Chittagonian language

Chittagonian
Chittagonian Bengali
চাটগাঁইয়া
চিটাইঙ্গা
The word "Saṭgãia" in the Bengali-Assamese script
Pronunciation[saŋʈgaiyaŋ]
[siʈaiŋga]
Native toBangladesh
RegionChittagong region
EthnicityBengali
Native speakers
13 million (2006)
to 16 million (2007)
Indo-European
Language codes
ISO 639-3ctg
Glottologchit1275
Linguasphere73-DEE-aa
Distribution of Chittagonian Language
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Chittagonian (চাটগাঁইয়া saṭgãia or চিটাইঙ্গা siṭaiṅga) or Chittagonian Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of the Greater Chittagong in Bangladesh. Chittagonian is not inherently intelligible to other varieties of Bengali, although it is variously considered as a nonstandard Bengali dialect. However, Chittagonian speakers can understand other regional Bengali dialects very well. Chittagonian is also considered to be a separate language by some linguists. While Chittagonian is linguistically distinct, its speakers identify with Bengali culture and the Standard Bengali language. It is broadly mutually intelligible with the Rohingya language and with a lesser extent to Noakhali and Chakma. It is estimated (2006) that Chittagonian has 13 million speakers, principally in Bangladesh.

Classification

Chittagonian is a member of the Bengali-Assamese sub-branch of the Eastern group of Indo-Aryan languages, a branch of the wider Indo-European language family. It is derived through an Eastern Middle Indo-Aryan from Old Indo-Aryan, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European. Grierson (1903) grouped the dialects of Chittagong under Southeastern Bengali, alongside the dialects of Noakhali and Akyab. Chatterji (1926) places Chittagonian in the eastern Vangiya group of Magadhi Prakrit and notes that all Bengali dialects were independent of each other and did not emanate from the literary Bengali called "sadhu bhasha". Among the different dialect groups of these eastern dialects, Chittagonian has phonetic and morphological properties that are not present in standard Bengali and other western dialects of Bengali.

Phonology

Shah Mohammad Tayeb share his travel story in America, in Chittagonian.
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Consonants

Labial Dental/
Alveolar		 Retroflex Palatal Velar
Stop voiceless p t̪ ʈ k
voiced b d̪ ɖ ɡ
Fricative voiceless f~ɸ s ʃ x
voiced z ɣ
Nasal m n ŋ
Trill/Tap ɾ~r
Approximant lateral l
central (w) j

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i u
High-mid e o
Low-mid (ɛ) ɔ
Low æ a

Writing system

The Bengali script (Bangla Lipi) and Latin script are used to write this language.

Gboard for Android has added a Chittagongian Keyboard.

Sample text

The following text is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written in Chittagonian:

Bengali Script

বিয়াক মানুশ ইজ্‌জত এদ‌্দে অ়কর ই়শাবে আজাদ আর উ়য়াইন্‌না অ়ইয়েরে ফ়য়দা অ়য়। ই়তারাত্‌তু আহল এদ্‌দে বিবেক আছে ; এতল্‌লায় এজ্‌জন আরেজ্‌জনর উ়য়ারে ভাইয়ুর নান বেভার গরন দরহার।

Romanisation

Biyak manuś ijjôt edde ókôr íśabe ajad ar úyainnaa óiyere fôyda óy. Ítarattu ahôl edde bibek ase; etôllay ejjôn arejjônôr úyare bhaiyur nan bebhar gôrôn dôrhar.

English

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. 1 2 Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir, eds. (2012). "Chittagong City". 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 25 October 2026.
  2. 1 2 চট্টগ্রামের আঞ্চলিক স্বকীয়তা. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 20 April 2021. Archived from the original on 31 July 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  3. 1 2 Masica, Colin (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 25.
  4. ↑ Gordon Jr., Raymond G. (2005), Ethnologue: Languages of the World (15th edition), Dallas, Texas: SIL International, ISBN 978-1-55671-159-6, archived from the original on 24 February 2007
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Chittagonian at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  6. ↑ Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007
  7. 1 2 "Chittagonian language and alphabet". Archived from the original on 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  8. ↑ "Bengali (Chittagong) at wals".
  9. ↑ "Olac resources in and about Chittagonian".
  10. ↑ Munier Chowdhury (1960). "The language problem in East Pakistan". In Ferguson, Charles A.; Gumperz, John J. (eds.). Linguistic Diversity in South Asia: Studies in Regional, Social and Functional Variation. Bloomington: Indiana University Research Center in Anthropology, Folklore, and Linguistics. pp. 64–78.
  11. ↑ Masica, Colin (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 16. "The dialect of Chittagong, in southeast Bangladesh, is different enough to be considered a separate language."
  12. ↑ "Dialects are independent of literary speech: as such East Bengali dialects, North Bengali dialects (with which Assamese is to be associated) and West Bengali dialects are not only independent of one another, but also they are not, as it is popularly believed in Bengal, derived from literary Bengali, the "sadhu-bhasha", which is a composite speech on an early West Bengali basis."(Chatterji 1926:108)
  13. ↑ Chatterji (1926), p. 138.
  14. ↑ Norihiko, Učida (1970). Der Bengali-dialekt von Chittagong. p. 8.
  15. ↑ Hai, Muhammad A. (1965). "A study of Chittagong dialect". In Dil, Anwar S. (ed.). Studies in Pakistani Linguistics. Lahore: Linguistic Research Group of Pakistan. pp. 17–38.
  16. ↑ Moniruzzaman, M. (2007). "Dialect of Chittagong". In Morshed, A. K. M. (ed.). Language and Literature. Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  17. ↑ "Gboard for Android Adds Support for Over 20 New Languages". NDTV Gadgets 360. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  18. ↑ "Chittagonian Alphabet and Language". Omniglot.com. Retrieved 17 February 2026.