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Bengali Language

Bengali dialects, Bengali alphabet, Bengali language standardization, Bengali language history, and Bengali language sources

Bengali language

Bengali: The vast majority of the people of Bangladesh speak Bengali (called Bangla in Bengal). Bengali is spoken in West Bengal of India. West Bengal is one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse states of India.

Number of Bengali Speakers: Over 210 million in the world, 100 million in Bangladesh.

Bengali Speakers: In addition to Bangladesh, Bengali is spoken in India, Nepal, Singapore, Malawi, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE). The traditional area of habitation of Bengali peoples is called Bengal in English and Bongo in Bengali.

Language Classification: Bengali belongs to the easternmost branch, called Aryan or Indo-Iranian, of the Indo-European family of languages.

Bengali Dialects: About six major dialects. In Bangla, sadhu bhaasha (language of Sages) and Cholti Bhaashaa (colloquial language).

 Bengali Alphabet: The Bengali script is a cursive script having 12 vowels and 52 consonants.

Bengali Language History: Bengali has two literary styles: Sadhubhasa, an elegant language based on Middle Bengali of the sixteenth century. Chaltibhasa, the current dialect spoken in Calcutta.

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Bengali Orthography: The Bengali script originated from Brahmi alphabet of the Asokan inscriptions. The spelling system is based on an older version on the language. Some vowel merges were introduced in the spoken language which does not have a completely phonemic orthography

Bengali Language Enriched by: Indian languages. Rabindranath Tagore is a Nobel laureate and also known by many as the Shakespeare of India.

Bengali Standardization Efforts: The Bengali alphabet goes back to 1778. Charles Wilkins introduced the first printing. New forms replaced the archaic forms in the mid-19th century.

Unique Features of Bengali: The language played an important role in the independence activities of Bangladeshis. This represented a resistance to Urdu language spoken in Pakistan. Intensive movement in 1950-52 turned into a Language Movement. February 21st is celebrated as the Language Martyrs' Day.

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