Chittagonian language

Chittagonian (চাটগাঁইয়া saṭgãia or চিটাইঙ্গা siṭaiṅga)^[1][2] or Chittagonian Bengali^[8][9] is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of the Chittagong Division in Bangladesh.^[5] Chittagonian and Standard Bengali are not inherently mutually intelligible, although it is considered by some as a nonstandard Bengali dialect.^[5] Chittagonian is also considered to be a separate language by some linguists.^[10] While Chittagonian is linguistically distinct, its speakers identify with Bengali culture and the Bengali language.^[3] It is mutually intelligible with the Rohingya language, Chakma language and with a lesser extent to Noakhailla. It is estimated (2006) that Chittagonian has 13 million speakers, principally in Bangladesh.^[5]

Chittagonian
Chittagonian Bengali
চাটগাঁইয়া[1] চিটাইঙ্গা[2]
Pronunciation	[saŋʈgaiyaŋ] [siʈaiŋga]
Native to	Bangladesh
Region	Chittagong region
Ethnicity	Bengali[3][4]
Native speakers	13 million (2006)[5] to 16 million (2007)[6]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Bengali–Assamese Gauda–Bangla Southeastern Bengali Chittagonian
Writing system	Bengali–Assamese script (Bengali alphabet) Arabic[7] Latin[7]
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ctg
Linguist List	ctg
Glottolog	chit1275
Linguasphere	73-DEE-aa
Map   Chittagonian Language speaking area
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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.^[5] 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".^[11] 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.^[12]

Phonology

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

• Approximants [w j] are only heard as allophones of vowels /i u/.^[13]
• /ʃ/ can have an allophone of [ç].
• /f/ can have a bilabial allophone of [ɸ] .^[14]

Vowels

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

• Nasalization occurs for seven vowels /ĩ ẽ æ̃ ã ɔ̃ õ ũ/.
• [ɛ] is heard as an allophone of /æ/.^[15]

Writing system

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

Gboard for Android has added a Chittagongian Keyboard.^[16]

See also

• Chittagong
• Rohingya language
• Chittagong Division
• Chittagong Hill Tracts

Bibliography

• Chatterji, Suniti Kumar (1926). The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language. Calcutta University Press.
• Grierson, G A, ed. (1903). Linguistic Survey of India: Indo-Aryan Family Eastern Group. Vol. V. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.