The Indo-European language-family is considered to be the largest in the world. This language-family flourished in vast regions of Europe and some regions of Asia including Persia and India since the ancient era. Its original place of birth extended from the mouth of the Danube River near the Black Sea to the coastal regions of Caspian Sea. Later, when the speakers of this language-family gradually spread to the western terrains of Europe, a group from the family first travelled to Persia and then entered the Indian subcontinent via the north-western borders of present-day Pakistan. This group of people initially inhabited the northern areas of the Indian subcontinent, but later spread to other regions when the population expanded.
During their stay in northern India, the nomadic Indo-European people or Aryans clashed with the non-Aryan population of the area. The latter moved to southern India after being defeated by the former. Before the arrival of the Aryans, a civilisation of the non-Aryans had flourished on the eastern bank of the Indus River Valley at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Their civilisation could even be compared to those flourishing at Mesopotamia and the valley of river Nile in the Middle-east. The non-Aryan civilisation had prospered before 2,500 BC. Apart from the Dravidians living in present-day India, many ethnic minorities of Bangladesh like the Santals and Mundas also belonged to this race. On the other hand, the Aryan people could establish their dominance over other local inhabitants in Europe as well.
As people belonging to the Indo-European language-family or the Aryans became detached from the European continent after entering Persia and India, their language underwent changes and assumed a regional character. Despite this transformation, phonetic resemblances are still observed between the two. The Indo-European languages, in turn, are divided into two main branches called 'Kmtom' or 'Centum' and 'Satem'. The former gave rise to Greek or Hellenic, Celtic, Italic, and Germanic languages, while the latter gave birth to Balto-Slavic, Armenian, Anatolian, and Indo-Iranian languages. The Indo-Iranian sub-group in turn gave birth to the Iranian and Indian sub-branches. The Ancient Farsi and Abesta were born from ancient Iranian sub-branch, while the Modern Farsi was derived from its ancient variant. On the other hand, the Indian language sub-branch gave rise to the Vedic Sanskrit (subsequently Classical Sanskrit) and the Prakrita languages. And lastly, Bangla, Hindi, Assamese, Gujarati, Marathi, and Punjabi were born from the latter.
The Aryan language underwent evolution in India in three stages. These were: Ancient Indo-Aryan (1,200 to 400 BC); Middle Indo-Aryan language (400 BC to 650 CE); and the New Indo-Aryan (600 CE - ). From the Ancient Indo-Aryan stage, the Sanskrit gradually became a dead language and ultimately became confined to its written form only. At this juncture, the ancient Prakrita language (1200 to 500 BC) gave birth to its spoken and literary variants of Maharashtri, Shauraseni, Magadhi, and Paishachi. The modern Indian languages including Bangla evolved from these dialects during the last stage of the Middle Indo-Aryan era.
The subcontinental linguists generally hold two differing opinions regarding the emergence of Bangla. One group holds the view that Bangla was born from the Magadhi Prakrita (Suniti Kumar Chatterjiet al); on the other hand, another group (Muhammad Shahidullah et al) opined that Bangla evolved from the Gauda Prakrita dialect. The duration of the Ancient Bangla language was from 650 to 1200 CE; the Middle Bangla era lasted from 1200 to 1800 CE; and the Modern Bangla has been in vogue since 1800 CE.
Since its emergence, three styles have been observed in Modern Bangla: 'Sadhu' (formal), 'Chalita' (informal or colloquial), and 'Anchalik' (regional dialects). The main differences between these styles are centred on the use of verbs, pronouns, and word-roots, which are usually shrunk in case of the colloquial version.Although the 'Promita' or standard Bangla was originally based on the colloquial Bangla of Krishnanagar under Nadia district, marked differences later emerged between those followed in West Bengal and Bangladesh with regard to pronunciation and application of word-roots.
According to the book 'Origin and Development of Bengali Language' (1975) by Suniti Kumar Chatterji, the Bangla regional dialects are basically of four types: Rarhi, Varendri, Kamrup and Vanga. Vanga and Varendri accounted for most of the dialects used in Bangladesh, while the Rarhi and Kamrup covered the dialects existing in West Bengal. On the other hand, Muhammad Shahidullah divided Bangla regional dialects into two main categories: Paschatya and Prachya. Later, Paresh Chandra Majumdar made a more detailed classification by broadly following the typology of Shahidullah. These were as follows:
Paschatya Branch (Gaudya):
a. Rarhi: Kolkata, Howrah, 24-Parganas, Hooghly, Medinipur, Tamluk, Ghatal, Purbo Birbhum, PurboBardhaman, Paschim Nadia, Kushtia, Murshidabad, Santal Pargana, Bankura, Manbhum, Singbhum, Uttar Medinipur, Paschim Birbhum, and Paschim Bardhaman.
b. Jharkhandi: Dakshin-Paschim Medinipur, Dhalbhum, and Manbhum.
c. Varendri: Malda, Dakshin Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Bogura, and Pabna.
d. Paschim Kamrupi: Rangpur, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Purbo Purnia, Dakshin Darjeeling, Paschim Goalpara, and Dinajpur.
e. Madhyapuri: Jashore, Khulna, Faridpur.
Prachya Branch (Vangya):
a. Purbodeshi: Noakhali, Hajong, Purbo Sylhet, Tripura, Kachhar, Monipuri (Vishnupriya).
b. Dakshin-Purbi: Hajong (Mymensingh).
c. Dakshin-Paschim: Paschim Sylhet, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Barishal, Cumilla, Bakerganj, and Sandwip.
Besides, the dialects of Bangladesh can also be categorised in the following way:
a. Uttar Vanga: Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Bogura, and Pabna regions.
b. Rajbangshi: Rangpur region.
c. Purbo Vanga: Dhaka, Mymensingh, Tripura, Barishal, and Sylhet; Faridpur, Jashore, and Khulna.
Among the regional dialects of Bangladesh, those spoken in Rangpur and Chattogram demonstrate maximum variations. Historical reasons are at work here. Many non-Bengali word-roots entered the dialect of Rangpur as it had settlement and commercial ties with the neighbouring non-Bengali regions much before the arrival of the British colonisers. For a similar reason, the influences of the Arakani people, the Arab traders, and the Portuguese raiders can be observed in the dialects of greater Chattogram region.
[Reference: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (2007): Cultural Survey of Bangladesh, Volume 6 (Language and Literature), Editor: Abul Kalam Manzur Morshed, Chief Editor: Sirajul Islam.]
Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed is a former Editor of Bangladesh Quarterly. hahmed1960@gmail.com
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