Bengali language

Bengali language (also known as Bangla) is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Bengalis in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, presently divided between Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, and Assam's Barak Valley. It is the official and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken of the 22 scheduled languages of India, behind Hindi.

History

The history of the Bengali language can be divided into three periods – Old Bengali (950–1350 CE), Middle Bengali (1350–1800 CE) and Modern Bengali (1800 CE to the present day). Old Bengali is the earliest form of the language during the early and middle periods of the Bengali calendar. Middle Bengali is characterized by the emergence of the present Indic script. Modern Bengali has two literary styles: one is called "Sadhubhasa" (elegant language) and the other "Choltibhasa" (current language).

Dialects

Bengali dialects form a continuum between Bengali and other closely related languages. There are four large dialect groups: Radha, Varendra, Kamrupa and Bangla, with several local subgroups.

Phonology

The phonology of Bengali includes both the use of phonemes, which are the smallest units of sound, and phonetics, which is the study of sound itself. Bengali has a fairly typical set of phonemes for an Indo-Aryan language, with a six-vowel system and a number of consonants.

Grammar

Bengali grammar is the study of the morphology and syntax of Bengali, an Indo-European language spoken in the region of Bengal. Bengali has a rich system of inflectional morphology, involving case, tense, aspect, mood, and comparison.

Writing system

The Bengali script, an abugida, is used to write Bengali. It is a cursive script with eleven graphemes or signs denoting nine vowels and two diphthongs, and thirty-nine graphemes representing consonants and other modifiers.

Literature

Bengali literature, with its millennium-old history and folk heritage, has extensively developed since the Bengali renaissance and is one of the most prominent and diverse literary traditions in Asia.

See also

• Bengali literature
• Bengali script
• Bengali phonology
• Bengali grammar
• Bengali dialects

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