Bangladesh hosts a number of endangered languages that are defined as languages at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language. UNESCO defines four levels of language endangerment between "safe" (not endangered) and "extinct":[1]
- Vulnerable
- Definitely endangered
- Severely endangered
- Critically endangered
| Language Endangerment Status | |
|---|---|
| Extinct (EX) | |
| |
| Endangered | |
| Safe | |
| |
Other categories | |
Related topics | |
 UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger categories | |
Status
editAccording to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data from 2011, the country has 27 "small anthropological groups" consisting of 17,84,000 people in total.[2] Ethnologists in Bangladesh and indigenous leaders claim that 48 indigenous communities, a total of 5 million people, are present in Bangladesh. They host 4 language families with 30 ethno-languages. 12-18 of them are endangered at varying degrees. International Mother Language Institute (IMLI) in Dhaka, a government institute, launched a project to reservation and mobilization of 37 languages (including Bengali, the dominant language of Bangladesh). Only 4 of the target languages have their own scripts — Chakma, Marma, Mru, and Meithei.[3] Some other indigenous communities, especially the 2 lakh people living in Rajshahi, use a language called "Sadri" adopting alphabets from Hindi, Bangla, Urdu and other languages.[4] It is used in the Sylhet tea garden area by Telugu, Santhali, Nepali and Rai communities as a lingua franca.[3]
The Hill Tracts, a forested upland area in southeastern Bangladesh, is home to more than a dozen indigenous peoples. 50% of the indigenous people of there have no formal schooling; less than 8% complete primary education, and only 2% completes secondary. Most of the children don't understand the instructions written in Bengali. In north-eastern Bangladesh, Hari, Banai, Dalui, and Rajbongshi indigenous communities have started to use Bengali leaving their native languages due to the lack of social and economical recognition.[3]
List
edit| Language | Countries | Speakers | Status | Comments | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishnupriya Manipuri Creole[1][5] | India, Bangladesh | 115,000 | Vulnerable | ||
| Bawm[1] | Bangladesh | 14,000 | Definitely endangered | ||
| Chak[5] | Bangladesh | 5,500 | Definitely endangered | ||
| Asho Chin[5] | Myanmar, Bangladesh | 2,340 | Definitely endangered | ||
| Chin, Falam[5] | Myanmar, Bangladesh | 120,000 | Vulnerable | ||
| Chin, Haka[5] | Myanmar, Bangladesh | 446,264 | Vulnerable | ||
| Hajong[5] | Bangladesh, India | 68,000 | Vulnerable | ||
| Khasi[5] | India, Bangladesh | 865,000 | Definitely endangered | ||
| Koda[5] | Bangladesh, India | 1,600 | Severely endangered | ||
| Kok Borok[1][5] | Bangladesh, India | 695,000 | Vulnerable | ||
| Kurux[1] | Bangladesh | 14,000 | Definitely endangered | ||
| Marma[5] | Bangladesh | 166,500 | Vulnerable | ||
| Megam[5] | Bangladesh | 6,870 | Severely endangered | ||
| Mru[5] | Bangladesh | 51,230 | Definitely endangered | ||
| Pangkhua[5] | Bangladesh | 2,730 | Severely endangered | ||
| Pnar[5] | India, Bangladesh | 88,000 | Definitely endangered | ||
| Sadri, Oraon[5] | Bangladesh | 166,000 | Vulnerable | ||
| Sauria Paharia[5] | India, Bangladesh | 117,000 | Definitely endangered |
In addition to this list International Mother Language Institute (IMLI) in Dhaka counts a number of other languages as endangered including Lushai (959 speakers), Khumi (3369 speakers), Khiyang (3899 speakers), Rengmatia (40 speakers), and Patra (203 speakers).[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Moseley, Christopher, ed. (2010). Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. Memory of Peoples (3rd ed.). Paris: UNESCO Publishing. ISBN 978-92-3-104096-2. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
- ^ Muktasree Chakma Sathi (30 May 2014). "Disappearing Mother Tongues" (PDF). Dhaka Tribune. p. 8.
- ^ a b c d Special Correspondent, "Disappearing indigenous languages Archived 2019-02-28 at the Wayback Machine", BD Chronicles, 21 February 2015
- ^ Emran Hossain (18 October 2009). "30 Adivasi languages on verge of extinction". The Daily Star.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Endangered Language Alliance. "Bangladesh: Some endangered languages" (PDF). Endangered Language Alliance. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.