Bishnupriya

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A language of India

ISO 639-3
bpy
Alternate Names
Bishnupria Manipuri, Bishnupuriya, Bisna Puriya
Population

77,500 in India (2001 census). Population total all countries: 117,500.

Location

Assam, Cachar, Hailakandi, and Karimganj districts; north Tripura. Also in Bangladesh.

Language Maps
Language Status

4 (Educational).

Classification
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bengali-Assamese
Dialects

Madai Gang (Leimanai), Rajar Gang (Ningthaunai). Related to Bengali [ben], Assamese [asm]. 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].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: 80%. Taught in primary schools, in Tripura. Poetry. Radio programs. Videos. Dictionary. Bible portions: 1995.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Bishnupriya
Writing
Bengali script.
Other Comments

Reported to also live in three villages in Myanmar but these villages cannot be identified. Hindu.

Also spoken in:

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