Bengali dialects

Suniti Kumar Chatterji and Sukumar Sen classified Bengali dialects in five classes by their phonology and pronunciation. They are:[3]

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 and the Nadia district), 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 and Southern Rangpur 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 dialect is spoken in Rangpur Division of Bangladesh and Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, India and its nearby Bengali speaking areas in the bordering areas of Assam and Bihar.

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.

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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 :[5][6]

1. Shadhubhasha (সাধুভাষা) is the written language with longer verb inflections and a more Sanskrit-derived (তৎসম tôtshôm) vocabulary (সাধু shadhu = 'chaste' or 'sage'; ভাষা bhasha = 'language'). Songs such as India's national anthem Jana Gana Mana (by Rabindranath Tagore) and national song Vande Mātaram (by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) were composed in Shadhubhasha, but its use is on the wane in modern writing.
2. Choltibhasha (চলতিভাষা ) or Cholitobhasha (চলিতভাষা), a written Bengali style that reflects a more colloquial idiom, is increasingly the standard for written Bengali (চলিত 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),[7] 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 referred to as the "Kushtia standard"(Bangladesh) or "Nadia dialect" (West Bengal).[8]

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 (আঞ্চলিক বাংলা) (i.e. 'regional Bengali'). The majority of Bengalis are able to communicate in more than one dialect – often, speakers are fluent in Choltibhasha, one or more Ancholik dialect, and one or more forms of Gramyo Bangla (গ্রাম্য বাংলা) (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 Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah, 24 Parganas and Nadia. 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.

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, Sātagāiyã' (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 Western dialects

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 æ can be found word terminally.

Malda Bhasha : æk zôn mansher duikhona sawal asil (P)

Balurgata: æk zôn mansher duikhona bæt̹a/sawal silo (P)

Raiganji : æk zôn mansher duikhona bæt̹a/sawal asilo. (P)

Murshidabadi : æk zôn mansher duikhona bæt̹a asil (P)

Rajshahi : æk zon mainsher duida sawal asilo (P)

Nawabganj : æk zon mainsher duikhona sol silo (P)

Chapai : æk zon mainser duikona sol asilo (P)

Pabna : æk zon manser duida sawal silo (P)

Bogra : æk zon mainser duida bæt̹a asil (P)

Natori : æk zon mainsher dui sawal asil (P)

Naogaoni : æk zon mainsher dui sawal silo (P)

Joypurhatri : æk zon mainser duikon sawal asil(P)

Sirajganji : æk zon mainser dui sawal silo(P)

Western dialects

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.

Kolkata: Ek loker duto chele chilo

Howrah: Ek bektir duti chele chilo

Uttar Gram: Ek koner duito chele chilo

Dakhin Gram: Ek loker duito putro chilo

Nadia: Ekta bektir duti chele chilogo

East Midnapore: Ekta bektiror duita chele chilo

West Midnapore: Ekti bektiror duti chele chilga

Jhargram: Ekta bektiror duiti chele chilga

Bankura: Meh ek bektirar duti chele chilgo

Purulia: Muje ek bektir duti chele chilaga

Hoogli: Ekjon loker duti chele chilo

Asansol: Ekti konsoror duti chele asilo

Durgapur: Ekti konsoror duiti chele silo

Burdwan: Et ti konsor duita chele asilo

Birbhum: Ekta konor duita chele achilo

Kazi Basha: Ektsa konoror duita sele asilo

Rabindranath Basha: Ekta loker duito putro chilo

Eastern dialects

Manikganj: æk zoner duiđi saoal asilo. (য়্যাক জনের দুইডী ছাওয়াল আছিলো) (P)

Mymensingha: æk zôner dui put asil. (এক জনের দুই পুৎ আছিল) (P)

Netrakonori: æk zonor du fut asilo

Jamalpuri: æk zongor dui futro asilo be

Sherpuri: æk zongro dui futro asilo

Kishoreganj: æk zongir duida futro asilo

Tangali: æk zongri duido fut asil

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: æk zôner duiđa pola asilo. (P)

Sunderbani Dialects

Khulna: æk zon manshir dui soal silo. (P)

Bagerhat: æk zon manshir dui saoal silo. (P)

Satkhira: æk zon mansher dui sawal asilo

Narail: æk zonor dutri sawal asil

Jessore: æk zonor duiti saoal asil

Magura: æk zonor duiti saoal asilo

Jhenaidah: æk zongor duitia saloa asil

Chuadanga: æk zonger dutia soloa asilo

Meherpur: æk zongor dui sawal silo

Kushtia: æk zongor dui sawal asilo

Faridpur: Ada zoner du sele silo

Rajbari: Ada zonor dui chele chilo

Gopalganj: Ada zontor duiti sele asilo

Shariatpur: Aka zonor dui chele achil

Madaripur: Aikta zonor duti chele asil

Barisal: æk zon manusor duti sele silo

Barguna: æk zon manusor duti sele asilo

Bhola: æk zon manusor duti sele asil

Patuakhali: æk zon mansor duti sele silo

Jhalokati: æk zon manusor duti sele asilo

Pirojpur: æk zon manusor duti sele asil

(Rajbanshi dialects)

Jalpaiguri: æk jhônkar dui jhon bæţa achhil. (P)

Alipurdua(ri/rahi): æk jhona mansir dui khona beta achhil. (P)

Cooch Behar: æk jôna mansir dui kona bæţa achhil. (P)

Darjeeling: æk jhônkar duiţa bæţa achhilo. (P)

Kurseong: æk zônkar duita bæţa asil (P)

Kalimpong: æk zonkar duita beta achhil . (P)

Siliguri: æk jhônkar duiţa beta chhilo. (P)

Rangfuri: æk zon mansher duida cuka chilo(P)

Nilfamari: ækzon mainsher duida cuka silo (P)

Saidpuri: ækzon mainsher duida cuka asilo (P)

Dinajpuri: æk zon mansher dui cuka chill (P)

Thakurgaoni: æk zon mainser duida cuka chill (P)

Gaibandhi: æk zon mainzer duikon cuka chilo (P)

Kurigrami: æk zon mainzer duikona cuka chilogo (P)

Lalmonirhati: æk zon mainzer dui cuka chiloga (P)

Panchagar(hi/rahi): æk zon mansher dui cuka chiloga (P)

similiar dialects

This dialect is spoken in the area which is known as Manbhum.

Hajong: ogu duizon xontan xongon. (M)

Sylheti: ogu duixon xontan xilo. (M)

Manipuri: ogu duixon xontan xilogo. (M)

Comilla/Tripuri: hirior duixon hontan hilgo. (M)

Noakhalia: hirior duixon xontan hilgo. (M)

Chakma: gomfonor duixon xontan hilgo. (M)

Chittagonian(Chatgaiya): gomphonor duihon hontan ahilo. (M)

Rohingya/Arakan: gomphonor duihon beţa ahil. (M)

Assamese: oguror duixon xontan xiloga. (M)

Tribal Bangla: Oi manusor dui kon sele asilo. (M)

Gramer Bhasa: ata zonor dui sele asil. (M)

Bihari/Jharkhandi Dialects: Ek Beta meh dui bachan her shate taksen dira hai. (M)

Oriya: Atu jhoner dui beta hiron takson diya. (M)

Sambalpuri: Hatu jhoner dui kon beta hirono takson diya. (M)

Tharu: Atu jhon takso diya dui beta hiron. (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 Jaintia and the Mizo.

• Bengali vocabulary
• Bengali phonology
• Arabic dialects
• Punjabi dialects
• Hindi dialects
• English dialects

• Ahsan, Syed Ali (2000), বাংলা একাডেমী বাংলাদেশের আঞ্চলিক ভাষার অভিধান, Bangla Academy, Dhaka, ISBN 984-07-4038-5
• Haldar, Gopal (2000), Languages of India, National Book Trust, India, ISBN 81-237-2936-7
• Khan, Sameer Ud Dowla (21 February 2018). "Amago Bhasha: In celebration of our ethnic and linguistic diversity". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 19 October 2020.

• Book – Bengali and Other Related Dialects of South Assam