bpy ISO 639
Bishnupuriya
Visualizations
A language of India
- ISO 639
- bpy
- Alternate Names
- Bishnupria Manipuri, Bishnupriya, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Bisna Puriya
- Population
- 79,600 in India (2011 census). Total users in all countries: 119,600.
- Location
- Assam state: Cachar, Hailakandi, and Karimganj districts; north Tripura state.
- Language Maps
- India, Map 5, Northeastern Bangladesh
- Language Status
- 5* (Developing).
- Classification
- Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Outer Languages, Eastern, Bengali-Assamese
- Dialects
- Madai Gang (Leimanai), Rajar Gang (Ningthaunai). Though once regarded as a Bengali-Meitei creole, it retains pre-Bengali features (Masica 1991). Lexical similarity: 81%–85% between dialects in Bangladesh, 41%–45% with Bengali [ben].
- Typology
- SOV; postpositions, articles before noun heads, question word before the verb, affixes indicate case of noun phrase; CV, CVC, CVV, CCV, VC, VCV; nontonal.
- Language Use
- Also use Bengali [ben]. Also use English [eng].
- Language Development
- Literacy rate in L2: 80%. Literature. Radio. Videos. Grammar. Bible portions: 1995–2011. Agency: Bishnupuriya Language and Development Organisation.
- Writing
- Bengali (Bangla) script [Beng].
- Other Comments
- Reported to also live in three villages in Myanmar but these villages cannot be identified. Hindu.
- Language Resources
- OLAC resources in and about Bishnupuriya
Also Spoken in
- Location
- Sylhet division: south Habiganj district, Sylhet city, 1 village; Moulvibazar district; Sunamganj district, 2 villages.
- Dialects
- Rajar Gang, Madai Gang.
- Language Status
- 6a (Vigorous)
- Language Use
- Vigorous. Home, village. Used by all. Positive attitudes. Also use Bengali [ben]. Also use Meitei [mni]. Used as L2 by Meitei [mni].
- Language Development
- Literacy rate in L2: 75% in Bengali [ben]. Those who are literate in Bengali are also able to read Bishnupuriya though they have little practice at doing so.
- Other Comments
- Dialects are not attached to localities but exist side by side: Madai Gang (of the village of the queen) and Rajar Gang (of the village of the king). Intelligibility between the 2 caste dialects sufficient to understand complex and abstract discourse. Hindu. View other languages of Bangladesh
Language Name
Bishnupuriya
User Population
40,000 in Bangladesh (2003). 400 monolinguals.
