bengali. The Constitution of Bangladesh begins with the Arabic phrase بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ which is translated as “In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful”. [18]

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. Today, Arabic is an obligatory subject in the Madrasah education of Bangladesh. 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. Arabic has also influenced the Bengali language greatly, [17] thus it is not uncommon to hear Arabic terminology in Bangladeshi speeches and rallies. One example of this is the 7 March Speech of Bangabandhu, which makes mention of Inshallah ('God-willing') towards the end, in addition to the many Arabic-origin Bengali words used. [19]

Persian

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Sultan Ahmad Nanupuri reciting a Persian poem by Hafez.
Problems playing this file? See media help.
A Persian manuscript of Bengal showing Alexander sharing his throne with Queen Nushabah. The scene is based on Nizami Ganjavi's Iskandar Nama (Book of Alexander). The manuscript was published by Sultan Nusrat Shah who reigned between 1519 and 1538. (British Library) Sharafnama of Nizami, Bengal.jpg
A Persian manuscript of Bengal showing Alexander sharing his throne with Queen Nushabah. The scene is based on Nizami Ganjavi's Iskandar Nama (Book of Alexander). The manuscript was published by Sultan Nusrat Shah who reigned between 1519 and 1538. (British Library)

From ancient times, Bengal and Persia had been in contact with each other and there were many trading posts around coastal Bengal. As people converted to Islam, they became acquainted with Persian, the language of the Sufi preachers. [20] Bengal witnessed an influx of Persian scholars, lawyers, teachers and clerics. The influence of the language spread rapidly after it gained the status of court language for over 600 years (1203–1837 AD) under the Delhi Sultanate, Bengal Sultanate and Bengal Subah. Thousands of Persian books and manuscripts were published in Bengal. The period of Sultan Ghiyathuddin Azam Shah's reign is described as the "golden age of Persian literature in Bengal". Its stature was illustrated by the Sultan's own correspondence and collaboration with the Persian poet Hafez; a poem which can be found in the Divan of Hafez today. [21]

Presently, Persian is taught in some madrasas, mostly those belonging to the Befaqul Madarisil Arabia Bangladesh board, as well as at the University of Dhaka. [22]

Dobhashi refers to a historical register of Bengali with significant Persian influence, similar to the influence of Persian on Urdu.

Urdu

Urdu (اردو‬) was an official language in post-partition 1947 to 1971. It is still spoken by the settlers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. They are living in Saidpur, Dhaka particularly Old Dhaka, and other parts of Bangladesh.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal</span> Region in the eastern Indian subcontinent

Bengal or endonym Bangla is a historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Bengal proper is divided between modern-day sovereign nation of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Bangladesh</span>

Bangladesh is the eighth-most populated country in the world with almost 2.2% of the world's population. As per the final results of the 2022 Census of Bangladesh, the country's population is 169,828,911.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dhaka Division</span> Administrative division of Bangladesh

Dhaka Division is an administrative division within Bangladesh. Dhaka serves as the capital city of the Dhaka Division, the Dhaka District and Bangladesh. The division remains a population magnet, covers an area of 20,508.8 km2 with a population in excess of 44 million, It is the most populous country second level division of the world, growing at 1.94% rate since prior count, compared with national average of 1.22%. However, national figures may include data skewing expatriation of male labor force as gender ratio is skewed towards females.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylheti language</span> Indo-Aryan language spoken in Bangladesh and India

Sylheti is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by an estimated 11 million people, primarily in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh, Barak Valley of Assam, and northern parts of Tripura in India. Besides, there are substantial numbers of Sylheti speakers in the Indian states of Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland as well as diaspora communities in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Administrative geography of Bangladesh</span> Bangladeshi administrative geography

Bangladesh is divided into 8 divisions (bibhag) and 64 districts, although these have only a limited role in public policy. For the purposes of local government, the country is divided into upazilas (sub-districts), "municipalities" or town councils (pourashova), city corporations and union councils . The diagram below outlines the five tiers of government in Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chittagonian language</span> Language spoken in parts of Bangladesh

Chittagonian or Chittagonian Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of the Chittagong Division in Bangladesh. Its speakers identify with Bengali culture and the Bengali language. Chittagonian and Standard Bengali are not inherently mutually intelligible, although it is considered as a nonstandard Bengali dialect. Chittagonian is considered to be a separate language by some linguists. It is mutually intelligible with Rohingya and to a lesser extent with Noakhailla. It is estimated (2006) that Chittagonian has 13 million speakers, principally in Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Bengal and Assam</span> Former province of India

Eastern Bengal and Assam was a province of India between 1905 and 1912. Headquartered in the city of Dacca, it covered territories in what are now Bangladesh, Northeast India and Northern West Bengal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengali dialects</span> Dialects of the Bengali language

The Bengali dialects or Bengali varieties 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.

The phonology of Bengali, like that of its neighbouring Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, is characterised by a wide variety of diphthongs and inherent back vowels.

The indigenous people of Bangladesh are ethnic minorities in Chittagong Hill Tracts (southeastern), Sylhet Division (northeastern), Rajshahi Division (west), and Mymensingh Division (north-central) areas of the country. They are indigenous and the tribal races, total population of ethnic minorities in Bangladesh was estimated to be over 2 million in 2010. They are diverse ethnic communities including Tibeto-Burman, Austric and Dravidian people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Bangladesh</span> Country in South Asia

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Bangladesh:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Bangla</span> A Bengali language service of the BBC World Service.

BBC Bangla is the Bengali language service of the BBC World Service, inaugurated in 1941 for Bengali audiences worldwide, especially the ones in the Bengal region, which includes the sovereign state of Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengali language</span> Indo-Aryan language in Bengal region

Bengali, also known by its endonym Bangla, is an Indo-Aryan language from the Indo-European language family native to the Bengal region of South Asia. With approximately 240 million native speakers and another 41 million as second language speakers as of 2021, Bengali is the sixth most spoken native language and the seventh most spoken language by the total number of speakers in the world. It is the fifth most spoken Indo-European language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangladeshis</span> Citizens of the country of Bangladesh

Bangladeshis are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Districts of Bangladesh</span> Second-level administrative divisions of Bangladesh

The divisions of Bangladesh are further divided into districts or zilas. The headquarters of a district is called the district seat. There are 64 districts in Bangladesh. The districts are further subdivided into 495 subdistricts or upazilas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylhetis</span> Indo-Aryan ethnocultural group

The Sylheti or Sylhetis are an Indo-Aryan ethnocultural group that are associated with the Sylhet region. There are strong diasporic communities in Barak Valley of Assam, India, North Tripura, as well as in rest of Bangladesh and northeast India. They speak Sylheti, an Eastern Indo-Aryan language that is considered "a distinct language by many and a dialect of Bengali by some others".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh</span> Provisional legislature of Bangladesh from 1971–3

The Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh was the constituent assembly of Bangladesh. It was the country's provisional parliament between 1971 and 1973. In 1972, it drafted and adopted the Constitution of Bangladesh. The assembly was dominated by the Awami League, with a minority being independent lawmakers.

Dobhashi is a neologism used to refer to a historical register of the Bengali language which borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It became the most customary form for composing puthi poetry predominantly using the traditional Bengali alphabet. However, Dobhashi literature has also been produced in the Sylhet Nagri script, as well as in the modified Arabic scripts of Chittagong and Nadia. The standardisation of the modern Bengali language during the colonial period, eventually led to its decline.

Noakhailla (নোয়াখাইল্লা), Noakhali Bengali also known by the demonym Noakhalian, is a dialect of Bengali, spoken by an estimated 7 million people, primarily in the Greater Noakhali region of Bangladesh as well as southern parts of Tripura in India. Outside of these regions, there are substantial numbers of Noakhailla speakers in other parts of Bangladesh; as well as diaspora communities in the Middle East, Italy, Europe and the United States.

References

  1. ↑ Mintu Deshwara, Pinaki Roy (21 February 2021). "The last of the Kharia speakers". The Daily Star . Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024. After our death, nobody will speak this language [Kharia]. I tried to teach the language to the younger people but they do not show interest and laugh at me when I speak in Kharia.
  2. ↑ Jengcham, Subhas (2012). "Bonaz". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN   984-32-0576-6. OCLC   52727562. OL   30677644M . Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  3. ↑ "Telugu people's permanent rehabilitation demanded". New Age . Dhaka. 17 February 2023. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  4. ↑ Shahabuddin, Mohammad (24 October 2021). ঢাকাইয়া সোব্বাসি ও তাদের ভাষা [Dhakaiya Sobbasi and their language]. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Vote for 'stranded Pakistanis'". BBC News. 6 May 2003. Archived from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "'Stranded Pakistanis' living in camps in Bangladesh – in pictures". The Guardian. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 http://www.bbs.gov.bd  › site › page Population-and-Housing-Census - বাংলাদেশ পরিসংখ্যান ব্যুরো
  8. ↑ "The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh". Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  9. ↑ Faquire, A.B.M. Razaul Karim (December 2010). "Language Situation in Bangladesh". The Dhaka University Studies. 67: 63–77.
  10. ↑ "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.
  11. ↑ "Bangladesh". Ethnologue. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  12. ↑ "ULAB introduces Bangla and Literature Department". Dhaka Tribune . 23 February 2023. Archived from the original on 23 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "'Language of Bangladesh, Culture". Bangladesh.com.
  14. ↑ "English medium education system in Bangladesh". The Daily Observer.
  15. ↑ "Bangla Rules in All Domains of National Life". Daily Sun . Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  16. ↑ Mawlana Nur Muhammad Azmi. "2.2 বঙ্গে এলমে হাদীছ" [2.2 Knowledge of Hadith in Bengal]. হাদীছের তত্ত্ব ও ইতিহাস[Information and history of Hadith] (in Bengali). Emdadia Library. p. 24.
  17. 1 2 ATM Muslehuddin (2012). "Arabic". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN   984-32-0576-6. OCLC   52727562. OL   30677644M . Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  18. ↑ "The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh". Laws of Bangladesh. Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  19. ↑ "Unesco recognises Bangabandhu's 7th March speech". The Daily Star . 31 October 2017.
  20. ↑ Sarah Anjum Bari (12 April 2019). "A Tale of Two Languages: How the Persian language seeped into Bengali". The Daily Star (Bangladesh) .
  21. ↑ Abu Musa Mohammad Arif Billah (2012). "Persian". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN   984-32-0576-6. OCLC   52727562. OL   30677644M . Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  22. ↑ Sakurai, Keiko (7 March 2011). The Moral Economy of the Madrasa: Islam and Education Today. Taylor & Francis. p. 74.

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