Rohingya

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A language of Myanmar

ISO 639-3
rhg
Alternate Names
Rohinja
Population

800,000 in Myanmar (2012). Due to unrest, numbers are very uncertain. Population total all countries: 1,800,000.

Location

North Rakhine State, Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships; Sittwe and Rathedaung townships. Also in Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand.

Language Maps
Language Status

6a (Vigorous).

Classification
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, 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. All ages. Positive attitudes. Also use Rakhine [rki]. Those with education are literate in Burmese [mya].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Rohingya
Writing
Arabic script. Latin script. Rohingya Hanifi script, some development in immigrant communities for all three scripts.
Other Comments

About 1,000,000 refugees went to Bangladesh in recent years, the majority of whom have dispersed to other countries. Most refugees in UNHCR-controlled camps in Bangladesh were repatriated back to Myanmar, but many of these have returned to Bangladesh unofficially. Muslim.

Also spoken in:

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