North Central Bengali or Varendrī () is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

of the

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken o ...

, spoken in the

Varendra Varendra ( bn, বরেন্দ্র), also known as Barind ( bn, বারিন্দ, link=no), was a region of North Bengal, now mostly in Bangladesh and a little portion in the Indian state of West Bengal. It formed part of the Pundrav ...

region (primarily consisting of the

Rajshahi Division Rajshahi Division ( bn, রাজশাহী বিভাগ) is one of the eight first-level administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It has an area of and a population at the 2011 Census of 18,484,858. Rajshahi Division consists of 8 district ...

in Bangladesh and the Malda division in India). Varendri dialect was classified by many renowned Indian linguists like Suniti Kumar Chatterji , Sukumar Sen and others. It is also spoken in adjoining villages in neighbouring

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

. Varendri dialect is tonal, and its vocabulary and phonology have a great deal of influence from Maithili and other

Bihari languages Bihari is a group of the Indo-Aryan languages. The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and also in Nepal.Brass, Paul R. (1974). ''Language, Religion and Politics in North ...

Comparison

Varendri is a dialect belonging to North Bengal. The standardised register of Bengali was chosen to be the dialect spoken in

Nadia Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both. In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: ...

(West-Central Bengal). Examples: *English: A man had two sons. **Standard Bengali: একজন লোকের দুটি ছেলে ছিলো (ækjon loker duţi chhele chhilo) ::

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bound ...

: æk zôn mansher duikhona bæt̹a/sawal asilo (P) ::

Sirajganj Sirajganj ( bn, সিরাজগঞ্জ) is a city in north-western Bangladesh on the right bank of the Jamuna River. It is the administrative headquarters of Sirajganj District, and with a population of 167,200 is the fourteenth most popul ...

: æk zon mainsher duido bæt̹a sol asilo. (P) ::

Pabna Pabna ( bn, পাবনা) is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about . Etymology * According to the histo ...

(Women's dialect): æk zôn mansher duid̹a bæt̹a/sawal asilo. (P) ::

Bogra Bogra ( bn, বগুড়া), officially known as Bogura, is a major city located in Bogra District, Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh. The city is a major commercial hub in Northern Bangladesh. It is the second largest city in Rajshahi Divi ...

: æk zon mansher duikona bæt̹a/sol~sawal asilo. (P) :: Malda: æk jhon manuser duiţa bæţa/chhawal achhilô. (P) :: Rangpur: æk zon mansher duikna/duikhona bæţa/sawal asilo. (P) ::

Rajshahi Rajshahi ( bn, রাজশাহী, ) is a metropolitan city and a major urban, commercial and educational centre of Bangladesh. It is also the administrative seat of the eponymous division and district. Located on the north bank of the P ...

: æk zon mansher duid̹a bæt̹a/sawal asilo. (P) :: East Purnia (Siripuria): æk jhonar dui chhawal chhil . (P) *English: (First person) will eat **Standard Bengali: খাবো (khabo) **Varendri: খাইমোঁ (khaimõ); খামোঁ (khamõ); খাইম (khaim) *English: Money **Standard Bengali: টাকা (

taka The Bangladeshi taka ( bn, টাকা, sign: , code: BDT, short form: Tk) is the currency of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at . Issuance of bank notes 10 and larger is controlled by Bangladesh Bank, whil ...

) **Varendri: টেকা (tæka)

In popular culture

Gambhira, a Bengali folk genre is originally evolved with this dialect. This dialect is famous in many Bengali dramas. A web series by Chorki named

Shaaticup ''Shaaticup'' (Bengali: শাটিকাপ) is a Bangladeshi crime drama streaming television series directed by Mohammad Touqir Islam. The eight-episode series was released on 13 January 2022 on Chorki. Premise Hannan and Joynal plan to in ...

is created in this dialect.

References

{{Bengali language Eastern Indo-Aryan languages Bengali dialects Languages of West Bengal Languages of Bangladesh