Bishnupriya Manipuri, also known as Bishnupriya Meitei or simply as Bishnupriya, is an Indo-Aryan lect belonging to the Bengali–Assamese linguistic sub-branch. It is a creole of

Bengali language Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...

and ''

Meitei language Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...

(also called

Manipuri language Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...

)'' 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, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

s of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

and

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

as well as in the

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division () is a northeastern Divisions of Bangladesh, division of Bangladesh, renowned for its lush tea gardens, rolling hills and vibrant cultural heritage. Covering an area of approximately 12,298 square kilometres, it is bordered by t ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. It uses the Bengali-Assamese script as its

writing system A writing system comprises a set of symbols, called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which the script represents a particular language. The earliest writing appeared during the late 4th millennium BC. Throughout history, each independen ...

. 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 region of the Indian subcontinent, which includes Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bengal region, Tripura, Assam, and Odisha; alongside othe ...

, 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. It was a vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan language, replacing earlier Vedic Sanskrit. History and over ...

. So, its origin is associated with

Magadha Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...

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 ...

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

. In the 2020s, the Bishnupriya speaking people started demanding that the Assam Government should give them the status of "

indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

" of Assam and treat the same like other indigenous communities of the state. The Bishnupriya-speaking people use Meitei language in Bangladesh as their

second language A second language (L2) is a language spoken in addition to one's first language (L1). A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a foreign language. A speaker's dominant language, which ...

(L2). According to Sahitya Akademi honorary fellow British linguist Ronald E. Asher and Christopher Moseley, Bishnupriya is a

mixed language A mixed language, also referred to as a hybrid language or fusion language, is a type of contact language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. ...

spoken by former Bengali immigrants, with substantial Meithei lexicon but basically Bengali structure and reduced morphology. According to 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 ...

, 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 in the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, Bishnupriya is spoken by former Bengali subjects, with some Manipuri lexicon and reduced morphology.

History and development

Bishnupriya is a member of the Māgadhan languages (

), 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 in the eastern Indian subcontinent. This group belongs to the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Eastern zone of Indo-Aryan languages. The languages ...

KP Sinha, who has done considerable research on Bishnupriya Manipuri, disagrees with the theory of Bishnupriya being associated with the Manipur (Mahabharata) 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 Magahi (), also known as Magadhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal states of eastern India, and in the Terai region of Nepal. Magadhi Prakrit was the ancestor of Magahi, from which the latter's name der ...

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

, 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,

Maharashtri Maharashtri or Maharashtri Prakrit (') is a Prakrit language of ancient as well as medieval India. 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, Sauraseni-

Maharashtri Prakrit Maharashtri or Maharashtri Prakrit (') is a Prakrit language of ancient as well as medieval India. 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 () or Asamiya ( ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. It has long served as a ''lingua franca'' in parts of Northeast India."Axomiya is the major langu ...

. 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 form of contact language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form (often a pidgin), and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fl ...

(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) 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 2024, there are more than 1.5 billion speakers, primarily concentrated east ...

, including Assamese and Bengali to a great extent.

Bishnupriya as a dialect of Bengali

Suniti Kumar Chatterjee's opinion

Renowned

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ( , lit. "Lotus Grandeur") is the second-highest 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". All persons w ...

awardee Indian linguist Suniti Kumar 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 The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), 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. In ...

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

Bengali Hindu Bengali Hindus () are adherents of Hinduism who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. They make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Assam's Barak Valley ...

community, originally native to

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

trans border areas. When they migrated and lived in Bishnupur, Manipur (formerly known as "Lamangdong"), they were known as "Bishnupuriyas", and later corrupted as "Bishnupriyas". Ethnolinguistically, they are Bengalis. Unlike the large number of Assamese-Bengali immigrants in

being assimilated into Meitei ethnicity until the 18th century, they remain un-assimilated.

Bishnupriya as a Bengali-Meitei creole

According to scholar William Frawley, Bishnupriya was once a

of Bengali and Meitei and it still retains its pre-Bengali features. American linguist and professor Masica also has the same opinion like that of William. According to Shobhana 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, Maheswar Neog and Banikanta Kakati 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 lingu ...

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 the first part of the 19th century. That is why Bishnupriya Manipuri retains the older sounds of Meitei, whereas in Meitei itself the sound system has undergone various changes.

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