Md. Tariqul Islam, Patuakhali: Chittagong — A statement by Pramath Chowdhury, an influential writer and translator of Bengali literature, has come into the spotlight again.
“Bangla language was injured in Sylhet, killed in Chittagong.”
This statement has been used as a metaphor to depict the special uniqueness of the regional language of Chittagong and its difference in influence compared to the standard Bengali language.
How do you understand the Chatgaoniya language?
It belongs to the Bengali-Assamese branch of the Indo-Aryan language group, but it has more linguistic and phonetic differences than Standard Bengali and other East Bengali dialects.
According to linguists, about 70% of the words and structures of the Chatgaoniya language are not similar to Standard Bengali — so it is difficult for a Bengali speaker to fully understand it despite half the effort.
Internationally, this language is also considered a recognized independent language by many organizations (such as Glottolog, Linguasphere).
The estimated number of 13 million to 20 million speakers makes Chatgaon the 75th-88th largest language in the world.
Common words and proverbs: Untranslatable forms of the language
Some unique words and proverbs of Chatgaon are notable as examples:
Common words:
Chicken → Kuro, Rooster → Lata Kuro
Sea → Daijje, Guara Guachi
Finge Pakhi → Dechcho, Toilet → Tatti
Unique expressions:
Abaijjehuda! Attamarebap Maillefire! Which are almost impossible to translate into Bengali or any other language.
Popular proverbs:
“Fundat nai tyana, mida di bhat hana” (Even though he has no clothes behind him, he still wants to eat rice with ‘mithai’)
“Gharar garu e ghadar kher nahay” etc.—are associated with the original metaphorical meaning which loses its flavor even in standard Bengali translation.
Statements by local linguists and writers
Dr. Moniruzzaman, a renowned linguist, comments
There are many linguistic differences between the Chatgaoniya language and the East Bengali dialects — hence it is reasonable to classify it as a separate language. The Chatgaoniya language is formable as a language due to its own vocabulary and phonetic characteristics.
Abdul Karim, a literary scholar and an ancient linguist, wrote
The differences with the written Bengali language in the Chatgaon language are so great that at one time we could have accepted this language as a separate language like Assamese.
Literary Bipradash Barua, in his article ‘Ethnic Languages and Bengali’, mentioned
The language of the Chakmas was arrested – the Chatgaon language walked that path before the Burmese – it gained independence in social and linguistic progress. If it receives unstinting love and fulfillment, its recognition will be stronger.
