Template:Infobox language Chakma language (Template:IPAc-en; autonym: Template:Script/Chakma, Template:Lang) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Chakma and Daingnet people. The language has common features with other languages in the region like the Chittagonian dialect of Bengali language, Tanchangya, Arakanese and others. It is spoken by nearly 320,000 people in southeast Bangladesh in Chittagong Hill Tracts, and another 230,000 in India, including 96,972 in Mizoram,[1] Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. It is written using the Chakma script, which is also called Ajhā Pāṭh, sometimes romanised Ojhopath. Literacy in Chakma script is low.
It is officially recognised by the Government of Tripura in India. However, the Bangladesh Govt. did not recognise the language yet. In India, it is also spoken primarily in the Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC) which consists of the Tuichawng constituency of Lawngtlai district in Mizoram and many places in Tripura.
Although there were no Chakma language radio or television stations as of 2011, the language has a presence in social media and on YouTube. The Hill Education Chakma Script website provides tutorials, videos, e-books, and Chakma language forums.[2]
In 2012, the Government of Tripura announced the implementation of Chakma language in Chakma Script (or Ajhā Pāṭh) in primary schools of Tripura. Imparting of education up to the elementary stage in the mother tongue is a national policy. To begin with, Chakma language subjects in its own scripts has been introduced in 87 primary schools in Chakma concentrated areas in Tripura."[3][4]
"In preparation for the January 2014 education season, the national curriculum and textbook board has already started printing books in six languages ... Chakma, Kokborok (Tripura community), Marma, Santal, Sadri (Orao community) and Achik."[5]
Mor Thengari (My Bicycle) was Bangladesh's first Chakma-language movie. However, it was banned in Bangladesh due to its controversial plot.[6]
Phonology
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | |
| Close-mid | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | |
| Open-mid | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | |
| Open | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link |
Consonants
- Template:IPA can be heard as Template:IPA in intervocalic and word-final positions.
- Template:IPA can be heard as Template:IPA in word-initial and intervocalic positions.
- A Template:IPA sound is rare, and in some cases, is a free variant sound of Template:IPA.[7][8]
Medieval Chakma
The Chakma and Daingnet people now speak what may be considered divergent dialects of Magadhi Prakrit. However, this is due to language shift from a Tibeto-Burman language; that medieval language may have been related to Sak[9] or Chairel[10] (and therefore of the Brahmaputran branch).
Writing system
Template:Main The Chakma script is an abugida that belongs to the Brahmic family of scripts. Chakma evolved from the Burmese script, which was ultimately derived from Pallava.[11][12][13]
Educational Institutions
The Chakma language is being taught in many Government and private schools in India (Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh) and Bangladesh. The Chakma language was officially introduced in primary schools by the Govt. of Tripura under The Directorate of Kokborok & Other Minority Languages in 2004 through Bengali Script and since 2013 through Chakma script (also known as Ajhā Pāṭh). Presently, the Chakma language is being taught in 87 schools.[14]
References
- ↑ DISTRICT CENSUS HANDBOOK LAWNGTLAI. Office of the Registrar General.
- ↑ Languages: Online Activism To Save Chakma Language(29 November 2011). Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ↑ Chakma script to be introduced in Tripura, Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network(31 August 2012). Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ↑ Chakma Language, The Directorate of Kokborok & Other Minority Languages, Govt. of Tripura, India{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}
- ↑ Native tongue offers ethnic children a good start, Chowdhury, K. R.(21 May 2013). Retrieved 2 June 2013.
- ↑ Bangladesh's Censor Board Blocks the Country's First Chakma-Language Film. Global Voices(11 December 2015). Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ↑ Template:Cite thesis
- ↑ A Linguistic study of Chakma{{#if:Bhattacharyya|, Bhattacharyya}. University of Calcutta(2004)
- ↑ Medieval Oxomiya Languages{{#if:Beckwith|, Beckwith}. Brill(2002). ISBN 978-90-04-12424-0
- ↑ Voegelin, Charles Frederick & Florence Marie Robinett Voegelin. 1977. Classification and Index of the World's Languages. New York: Elsevier. Template:ISBN
- ↑ Genesis of Indigenous Chakma Buddhists and Their Pulverization Worldwide{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}(2010). ISBN 9788178357584
- ↑ Mru: Hill People on the Border of Bangladesh{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}(11 November 2013). ISBN 9783034856942
- ↑ http://unicode.org/L2/L2009/09187r-n3645r-chakma.pdf
- ↑ Chakma Language, The Directorate of Kokborok & Other Minority Languages, Govt. of Tripura, India{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}
- Cāṅmā, Cirajyoti and Maṅgal Cāṅgmā. 1982. Cāṅmār āg pudhi (Chakma primer). Rāṅamāṭi:Cāṅmābhāṣā Prakāśanā Pariṣad.
- Khisa, Bhagadatta. 2001. Cāṅmā pattham pāt (Chakma primer.) Rāṅamāṭi: Tribal Cultural Institute(TCI).
- Singā. 2004. Phagadāṅ
External links
Template:Incubator Template:Commons category-inline
- Ethnologue report
- Unicode Font for the language
- Chakma Script Template:Webarchive
- Chakma Bangla Blog
- Chakma Prototype Keyboard
- Chakma Unicode Converter
- Available Chakma Unicode Font
- Chakma alphabet, pronunciation and language. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh{{#if:Nawaz|, Nawaz}. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh(2012)
- Honour for writers. The Telegraph – Calcutta (Kolkata)(7 January 2009). Retrieved 2 September 2012.
Template:Languages of Bangladesh Template:Languages of India Template:Languages of Burma Template:Eastern Indo-Aryan languages