Surjapuri is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken in

Eastern India East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadha fr ...

including North Bengal,

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

, and Banganchal of Eastern Bihar, as well as in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. Among speakers in some regions, it is known as 'Deshi Bhasa'. It possesses similarities with Kamatapuri, Assamese,

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, and Maithili.

Geographical distribution

Surjapuri is mainly spoken of Surjapuri Bengali in the parts of

Purnia division Purnia division is an administrative geographical unit of Bihar state of India. Purnia is the administrative headquarters of the division. The division consists of Purnia district, Katihar district, Araria district, and Kishanganj district. It ...

(

Kishanganj Kishanganj is a city and district headquarters of Kishanganj district in Purnia division of Bihar state. History Kishanganj, which was previously part of Purnia district, is part of the Mithila region. Mithila first gained prominence after b ...

Katihar Katihar is a city situated in the eastern part of the state of Bihar in India. It is the regional headquarter of Katihar district. It is one of the important cities of Bihar. Also it's a main route of Delhi - Guwahati railway line. History Ka ...

Purnia Purnia ()(also romanized as Purnea) is a city that serves as the administrative headquarters of both Purnia district and Purnia division in the Indian state of Bihar. Total geographical area of Purnia Urban Agglomeration is which is nex ...

, and

Araria Araria is a city and a municipality that is the headquarters of Araria district in the Indian state of Bihar. Araria is situated in the northern part of Bihar. Etymology During the British Raj the area was under the administration of a British ...

districts) of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

. It is also spoken in

(

Uttar Dinajpur Uttar Dinajpur () is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Created on 1 April 1992 by the division of the erstwhile West Dinajpur district, it comprises two subdivisions: Raiganj and Islampur. History Undivided Dinajpur district ...

and

Dakshin Dinajpur Dakshin Dinajpur () or South Dinajpur is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, India. It was created on 1 April 1992 by the division of the erstwhile West Dinajpur District. The Headquarter (sadar) of the district is at Balurghat. It ...

districts, and in North Malda of

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this district. T ...

, specially in Harishchandrapur and Chanchal area and

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...

city of

Darjeeling district Darjeeling District is the northernmost district of the state of West Bengal in eastern India in the foothills of the Himalayas. The district is famous for its hill station and Darjeeling tea. Darjeeling is the district headquarters. Kurseon ...

– part of the North Bengal region within the

Jalpaiguri division Jalpaiguri Division is one of the 5 divisions in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost division of West Bengal. It is surrounded by Nepal on the western side, Bihar on South-Western side, Bhutan on the Northern side and Bangla ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

(

Thakurgaon District Thakurgaon ( bn, ঠাকুরগাঁও জেলা, ''Thakurgaon Jela'' also ''Thakurgaon Zila'') is a district in the north-western side of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rangpur Division and borders India to the west. It was established ...

) as well as in parts of eastern Nepal.

Related languages

Surjapuri is associated with the

Kamtapuri language Rangpuri is an eastern Indo-Aryan language of the Bengali-Assamese branch, spoken in northern West Bengal, western Goalpara of Assam in India and Rangpur Division in Bangladesh. Many are bilingual in Bengali and Assamese in their respecti ...

(and its dialects Rangpuri and Koch Rajbangshi) spoken in North Bengal and

Western Assam Lower Assam division is one of the 5 administrative divisions of Assam. It was formed in 1874, comprising Undivided Kamrup district of Western Assam, undivided Darrang and Nagoan districts of Central Assam and Khasi & Jaintia hills of Meghalay ...

, as well as with Assamese,

, and Maithili.

Pronouns

Surjapuri has the oblique plural suffixes: sā (hamsā-, tomsā-) and smā (ismā-, usmā-). They are also seen in

Early Assamese Early Assamese ( as, পুৰণী অসমীয়া, translit=Puroni Oxomiya) or Proto-Eastern Kamarupa is an ancestor of the modern Assamese language. It is found in the literature from the 14th century to the end of 16th century in Kam ...

as: sā (āmāsā-, tomāsā-) and sambā (esambā-, tesambā-) and their occurrences are similar.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

* Nasalization is also phonemic. * /i, e/ in medial and initial form are heard as �, ɛ

Notes

References

External links

Free repository of illustrated children's stories in Surjapuri
translated b
Azad India Foundation
and sponsored by Pratham Books * * *
''A Sketch Grammar'' (2021) of Surjapuri mother tongue spoken in Bihar state
Indo-Aryan languages {{IndoAryan-lang-stub