KRNB lects (or Kamtapuri, Rajbanshi and Northern Bangla lects) are a cluster of modern

lect In sociolinguistics, a variety, also called an isolect or lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, registers, styles, or other forms of language, as well as a standard variety.Meecham, Ma ...

s 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 The Kamata Kingdom (pron: ˈkʌmətɑ) emerged in western Kamarupa probably when Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupanagara, moved his capital west to Kamatapur sometime after 1257 CE. Since it originated in the old seat of the Kamarupa kingdom, a ...

, 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 West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

), 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, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

), Rajbanshi (

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

) and

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 ...

(

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 ...

). 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

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 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 North Guwahati is northern part of the city of Guwahati and a town area committee in Kamrup Rural district in the Indian state of Assam.This town abounds in historical places and picnic spots. National Highway 27 passes through North Guwahati. A ...

), Kamrup moving his capital to Kamatapur and establishing the

, thus carrying the

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

along with.

Socio-linguistic communities

The modern KRNB lects are spoken primarily in western

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 ...

, northern

, north-eastern

and south-eastern

Notes

References

* * {{refend Eastern Indo-Aryan languages