North Central Bengali or Varendrī () is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

of the

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...

, spoken in the Varendra region (primarily consisting of the Rajshahi Division in Bangladesh and the

Malda division Malda Division is an administrative division within the Indian state of West Bengal. This division build on 22 Nov 2016.This division was earlier a part of Jalpaiguri division and was carved out from it in 2016. The headquarters and the largest c ...

in India). Varendri dialect was classified by many renowned Indian linguists like

Suniti Kumar Chatterji Bhashacharya Acharya Suniti Kumar Chatterjee (26 November 1890 – 29 May 1977) was an Indian linguist, educationist and litterateur. He was a recipient of the second-highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Vibhushan. Life Childhood Chatterji ...

Sukumar Sen Sukumar Sen may refer to: *Sukumar Sen (civil servant) Sukumar Sen (2 January 1898 – 13 May 1963) was an Indian civil servant who was the first Chief Election Commissioner of India, serving from 21 March 1950 to 19 December 1958. Under his le ...

and others. It is also spoken in adjoining villages in neighbouring

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 ...

. Varendri dialect is tonal, and its vocabulary and phonology have a great deal of influence from Maithili and other

Bihari languages Bihari is a group of the Indo-Aryan languages. The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and also in Nepal.Brass, Paul R. (1974). ''Language, Religion and Politics in North ...

Comparison

Varendri is a dialect belonging to

North Bengal North Bengal ( bn, উত্তরবঙ্গ/উত্তর বাংলা) is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part denotes the Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. Gen ...

. The standardised register of Bengali was chosen to be the dialect spoken in Nadia (West-Central Bengal). Examples: *English: A man had two sons. **Standard Bengali: একজন লোকের দুটি ছেলে ছিলো (ækjon loker duţi chhele chhilo) ::

Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bounde ...

: æk zôn mansher duikhona bæt̹a/sawal asilo (P) ::

Sirajganj Sirajganj ( bn, সিরাজগঞ্জ) is a city in north-western Bangladesh on the right bank of the Jamuna River. It is the administrative headquarters of Sirajganj District, and with a population of 167,200 is the fourteenth most populo ...

: æk zon mainsher duido bæt̹a sol asilo. (P) :: Pabna (Women's dialect): æk zôn mansher duid̹a bæt̹a/sawal asilo. (P) :: Bogra: æk zon mansher duikona bæt̹a/sol~sawal asilo. (P) :: Malda: æk jhon manuser duiţa bæţa/chhawal achhilô. (P) :: Rangpur: æk zon mansher duikna/duikhona bæţa/sawal asilo. (P) :: Rajshahi: æk zon mansher duid̹a bæt̹a/sawal asilo. (P) :: East Purnia (Siripuria): æk jhonar dui chhawal chhil . (P) *English: (First person) will eat **Standard Bengali: খাবো (khabo) **Varendri: খাইমোঁ (khaimõ); খামোঁ (khamõ); খাইম (khaim) *English: Money **Standard Bengali: টাকা ( taka) **Varendri: টেকা (tæka)

In popular culture

Gambhira Gombhira (or gambhira or gamvira) is a type of song originating in the Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, what is today northeastern West Bengal, India and northwestern Bangladesh. In West Bengal (India), gombhir ...

, a Bengali folk genre is originally evolved with this dialect. This dialect is famous in many Bengali dramas. A web series by

Chorki Chorki may refer to: *Chorki (OTT), a Bangladeshi streaming service *Chorki (village) Chorki is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Grabów, within Łęczyca County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies approximately no ...

named Shaaticup is created in this dialect.

References

{{Bengali language Eastern Indo-Aryan languages Bengali dialects Languages of West Bengal Languages of Bangladesh