The KRDS lects (or the Kamta, Rajbanshi, Deshi and Surjapuri subgroup) are a cluster of modern lects that are phylogenetic descendants of the proto-Kamta language. The proto-Kamta language began differentiating after 1250 around Kamatapur, the capital city of

Kamata kingdom The Kamata Kingdom ; in the eastern Sivalik Hills, emerged in western Kamarupa probably when Sandhya (ruler of Kamarupa), Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupanagara, moved his capital west to Kamatapur sometime after 1257 CE. Since it originated in ...

, as the western branch of the

Kamarupi Prakrit Kamarupi Prakrit is the Attested language, postulated Middle Indo-Aryan (MIA) Prakrit language used in ancient Kamarupa (5th–12th century). This language has been derived from Gauda-Kamarupi Prakrit and the historical ancestor of the Kamatap ...

,"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 Early Assamese. Since the 16th century the proto-Kamta community has fragmented giving rise to the differentiated modern lects. The modern lects are: Kamta (

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 ...

and

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

), Rangpuri (

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 ...

), Rajbanshi (

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

) and Surjapuri (

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

). 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 KRDS lects were not standardised. As a result, the KRDS lects became diglossic vernaculars to these standard varieties and acquired phonological and morphological features from them. Nevertheless, two

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

s are emerging within the KRDS 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 (also called proto-Kamata) was the result of Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupa Nagara (

North Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. ...

), Kamrup moving his capital to Kamatapur and establishing the

, thus carrying the

native language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

along with.

Socio-linguistic communities

The modern KRNB lects are spoken primarily in western

, northern

, north-eastern

and south-eastern

Notes

References

* * {{refend Eastern Indo-Aryan languages