Draft:Dialects of Bangla 1

Dialects of Bengali

Bengali language is prominent across the regions of Bangladesh and West Bengal and in adjoining villages of Jharkhand and Odisha. Sylheti, Bishnupuriya Manipuri, Surjapuri, Chakma, Chittagonian and several other languages will not be included in this page as they differ significantly from Bengali and many linguists often consider them as separate languages while some consider them as dialects of Bengali due to the similarities. Despite their independence, they were once all categorised into one language during the British reign in India. Bengali also shares many similarities with Assamese, Odia, Sambalpuri, Maithili, Magahi, Bhojpur and Brajabuli. The 1913 Nobel laureate Rabindranath Thakur contributed significantly to the improvement of Bengali literature and he is not just respected among all Bengalis but Kazi Nazrul Islam regarded him as the World poet. Bengali language is over 1,500 years old but the history of its culture traces back over 4,000 years back in the past. There are also different forms of Bengali language such as Sadhu Basha, Cholti Basha, Ancholik Basha, etc. but this article is primarily based on the dialects of Bengali, not the forms of the language. Bengali is broken up into 10 regional dialects group and this page will explain each dialect group and each Bengali district has their own accent. Note that this page only includes the major dialects of Bengali and Bengali language changes every 3–5 km and almost every village speaks their own dialect.

Rarhi

Rarhi is broken up into two variants, the one spoken in Presidency division and the one that is spoken in the Bordhomann-Deoghar region:

(1) Kolkata Bangla

This is the variant spoken in Presidency division and this dialect is the most standard and formalised use of Bengali language and much of Bengali poetry and Bengali literature is all written and used in this dialect of Bengali, the Bengali media in India is based on this dialect and all the Indian Bengali movies get filmed with actors speaking in this dialect and musicians singing in this dialect, it is further divided into more standard Kolkata city Bangla which differs from Pujali in the Southern part of the city to Kalyani in the northern part of the city, the dialect spoken in Howrah district which is almost the same as Kolkata City Dialect, the Bengali dialect spoken in Hooghly District, the dialects of RURAL South and North 24 Paraganas which use influences from the neighbouring Sunderbani(Khulnaiya) dialect of Bengali but is mostly based on Kolkata Bangla but more of an Ancholik(colloquial) dialect, the Bengali dialect spoken in Nadia district which is the most differing sub dialect within this broader dialect group of Kolkata Rarhi. This dialect can also be known as the Bengali spoken in Presidency Division, WB, India. 1913 Nobel laureate Rabindranath Thakur was born in Kolkata, where this dialect is predominantly spoken.

(2) Rarhi(Burdwan-Deoghar Bangla)

This dialect of Bengali uses some influences from Hindi and neighbouring languages such as Santali, Maithili, Oriya, Sambalpuri, Magadhi and Bhojpuri in the accent of their dialect but is based on pure Bengali, closely related to the Rarhi spoken in Presidency division. This dialect is further divided into the sub dialects of the pure form of colloquial Rarhi spoken in Burdwan(Purba Burdwan district), the Rarhi spoken in Durgapur area, the Rarhi spoken in Asansol area, the Rarhi spoken in Birbhum district which uses influences from local languages, the Rarhi spoken in Murshidabad which uses influences from dialect groups and sub dialects spoken in neighbouring Bangladesh, and the Rarhi accent spoken in Deoghar is quite different from most other dialects of Bengali. Kazi Nazrul Islam was born in Burdwan district where they speak this dialect.

Manbhumi

spoken in Manbhumi(Medinipur-Mayurbhanj Bangla)

Some locals may call this dialect Surjapuriya Kohola/Kolloha. It is also known as Midnapori Oriya by some which means that this dialect is heavily influences by Oriya language making is distinct from other dialects spoken in Suddho Bangla speaking West Bengal. Many Manbhumi speaking people want to separate their region from West Bengal because they have a distinct culture and dialect that differs significantly from other Bengali dialects spoken in West Bengal and that it is heavily influenced by Oriya vocabulary. Manbhumi can be either written in Bengali, Oriya or Devanagari interchangeably. Many individuals in this region are literate in 5 languages namely Manbhumi as a first language, Bengali as a second, Oriya as a third, Hindi as a fourth and English as a fifth and there are many tribal languages spoken in this region. This dialect group is further divided into the Manbhumi dialect of Medinipur town, Kharagpur Manbhumi, Contai basha, Ghatal basha, Tamluk-Nandigram area basha which is also heavily influenced by Urdu in their accent due to the significant Islamic population but primarily based on a pure form of Manbhumi language which is heavily influenced by Oriya, the Manbhumi spoken in Jhargram district, Mayurbhanj Manbhumi, Purulia Manbhumi, Bishnupur Manbhumi, Haldia Manbhumi and Bankura Manbhumi which is the closest sub dialect of Manbhumi to the Rarhi dialects. Manbhumi may also be spoken in adjacent villages of the Burdwan division and parts of Jharkhand but the numbers are very small.

Sunderbani

This dialect of Bengali is the Bengali spoken in Khulna division, Bangladesh and maybe in adjoining villages of Presidency division, West Bengal, India. This dialect is the pure form of Ancholik Bangla and many Bengali folktales and folk songs and stories and much of Bengali mythology are based on this dialect which is spoken in the region of Khulna, Bangladesh. This dialect shares many similarities with the Chandradwipi dialects spoken in Barisal and Padma divisions. This dialect is also heavily influenced by the dialects of West Bengal. This dialect is further divided into Satagaia spoken in Shatkhira town and it's surroundings and adjoining villages in South 24 Parganas district, Bagerhati spoken in Bagerhat town area, Sundorboni spoken in the southern regions of Khulna, Bagerhat, Shatkhira and South 24 Parganas district, Khulnaiya spoken in Khulna city area, Jessori, Naraili Sunderbani spoken in Narail district, the sub-dialect of Magura district, the sub-dialect of Jhenaidah district, the sub-dialect of Chuadanga district, the sub-dialect spoken in Meherpur district and the dialect of Kustia district which differs the most in this dialect group.

Chandradwipi

This dialect group is divided into two variants: ==Barisali== and Padma boli(Faridpuri) respectively

(1) Barisali

This dialect is very similar to the Sunderbani dialect and the Bengali film industry of Bangladesh produces many films solely based on this dialect to impress the population of Barisal division. This dialect is broken into 10 subdialects. These subdialects include the Barisali spoken in Barisal city area, Bakerganj/Southern Barisali district Barisali, Kalapara Barisali, Rangabali Barisali, Bhola Barisali, Monpura Barisali, Patuakhali Barisali, Jhalokati Barisali, Barguna Barisali and Pirojpur Barisali.

(2) Faridpuri

This dialect is also known as Padma division Bangla or Faridpuri. This dialect is based on the Chandradwipi spoken in Padma division and shares many similarities with the Sunderbani dialect group but this dialect is heavily influenced by Dhakaiya. The subdialects of this dialect include Rajbari, Faridpuri, Shariatpur, Madaripur and Gopalganj Faridpuri.

Dhakaiya

Dhakaiya is broken up into two variants: Dhakaiya and Mymensingha respectively

(1) Dhakaiya

This accent is spoken in the urban areas of Dhaka in Bangladesh which includes the districts of Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Manikganj and Narsingdi and it is the most pure form of Bengali spoken in Bangladesh, it is heavily influenced by Urdu, Kolkata Bangla and does have influences from neighbouring languages such as Sylheti, Comilla Boli, Tripura Bangla, Noakhali, Chittagonian, Assamese and the Mymensingha Bengali dialects of Mymensingha(standard) and Tangaila. The Bengali film industry of Bangladesh Dhallywood is solely based on this dialect. Dhakaiya is further divided into several accents. These accents include Kutti Dhakaiya(used to be spoken all over the city of Dhaka but still spoken in the Old Dhaka area), formal Dhakaiya City Accent(spoken in other parts of Dhaka), Gazipuri, Tongi(a mixture of Dhaka City and Gazipuri accents), Narayanganji, Panam Nagri(spoken in Panam Nagar), Munshiganji, Manikganji, Savar Dhakaiya(spoken in Savar Union), and Narsingdi Dhakaiya spoken in Narsingdi district.

(2) Mymensingha

This is a variant of Dhakaiya spoken in the Mymensingh division of Bangladesh and maybe in parts of Assam and Meghalaya. People that speak this dialect refer to their dialect as Mymensingha. This dialect is also spoken in the Tangail and Kishoreganj districts of Bangladesh. Mymensingha is further divided into several sub-dialects. These dialects include Mymensingha spoken in Mymensingh district, Sherpuri, Jamalpuri, Netrakona Mymensingha, Kishoreganji, Tangaila spoken in Tangail district and the Tangaila spoken in Meghalaya and Assam. Sukumar Ray’s family hailed from the Kishoreganj district of Mymensingh division which speaks this dialect.

Varendri

This dialect of Bengali is spoken with a very high pitch tone. Varendri is spoken in the Rajshahi division of Bangladesh and in the Malda district of West Bengal and Varendris refer to their regional dialect as Barendri and to their region as Samatata, Varendri also shares many similarities with neighbouring dialects such as Rangpuri(Bahe Bangla) and Kamtapuri(which is often considered a separate language). This dialect is further divided into a dozen subdialects. Namely Rajshahi(City) standard dialect, Natore Varendri, Pabna Varendri, Bogura Varendri, Sirajganj Varendri, Naogaon Varendri, Joypurhat Varendri which has its own unique pronunciation which differs it from other Varendri sub-dialects. Rajshahi District(Rural) Varendri and Rajshahi(Old City) Dialect are not used anymore, Chapai Nawabganj Varendri is one of the most unique accents within this dialect-group. Malda(English Bazar/Urban) Dialect and Maldiyah(Rural) Dialect also differ significantly from the Varendri accents spoken in the Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh.

Rangpuri

Rangpuri is spoken in the Rangpur division of Bangladesh and in the Dinajpuri districts of West Bengal, India. This dialect is also known as Bahe Bangla but locals refer to their language as Rongfuri, it has distinct characteristics that set it apart from standard Bengali language. This dialect shares some similarities with neighbouring languages such as the Kamta languages of Surjapuri, Goalpariya, Koch and Rajbanshi as well as Assamese, Sylheti, Nepali, Hindi, Maithili, Santali, Bengali, Oriya and local tribal languages such as Mal Paharia which is also closely related to Bengali especially the Northern dialects in vocabulary, phonetics and grammar. This dialect uses the Bengali script but the way they pronounce the alphabet is completely different to how Bengali speakers in more standardised Bengali speaking areas in West Bengal and Bangladesh pronounce them. This dialect is further divided into 15 subdialects, namely Standard Bahe Bangla spoken in Rangpur district, Tajpuriya, Nilfamari, Saidpur, Panchagarh, Lalmonirhati spoken in Bangladesh, Lalmonirhati spoken in Assam, Kurigram basha spoken in Bangladesh, Kurigram basha spoken in Assam, Gaibandha basha spoken in Bangladesh, Gaibandha basha spoken in Assam, Thakurgaon, Dinajpuriya spoken in Dinajpur district in Bangladesh, Balurghat and Raiganj.