KRNB lects

KRNB lects (or Kamtapuri, Rajbanshi and Northern Bangla lects) are a cluster of modern lects that are phylogenetic descendants of the proto-Kamata language. The proto-Kamata language began differentiating after 1250 around Kamatapur, the capital city of Kamata kingdom, as the western branch of the proto-Kamarupa,"On sociohistorical grounds, this stage is termed ‘proto Kamta’ ... and assigned the chronology of approximately AD 1250–1550: sandwiched between the establishment of the Kamrupa capital at Kamtapur in 1250, and the political (and plausibly linguistic) expansion under Koch King Nara Narayana in 1550." whereas the eastern branch developed into proto-Assamese. Since the 16th century the proto-Kamta community has fragmented giving rise to the differentiated modern lects. The modern lects are: Kamta ( West Bengal), Rangpuri ( Bangladesh), Rajbanshi ( Nepal) and Surjapuri ( Bihar).

These modern lects could be categorised into three groups: western, central and eastern. Unlike the Assamese, Bengali, Hindi and Nepali languages which were standardised and propagated in the 19th and 20th centuries, the KRNB lects were not standardised. As a result, the KRNB lects became diglossic vernaculars to these standard varieties and acquired phonological and morphological features from them.

Nevertheless, two standards are emerging within the KRNB lects: a central Jhapa variety targeting speakers in Nepal, and an eastern Cooch Behar variety targeting speakers in northern West Bengal and western Assam.

Proto Kamta

The development of proto-Kamta was the result of Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupa Nagara ( North Guwahati), Kamrup moving his capital to Kamatapur and establishing the Kamata kingdom, thus carrying the native language along with.

Socio-linguistic communities

The modern KRNB lects are spoken primarily in western Assam, northern West Bengal, northern Bangladesh, north-eastern Bihar and south-eastern Nepal.

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Eastern Indo-Aryan languages