Bangladeshi English

Accent of English spoken in Bangladesh

This article is about the accent of the English language. For English people of Bangladeshi descent, see British Bangladeshi. For the mixed use of Bengali and English languages, see Banglish.

This article is missing information about pronunciation. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (December 2024)

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Bangladeshi English

Native to| Bangladesh

Language family

Indo-European

* Germanic
* West Germanic
* North Sea Germanic
* Anglo-Frisian
* English
* British English
* South Asian English
* Bangladeshi English

Early forms

Proto-Indo-European

* Proto-Germanic
* Old English
* Middle English
* Early Modern English

Writing system

| Latin (English alphabet)
Unified English Braille
Language codes
ISO 639-3| –
IETF| `en-BD`

Bangladeshi English is a dialect of English heavily influenced by the Bengali language and its dialects in Bangladesh.[1][2] This variety is very common among Bengalis from Bangladesh.

The code-mixed usage of Bengali/Bangla and English is known as Benglish or Banglish. The term Benglish was recorded in 1972, and Banglish slightly later, in 1975.[3]

## Use

[edit]

Bengali is the sole official and national language of Bangladesh. However, English is often used secondarily in the higher tier of the judiciary in the country. Laws were written in English during the British Raj.

Since the introduction of Bangla Bhasha Procholon Ain, all the laws by parliament and all Ordinances promulgated by the President are being enacted in Bengali[4] in Bangladesh.

There are ten English language newspapers in Bangladesh. English medium schools are also operated in English. Mainly, the people of Bangladeshi descent residing in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US and students of English medium schools in Bangladesh use Benglish (though the teaching of Standard English is also attempted).

However, upon public demand in 2012, the High Court of Bangladesh banned the use of Benglish, described as a slang mixture of Bengali and English, in radio and television programs "to protect local tongue".[5]

Benglish is a term that has been used in academic papers to describe a mixture of Bangla and English. For example, Benglish verbs are described as a particular type of complex predicate that consists of an English word and a Bengali verb, such as æksiḍenṭ kôra 'to have an accident', in kôra 'to get/come/put in' or kônfyus kôra 'to confuse'.[6][7][8]

## History

[edit]

The East India Company adopted English as the official language of the empire in 1835. Replacement of the Persian language with English was followed by a surge in English language learning among Bengali babus. English remained an official language of the region until 1956 when the first constitution of Pakistan was adopted stating Bengali and Urdu as the official languages of the state following the Bengali language movement from 1947 to 1952.

After independence in 1971, Bengali became the sole official language of Bangladesh, and all English-medium universities, schools and colleges were converted to Bengali instruction in order to spread mass education.

## Literature

[edit]

Main article: Bangladeshi English literature

Bangladeshi English literature (BEL) refers to the body of literary work written in the English language in Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi diaspora. In academia, it is also now referred to as Bangladeshi Writing in English (BWE).[9] Early prominent Bengali writers in English include Ram Mohan Roy, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Begum Rokeya, and Rabindranath Tagore. In 1905, Begum Rokeya (1880–1932) wrote Sultana's Dream, one of the earliest examples of feminist science fiction.[10] Modern writers of the Bangladeshi diaspora include Tahmima Anam, Neamat Imam, Monica Ali, and Zia Haider Rahman.

## Numbering system

[edit]

The South Asian numbering system is preferred for digit grouping. When written in words, or when spoken, numbers less than 100,000/100 000 are expressed just as they are in Standard English. Numbers including and beyond 100,000 / 100 000 are expressed in a subset of the South Asian numbering system.

Thus, the following scale is used:

In digits | In words (long and short scales) | In words (South Asian system)

|
|

10 | ten
100 | one hundred
1,000 | one thousand
10,000 | ten thousand
100,000 | one hundred thousand | one lakh
1,000,000 | one million | ten lakh
10,000,000 | ten million | one crore

## Grammar and Words

[edit]

The words used to speak in Bangladesh  American English | British English | Bangladeshi English

|
|

Soccer | Football | Football
Sweet | Candy | Candy
French fries | Chips | French fries
Cookie | Biscuit | Biscuit
Store | Shop/retailer (formal)/store (if large) | Store
Pharmacy/drugstore | Chemist/pharmacist/pharmacy | Pharmacy
Trash Can | Dustbin | Dustbin
Movie | Film | Movie/Film
Movie Theater | Cinema | Cinema Hall
Fall | Autumn | Autumn
Teller | Cashier | Cashier
Vacation | Holiday | Holiday/Vacation
(sports) Uniform | Kit | Uniform
Sports Field | Pitch/field | Pitch
Bathroom | toilet/loo/smallest room/cloakroom | Bathroom
Mom, Mommy | Mum, Mummy | Mom, Mommy [dubious – discuss]
Buddy | Mate/pal/chum/friend | Friend (formal and/or semiformal)/Mate (informal)[dubious – discuss]
(telephone) Booth | (telephone) kiosk/box | (telephone) booth/Box
Police Officer | Policeman | Police Officer
Mail | Post | Mail
Zip Code | Postcode | Post Code
Mailman | Postman | Postman
Lawyer | Lawyer (/Solicitor/Barrister - depending on context) | Lawyer
Cell Phone | Mobile Phone | Mobile Phone
Crosswalk | Zebra Crossing | Zebra Crossing
Garbage | Rubbish | Rubbish/Garbage
Railroad | Railway | Railway
Overpass | Flyover | Overpass/Flyover
Package | Parcel | Package/Parcel
Resume | Curriculum Vitae (CV) | Resume/CV
Restroom | Public Toilet | Public Toilet
Shopping Cart | Trolley | Trolley
Apartment | Flat | Apartment/Flat
Mad | Angry | Angry
Elevator | Lift | Lift
Gas/Gasoline | Petrol | Petrol
Cab | Taxi | Taxi Cab
Flashlight | Torch | Flashlight/Torch
Airplane | Aeroplane | Airplane/Aeroplane
Sneakers | Trainers | Trainers
Purse | Handbag | Purse/Handbag
Diaper | Nappy | Diaper/Nappy
Parking lot | Car Park | Parking
First floor | Ground floor | Ground floor
Yard | Garden | Garden
Schedule | Timetable | Schedule (More official and common)/Timetable (less common)
Pants | Trousers | Pants/Trousers (depending on fabrics)
Line | Queue | Line
Basement | Basement/cellar | Underground
Truck | Lorry | Truck

## See also

[edit]

* Bengal
* Commonwealth English
* Languages of Bangladesh
* Languages of India
* Bengali people
* Bangladeshi people
* Bengali alphabet
* South Asian English
* Indian English
* Pakistani English

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Burhanuddin Khan Jahangir (2002). Nationalism, fundamentalism, and democracy in Bangladesh. International Centre for Bengal Studies. p. 109.
2. ^ "The Two Men: Formative Stage". The Journal of the Institute of BangladeStudies. 30. Rajshahi: Institute of Bangladesh Studies: 10. 2007.
3. ^ Lambert, James. 2018. A multitude of 'lishes': The nomenclature of hybridity. English World-wide, 39(1): 22. doi:10.1075/eww.38.3.04lam.
4. ^ "Towards creating an indigenous legal corpus in Bangla". The Daily Star. 19 February 2019. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
5. ^ "Bangladesh bans 'Banglish' to protect local tongue". The Express Tribune. Agence France-Presse. 17 February 2012. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
6. ^ [1] Shishir Bhattacharja, 2010 Benglish Verbs: a Case of Code-Mixing in Bengali PACLIC 24 Proceedings
7. ^ [2] Kundu ; Subhash Chandra, 2012 Automatic detection of English words in Benglish text: A statistical approach 2012 4th International Conference on Intelligent Human Computer Interaction (IHCI)
8. ^ [3] Hunting Elusive English in Hinglish and Benglish Text: Unfolding Challenges and Remedies, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC)
9. ^ askari, Rashid (14 August 2010). "Bangladeshis writing in English". The Daily Star. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
10. ^ Anam, Tahmima (27 May 2011). "My hero Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 December 2024.

* v
* t
* e

Dialects and accents of Modern English by continent

Europe|

| Great
Britain|

| England|

| North|

* Cheshire
* Cumbria
* Barrow
* Lancashire
* Liverpool/Scouse
* Manchester
* Northumbria
* Pitmatic
* Sunderland
* Tyneside/Geordie
* Teesside
* Yorkshire

|

Midlands|

* East Midlands
* West Midlands
* Birmingham
* Black Country
* Stoke-on-Trent

South|

* East Anglia
* London & Thames Estuary
* Cockney
* Multicultural
* Received Pronunciation
* West Country
* Cornwall
* Dorset

Scotland|

* Glasgow
* Highlands

Wales|

* Abercraf
* Cardiff
* Gower
* Port Talbot

Ireland|

* Dublin
* South-West
* Ulster

* Channel Islands
* Gibraltar
* Isle of Man
* Malta

Americas|

| North
America|

| Canada|

* Aboriginal
* Atlantic
* Lunenburg
* Newfoundland
* Multicultural Toronto
* Ottawa Valley
* Quebec
* Standard Canadian

|

United
States|

* Midland
* New England
* Boston
* East
* Maine
* West
* New York City
* accent
* North
* Inland North
* North-Central
* Philadelphia
* Baltimore
* South
* accent
* Appalachia
* Chesapeake/Outer Banks
* New Orleans
* Older South
* Texas
* West
* California
* Pacific Northwest
* Western Pennsylvania

Social and
ethno-cultural|

* African-American
* Vernacular
* American Indian
* Cajun
* Chicano
* General American
* Good American Speech
* Miami Latino
* New York Latino
* Northeastern elite
* Pennsylvania Dutch

Caribbean|

* Antigua and Barbuda
* The Bahamas
* Barbados
* Bequia
* Cayman Islands
* Bay Islands
* Jamaica
* Saba
* Samaná
* Trinidad and Tobago

* Bermuda
* Falkland Islands

Oceania|

| Australia|

* variation
* accent
* Aboriginal
* South
* Torres Strait
* West

|

* Fiji
* New Zealand
* accent
* Palau
* Solomon Islands

Africa|

* Cameroon
* The Gambia
* Ghana
* Kenya
* Liberia
* Malawi
* Namibia
* Nigeria
* Sierra Leone
* South Africa
* accent
* Cape Flats
* South Atlantic
* Uganda
* Zimbabwe

Asia|

| East Asia|

* Hong Kong

|

South Asia|

* Bangladesh
* India
* regional and occupational
* Maldives
* Nepal
* Pakistan
* Sri Lanka

Southeast Asia|

* Brunei
* Cambodia
* Malaysia
* Myanmar
* Philippines
* Singapore
* Thailand

Antarctica|

* Antarctica

Related|

* English language
* Basic
* Broad and general accents
* Commonwealth
* Comparison of American and British English
* E-Prime
* Engrish
* English as a lingua franca
* English-based creole languages
* Englishisation
* Globish
* Gogate
* Nerrière
* International
* Jewish English (Yeshiva English)
* Learning
* Linguistic purism in English
* List of English-based pidgins
* Non-native pronunciations of English
* Plain
* Standard

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