Bishnupriya Manipuri, also known as simply Bishnupriya, is an

Indo-Aryan language The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...

belonging to the Bengali–Assamese linguistic sub-branch. It is a creole of

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, 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 m ...

and

Meitei language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in pa ...

(officially known as

Manipuri language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in pa ...

) and it still retains its pre-Bengali features. It is spoken in parts of the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

s of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

and

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

as well as in the

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division ( bn, সিলেট বিভাগ) is the northeastern division of Bangladesh. It is bordered by the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura to the north, east and south respectively, and by the Bangladeshi divisions of ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. It uses the Bengali-Assamese script as its

writing system A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable form ...

. Bishnupriya Manipuri, being a member of the

Eastern Indo-Aryan languages The Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Māgadhan languages, are spoken throughout the eastern Indian subcontinent (East India and Assam, Bangladesh), including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bengal, Tripura, Assam, and Odisha; alongs ...

, was evolved from

Magadhi Prakrit Magadhi Prakrit (''Māgadhī'') is of one of the three Dramatic Prakrits, the written languages of Ancient India following the decline of Pali and Sanskrit. It was a vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan language, replacing earlier Vedic Sanskrit. Hist ...

. So, its origin is associated with

Magadha Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...

realm.South Asian folklore: an encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, By Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, Margaret Ann Mills, Routledge, 2003, p. 203Ray, Tapas S. (2007)
"Chapter Eleven: "Oriya"
In Jain, Danesh; Cardona, George. ''The Indo-Aryan Languages''. Routledge. p. 445. . The

Government of Tripura The Government of Tripura, also known as the State Government of Tripura, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Tripura and its 8 districts. It consists of an executive, led by the Governor ...

categorized Bishnnupriya Manipuri under the "Tribal Language Cell" of the State Council of Educational Research and Training. Its speakers are also given the "Other Backward Classes" status by the

Assam Government The Government of Assam is the subnational government of Assam, a state of India. It consists of the Governor appointed by the President of India as the head of the state, currently Jagdish Mukhi. The head of government is the Chief Minister, ...

and notably, there is no legal status of the Bishnupriyas in

. In the 2020s, the Bishnupriya speaking people started demanding that the

should give them the status of “

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

” of Assam and treat the same like other indigenous communities of the state. According to Sahitya Akademi honorary fellow British linguist

Ronald E. Asher Ronald Eaton Asher (23 July 1926 – 26 December 2022) was a British linguist and educator specialised in Dravidian languages. He was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1964), a fellow of the Royal Society of E ...

and Christopher Moseley, Bishnupriya is a

mixed language A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole language, creole or pidgin, pidgin language in that ...

spoken by former Bengali immigrants, with substantial Meithei lexicon but basically

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

structure and reduced morphology. According to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

linguist and historian

Andrew Dalby Andrew Dalby, (born 1947 in Liverpool) is an English linguist, translator and historian who has written articles and several books on a wide range of topics including food history, language, and Classical texts. Education and early career D ...

, Bishnupriya (also known as "Mayang") is historically a form of

once current in Manipur. According to American linguist David Bradley's research works published by the Department of Linguistics,

Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies The Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs is a constituent of the College of Asia and the Pacific, but was formerly part of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, ANU, which was founded in 1946 as part of the Institute of Advanced ...

in the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

, Bishnupriya is spoken by former

subjects, with some Manipuri lexicon and reduced morphology.

History and development

Bishnupriya is a member of the

Māgadhan languages The Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Māgadhan languages, are spoken throughout the eastern Indian subcontinent (East India and Assam, Bangladesh), including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bengal, Tripura, Assam, and Odisha; alongs ...

(

), having origin associated with

. Bishnupriya is one of the

Bengali–Assamese languages The Bengali–Assamese languages (also Gauda–Kamarupa languages) is a grouping of several languages. This group belongs to the Eastern zone of Indo-Aryan languages. The languages in this group as per Glottolog includes Assamese, Bengali, Bi ...

: * Bengali–Assamese: ** Bengali-Gauda *** Rarhi (

Standard Bengali 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 of t ...

) ***

Bangali Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of S ...

(

Dhakaiya Kutti Dhakaiya Kutti ( bn, ঢাকাইয়া কুট্টি, Dhakaiya Kutti, Dhakaiya of the rice-huskers), also known as Old Dhakaiya ( bn, পুরান ঢাকাইয়া, Purān Dhākāiyā) or simply Dhakaiya, is a Bengali dialec ...

) *** Bishnupriya Manipuri ***

Chakma Chakma may refer to: *Chakma people, a Tibeto-Burman people of Bangladesh and Northeast India *Chakma language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them **Chakma script ***Chakma (Unicode block) Chakma is a Unicode block containing characters for ...

*** Chittagonian *** Hajong ***

Manbhumi Manbhumi ( bn, মানভূমী, Mānbhūmī, ) is the local Bengali dialect spoken in the district of Purulia, and adjacent area of other districts of West Bengal and Jharkhand, previously Manbhum, in Eastern India. It is one of the Benga ...

***

Noakhailla Noakhailla (), also known by the exonym Noakhalian, is a dialect of Bengali, spoken by an estimated 7 million people, primarily in the Greater Noakhali region of Bangladesh as well as southern parts of Tripura in India. Outside of these regions, t ...

***

Rohingya The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...

*** Sundarbani ***

Sylheti Sylheti may refer to: * Sylhetis, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group in the Sylhet division and South Assam * Sylheti language Sylheti ( Sylheti Nāgarī: ; bn, সিলেটি ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by an estimated 11 mill ...

*** Tanchangya ***

Varendri North Central Bengali or Varendrī () is a dialect of the Bengali language, spoken in the Varendra region (primarily consisting of the Rajshahi Division in Bangladesh and the Malda division in India). Varendri dialect was classified by many re ...

** Kamarupic: ***

Assamese Assamese may refer to: * Assamese people, a socio-ethnolinguistic identity of north-eastern India * People of Assam, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious people of Assam * Assamese language, one of the easternmost Indo-Aryan language ...

( Kamrupi, Goalpariya) *** Rangpuri,

Surjapuri Surjapuri is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken in Eastern India including North Bengal, West Bengal, and Banganchal of Eastern Bihar, as well as in Nepal. Among speakers in some regions, it is known as 'Deshi Bhasa'. It possesses similaritie ...

, Rajbanshi KP Sinha, who has done considerable research on Bishnupriya Manipuri, disagrees with the theory of Bishnupriya being associated with the

Manipur (Mahabharata) Manipura ( sa, मणिपुर, maṇipura, city of jewels) is a kingdom mentioned in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. According to the epic, it was located near a sea-shore, the Mahendra Mountains (present day Eastern Ghats) and the Kalinga ...

and is of the opinion that the language was originated through

. It is found from his observations that the language has retained dominant characteristics of

Magadhi The Magahi language (), also known as Magadhi (), is a language spoken in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal states of eastern India, and in the Terai of Nepal. Magadhi Prakrit was the ancestor of Magahi, from which the latter's name derives. ...

. According to Sinha, pronouns and declensional and conjugational endings seem to be same as or closely related to those of Maithili, Oriya and

. These forms of Oriya, Bengali, etc. are on their parts, derived from Magadhi Apabhramsa coming from the

a. However, the Bishnupriya Manipuri language is certainly not one of the

Tibeto-Burman languages The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non-Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people speak ...

, but is closer to the Indo-Aryan group of languages with remarkable influence from Meitei both grammatically and phonetically. At a different stage of development of the language the

Sauraseni Shauraseni Prakrit (, ) was a Middle Indo-Aryan language and a Dramatic Prakrit. Shauraseni was the chief language used in drama in northern medieval India. Most of the material in this language originates from the 3rd to 10th centuries, though ...

Maharashtri Maharashtri or Maharashtri Prakrit ('), is a Prakrit language of ancient as well as medieval India and the ancestor of Marathi and Konkani. Maharashtri Prakrit was commonly spoken until 875 CEV.Rajwade, ''Maharashtrache prachin rajyakarte''

and

languages and the Tibeto-Burman languages exerted influence on it as well. So it was probably developed from Sanskrit,

Maharashtri Prakrit Maharashtri or Maharashtri Prakrit ('), is a Prakrit language of ancient as well as medieval India and the ancestor of Marathi and Konkani. Maharashtri Prakrit was commonly spoken until 875 CEV.Rajwade, ''Maharashtrache prachin rajyakarte''

and

a. The Sauraseni-Maharastri relation can be traced by observing some characteristics of pronouns. The

element is also remarkable, as the language retains many characteristics of

Conflict of classification as a dialect of Bengali and Assamese

Several scholars and linguists opine Bishnupriya as a dialect of

while many opine it as a dialect of

Assamese language Assamese (), also Asamiya ( ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-east Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language, and it serves as a ''lingua franca'' of the wider region. The easternmost Indo-Iranian language, ...

. At the same time, closer to the observations of the status of being a Bengali dialect, many renowned scholars opine Bishnupriya as a

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. ...

(mixed language) of

and

, by retaining its pre-Bengali features in present times. After all, it is obvious that Bishnupriya is greatly influenced by Meitei (a

Tibeto-Burman language The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non-Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people speak ...

) and other

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...

, including

and

to a great extent.

Bishnupriya as a dialect of Bengali

Suniti Kumar Chatterjee's opinion

Renowned

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service" ...

awardee Indian linguist

Suniti Kumar Chatterji Bhashacharya Acharya Suniti Kumar Chatterjee (26 November 1890 – 29 May 1977) was an Indian linguist, educationist and litterateur. He was a recipient of the second-highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Vibhushan. Life Childhood Chatterji ...

who is also a recognised Bengali phonetician, listed the Bishnupriya to be a dialect of

Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra's opinion

According to renowned

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

awardee Indian scholar Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra, "Bishnupriya" is a fragmented

Bengali Hindu Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Benga ...

community, originally native to

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

trans border areas. When they migrated and lived in

Bishnupur, Manipur Bishnupur ( mni, ꯕꯤꯁ꯭ꯅꯨꯄꯨꯔ) is a town in Bishnupur district in the state of Manipur, India. It derived its name from an ancient Vishnu temple located in the town which was established in 15th Century. Bishunupur is the admin ...

(formerly known as "Lamangdong"), they were known as "Bishnupuriyas", and later corrupted as "Bishnupriyas". Ethnolinguistically, they are Bengalis. Unlike the large number of Bengali-Assamese immigrants in

being assimilated into

Meitei ethnicity The Meitei people, also known as the Manipuri people,P.20: "historically, academically and conventionally Manipuri prominently refers to the Meetei people."P.24: "For the Meeteis, Manipuris comprise Meeteis, Lois, Kukis, Nagas and Pangal." is ...

until the 18th century, they remain un-assimilated.

Bishnupriya as a Bengali-Meitei creole

Opinions of William Frawley and Colin Masica

According to scholar William Frawley, Bishnupriya was once a

and Meitei and still now, it retains its pre Bengali features. American linguist and professor Masica also has the same opinion like that of William.

Chelliah's opinion

According to Chelliah, Bishnupriya Manipuri is a

spoken by former Bengali immigrants, having significant amount of Meitei lexicons. Bishnupriya still retains its basic Bengali structural and morphological features.

Bishnupriya as a dialect of Assamese

Several Irish and Indian linguists and scholars including

George Abraham Grierson Sir George Abraham Grierson (7 January 1851 – 9 March 1941) was an Irish administrator and linguist in British India. He worked in the Indian Civil Service but an interest in philology and linguistics led him to pursue studies in the languag ...

Maheswar Neog Professor Maheswar Neog (7 September 1915 – 13 September 1995) was an Indian academic who specialised in the cultural history of the North East India especially Assam, besides being an Assamese-language scholar and poet. He was a top Indologis ...

and

Banikanta Kakati Banikanta Kakati was a prominent linguist, literary figure, critic and scholar in Assamese language with his immense contribution to the language in terms of literature, linguistics, cultural anthropology and comparative religion. Biography B ...

opine Bishnupriya as a dialect of

Linguistic survey of India

According to the

Linguistic Survey of India The Linguistic Survey of India (LSI) is a comprehensive survey of the languages of British India, describing 364 languages and dialects. The Survey was first proposed by George Abraham Grierson, a member of the Indian Civil Service and a linguist w ...

led by Grierson, "Bishnupriya" alias "Mayang" (Code no. 555) is a dialect of

(Code no. 552).

Meitei elements in Bishnupriya

Bishnupriya has 4000 borrowed root words from

. Bishnupriya Manipuri retains the old eighteen sounds of Meitei. Of them, there were three vowels, such as ''ɑ'', ''i'' and ''u'', thirteen consonants such as p, t, k, pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, c͡ʃ, m, n, ŋ, l, ʃ, h and two semi-vowels, such as ''w'' and ''j''. In later stage nine more sounds added to Meitei but Bishnupriya is not concerned with them, because the Bishnupriyas left Manipur during 1st part of 19th century. That is why Bishnupriya Manipuri retains the older sounds of Meitei, whereas in Meitei itself the sound system has under-gone various changes. The most distinctive influence of Meitei language over Bishnupriya manipuri is formation of words starting with vowel soung 'aung' such as , , .

Vocabulary

Like other Indic languages, the core vocabulary of Bishnupriya Manipuri is made up of ''tadbhava'' words (i.e. words inherited over time from older Indic languages, including Sanskrit, including many historical changes in grammar and pronunciation), although thousands of ''tatsama'' words (i.e. words that were re-borrowed directly from Sanskrit with little phonetic or grammatical change) augment the vocabulary greatly. In addition, many other words were borrowed from languages spoken in the region either natively or as a colonial language, including Meitei, English, and Perso-Arabic. *Inherited/native Indic words (''tadbhava''): 10,000 (Of these, 2,000 are only found in Bishnupriya Manipuri, and have not been inherited by other Indic languages) *Words re-borrowed from Sanskrit (''tatsama''): 10,000 *Words re-borrowed from Sanskrit, partially modified (''ardhatatsama''): 1,500 *Words borrowed from Meitei: 4000 *Words borrowed from other indigenous non-Indic languages (''desi''): 1,500 *Words borrowed from Perso-Arabic: 2,000 *Words borrowed from English: 700 *Hybrid words: 1,000 *Words of obscure origin: 1,300

Notes and references

External links

Bishnupriya Manipuri: A brief introduction

Details on Bishnupriya Manipuri Language

*
Bishnupriya Manipuri society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishnupriya Manipuri Language Bengali dialects Pidgins and creoles Indo-Aryan languages Languages of Bangladesh Languages of India Languages of Northeast India Mixed languages