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Bengali language

NameBengali
Nativenameবাংলা Bangla
Imagesize100px
ImagecaptionThe word "Bangla" in Bangla Assamese alphabet
StatesBangladesh, India and significant communities in UK, USA, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Burma, Canada
RegionBangladesh, Nepal, West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar. Widely spoken in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Prominent speakers in Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai.
Speakers230 million
FamilycolorIndo-European
Fam2Indo-Iranian
Fam3Indo-Aryan
Fam4Eastern Group
Fam5Assamese-Bengali
ScriptBengali script
Nation ,
  (West Bengal, Tripura and Barak Valley) (comprising districts of south Assam- Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi)
AgencyBangla Academy (Bangladesh)
Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi (West Bengal)
Iso1bn|iso2=ben|iso3=ben
Lingua59-AAF-u (including Sylhetti etc), 30 varieties: 59-AAF-ua to 59-AAF-uk
NoticeIndic
Notice2IPA

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Bengali or Bangla (Bengali: বাংলা -bnˈbaŋlabangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script. With nearly 300 million total speakers, Bengali is one of the most spoken languages (ranking sixth) in the world.

Along with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Bengali evolved circa 1000-1200 AD from the Magadhi Prakrit, which developed from the Sanskrit language. It is now the primary language spoken in Bangladesh and is the second most spoken language in India.

With a long and rich literary tradition, Bengali binds together a culturally diverse region and is an important contributor to Bengali nationalism. In former East Bengal (today Bangladesh), the strong linguistic consciousness led to the Bengali Language Movement, during which on 21 February 1952, several people were killed during protests to gain its recognition as a state language of the then Dominion of Pakistan. The day has since been observed as Language Movement Day in Bangladesh, and was proclaimed the International Mother Language Day by UNESCO on 17 November 1999.


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