Bishnupriya Manipuri

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Bishnupriya
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Bishnupriya Manipuri
বিষ্ণুপ্রিয়া মণিপুরী
RegionPrimarily Northeast India and Bangladesh
EthnicityBishnupriyas
Native speakers
119,646 total speakers
Early form
Bengali-Assamese script[6][7]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bpy
Glottologbish1244
ELPBishnupuriya

Bishnupriya Manipuri, also known as Bishnupriya Meitei

Assam Government and notably, there is no legal status of the Bishnupriyas in Manipur.[18]
In the 2020s, the Bishnupriya speaking people started demanding that the
indigenous people" of Assam and treat the same like other indigenous communities of the state.[19]

The Bishnupriya-speaking people use Meitei language in Bangladesh as their second language (L2).[20]

According to Sahitya Akademi honorary fellow British linguist Ronald E. Asher and Christopher Moseley, Bishnupriya is a mixed language spoken by former Bengali immigrants, with substantial Meithei lexicon but basically Bengali structure and reduced morphology.[21]

According to English linguist and historian Andrew Dalby, Bishnupriya (also known as "Mayang") is historically a form of Bengali language once current in Manipur.[22]

According to American linguist

Manipuri lexicon and reduced morphology.[23][24]

History and development

Further information:
Manipur (Mahabharata)
The shades of yellow show the linguistic map of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, the family where Bishnupriya belongs to.

Bishnupriya is a member of the

Māgadhan languages (Eastern Indo-Aryan languages), having origin associated with Magadha.[15][16][17]
Bishnupriya is one of the Bengali–Assamese languages[25]

KP Sinha, who has done considerable research on Bishnupriya Manipuri, disagrees with the theory of Bishnupriya being associated with the

Oriya and Bengali. These forms of Oriya, Bengali, etc. are on their parts, derived from Magadhi Apabhramsa coming from the Magadhi Prakrita.[26]

However, the Bishnupriya Manipuri language is certainly not one of the

Magadhi.[citation needed
]

Conflict of classification as a dialect of Bengali and Assamese

Several scholars and linguists opine Bishnupriya as a dialect of Bengali language while many opine it as a dialect of Assamese language. 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 (mixed language) of Bengali language and Meitei language, by retaining its pre-Bengali features in present times.

After all, it is obvious that Bishnupriya is greatly influenced by

Tibeto-Burman language) and other Indo-Aryan languages, including Assamese and Bengali to a great extent.[27]

Bishnupriya as a dialect of Bengali

Suniti Kumar Chatterjee's opinion

Renowned Padma Vibhushan awardee Indian linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji who is also a recognised Bengali phonetician, listed the Bishnupriya to be a dialect of Bengali language.[28]

Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra's opinion

According to renowned

Bengali Hindu community, originally native to Assam-Bengal 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 Bengali-Assamese immigrants in Manipur being assimilated into Meitei ethnicity until the 18th century, they remain un-assimilated.[29]

Bishnupriya as a Bengali-Meitei creole

According to scholar William Frawley, Bishnupriya was once a creole language of Bengali and Meitei and still now, it retains its pre Bengali features.[30] American linguist and professor Masica also has the same opinion like that of William.[31]

According to Shobhana Chelliah, Bishnupriya Manipuri is a mixed language spoken by former Bengali immigrants, having significant amount of Meitei lexicons. Bishnupriya still retains its basic Bengali structural and morphological features.[32]

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 Assamese language.[33][34]

Linguistic survey of India

According to the Linguistic Survey of India led by Grierson, "Bishnupriya" alias "Mayang" (Code no. 555) is a dialect of Assamese language (Code no. 552).[35]

Meitei elements in Bishnupriya

Bishnupriya has 4000 borrowed root words from Meitei language.[36] 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 19th century. That is why Bishnupriya Manipuri retains the older sounds of Meitei, whereas in Meitei itself the sound system has under-gone various changes.[37]

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.[citation needed]

  • 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[38]
  • 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

  1. ^ The census data as well as the Ethnologue record the name as "Bishnupriya" and not "Bishnupriya Manipuri".[9]
  1. ^ a b "Abstract of Speakers' Strength of Languages and Mother Tongues - 2011" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  2. ^ "C-16: Population by mother tongue - Assam". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  3. ^ "C-16: Population by mother tongue - Tripura". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  4. ^ "C-16: Population by mother tongue - Manipur". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Census of India - Language tools". Archived from the original on 24 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Bishnupuriya". Ethnologue. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  7. ^ Kim, Amy; Kim, Seung. Bishnupriya (Manipuri) speakers in Bangladesh: a sociolinguistic survey (PDF). SIL INTERNATIONAL. p. 11. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  8. ISBN 978-1-000-36686-0
    . The Bishnupriya Meiteis from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Tripura and Assam used the Bengali script and speak their own language, which is influenced by Meiteilon (Mani- puri).
  9. ^ "FAMILY-WISE GROUPING OF THE 122 SCHEDULED AND NON-SCHEDULED LANGUAGES – 2001". censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on 24 November 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  10. ^ "FAMILY-WISE GROUPING OF THE 122 SCHEDULED AND NON-SCHEDULED LANGUAGES – 2001". censusindia.gov.in. Archived from the original on 24 November 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  11. ISBN 978-92-3-104096-2
    .
  12. ISBN 978-0-19-513977-8
    .
  13. ISBN 978-81-8069-760-9
    .
  14. ISBN 978-1-317-85108-0
    .
  15. ^
    ISBN 0-7007-1130-9
  16. ^ a b South Asian folklore: an encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, By Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, Margaret Ann Mills, Routledge, 2003, p. 203
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-1-135-79711-9
    .
  18. ^ "Bishnupriya Manipuris demand satellite autonomous council - Sentinelassam". www.sentinelassam.com. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2022. The Tripura government has categorized and placed the Bishnupriya Manipuri language under the Tribal Language Cell of the State Council of Educational Research and Training, while in Assam they are considered among Other Backward Classes (OBC), whereas in Manipur from where these people originated remains status-less
  19. ^ "Plea for indigenous status". The Telegraph. India. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  20. ^ "Meitei | Ethnologue". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2023. Used as L2 by Bishnupuriya [bpy].{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  21. ISBN 978-1-317-85108-0
    .
  22. ISBN 978-1-4081-0214-5
    .
  23. ISBN 978-0-85883-456-9
    .
  24. ISBN 9780858834569
    .
  25. ^ Masica, Colin (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 446–462.
  26. ^ Dr. KP Sinha, An Etymological Dictionary of Bishnupriya Manipuri, Silchar, 1982
  27. ISBN 978-81-7574-162-1
    .
  28. ISBN 978-81-7099-853-2
    .
  29. ISBN 978-81-7099-853-2
    .
  30. ISBN 978-0-19-513977-8
    .
  31. ISBN 978-81-8069-760-9
    .
  32. ISBN 978-1-317-85108-0
    .
  33. ISBN 978-81-7099-853-2
    .
  34. ISBN 978-81-87746-54-6
    .
  35. ISBN 978-81-7099-853-2
    .
  36. ISBN 978-3-642-54906-9
    .
  37. OCLC 9819673
    .
  38. ISBN 978-3-642-54906-9
    .

Further reading

  1. Vasatatvar Ruprekha/ Dr. K. P. Sinha, Silchar, 1977
  2. Manipuri jaatisotta bitorko: ekti niropekkho paath /Ashim Kumar Singha, Sylhet, 2001
  3. G. K. Ghose / Tribals and Their Culture in Manipur and Nagaland, 1982
  4. Raj Mohan Nath / The Background of Assamese Culture, 2nd edn, 1978
  5. Sir G. A. Grierson / Linguistic Survey of India, Vol-5, 1903
  6. Dr. K. P. Sinha / An Etymological Dictionary of Bishnupriya Manipuri, 1982
  7. Dr. M. Kirti Singh / Religious developments in Manipur in the 18th and 19th centuuy, Imphal, 1980
  8. Singha, Jagat Mohan & Singha, Birendra / The Bishnupriya Manipuris & Their Language, silchar, 1976
  9. Parimal Sinha and Anup Sinha / Bishnupuriya language Development, 2017.

External links

Bishnupriya edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bishnupriya_Manipuri&oldid=1217189052"