Surjapuri

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A language of India

ISO 639-3
sjp
Alternate Names
Sura
Population

1,220,000 (2001 census).

Location

Bihar, Purnia, Kishanganj, Katihar, and Araria districts; West Bengal, Uttar Dinajpur district.

Language Maps
Language Status

6a (Vigorous).

Classification
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bihari
Dialects

Preliminary survey results show intelligibility of Nepali Rajbanshi [rjs]. Lexical similarity: 70%–74% with Hindi [hin], 67%–71% with the western variety of Kamta [rkt] spoken near Dinajpur, 77%–86% with varieties of Surjapuri [sjp].

Language Use

Vigorous. Home, village. All ages. Positive attitudes. High bilingualism in Hindi [hin].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: Low (2006 M. Toulmin). Different scripts in Nepal and India.
Writing
Devanagari script.
Other Comments

Possible alternate names are Chaupal, Choupal, and Suraji, but surveyors did not find these terms used. Historically more closely related to Kamta [rkt] and Rajbanshi [rjs] than Hindi [hin], a relationship borne out by greater morphological similarity. (2006 M. Toulmin).