The Tanchangya language is one of the eleven indigenous languages spoken in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts,
Mizoram,
Tripura, and
Rakhine State. Despite the common belief that it is a
Tibeto-Burman language, it is categorized as a
Indo-Aryan language. It is closely related to
Chakma and
Chittagonian. It is primarily spoken by the Tanchangyas people.
Vocabulary
Tanchangya has many words from
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 ...
. It also maintains some Burmanised words, particularly in Buddhist terminologies.
Ancient Tanchangya
The original words of Tanchangya are believed to be from ancient Tanchangya.
[Roti Kanta Tanchangya (2000): 62-65]
Tibeto-Burman
Tanchangay belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language family; hence, many Buddhist terms can be found in Tanchangya.
Foreign words
In Tanchangya, words derived from Arabic, Portuguese, and English can be found.
Chakma
Outside of the Tanchangya tribe, there is a common belief that there is no difference between Tanchangya and the Chakma language.
References
External links
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{{Eastern Indo-Aryan languages
Eastern Indo-Aryan languages
Languages of Bangladesh