Rohingya

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A language of Myanmar

ISO 639-3
rhg
Alternate Names
Rohinja
Autonym
Ruwainggya
User Population

484,000 in Myanmar (2017 The Arakan Project). Due to unrest, numbers are very uncertain. Total users in all countries: 2,529,250.

Location

Rakhine state: Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Rathedaung and Sittwe townships.

Language Maps
Language Status

6a (Vigorous).

Classification
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Outer Languages, Eastern, Bengali-Assamese
Dialects

Not much contact between dialect groups living in different townships; intelligibility situation is not clear. Dialects differ by river valleys.

Language Use

Vigorous. All domains. Used by all. Positive attitudes. Most also use Rakhine [rki]. Also use Burmese [mya]. Educated individuals are literate in it. Used as L2 by Rakhine [rki].

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Rohingya
Writing

Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab]. Hanifi Rohingya script [Rohg], some development in immigrant communities for all three scripts. Latin script [Latn].

Other Comments

Over 1,000,000 refugees went to Bangladesh in recent years, the majority having fled in 2017. Though some of them have dispersed to other countries, most refugees remain in UN-controlled camps in Bangladesh under severely restricted movement rules. Repatriation back to Myanmar is stalled.

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