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Varendrī Bengali
North Central Bengali Gaudi Bengali Uttaravangiya Bengali
বরেন্দ্রী বাংলা
Native to	Bangladesh, India
Region	Bangladesh: Rajshahi Division, parts of Gaibandha District and Dinajpur District (Bangladesh) India: Malda Division (except for Islampur Subdivision), Parts of Bihar and Jharkhand
Language family	Indo-European Indo Iranian Indo Aryan Eastern Zone Bengali-Assamese Bengali Varendrī Bengali
Early forms	Gaudi Prakrit Old Bengali Middle Bengali
Writing system	Bengali alphabet
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	nort2658  Northern Bengali rajs1238  Rajshahi

North Central Bengali or Varendrī Bengali (Bengali: বরেন্দ্রী বাংলা, romanized: Bôrendri BāṅlāCategory:Articles containing Bengali-language text, pronounced [bɔɾendriː baŋla]Category:Pages with Bengali IPA) is a cluster of Bengali dialects and their varieties,^[1][2][3] it is also known as Uttaravaṅgīẏa^[4] or Udīcya, it is spoken in the Varendra region (primarily consisting of the Rajshahi Division, parts of the Gaibandha and Dinajpur districts in Bangladesh and the Malda division in India excluding Islampur). Varendri dialect was classified by many renowned Indian linguists like Suniti Kumar Chatterji, Sukumar Sen and others.^[5] It is also spoken in adjoining villages in neighbouring Bihar and Jharkhand. Varendri dialect has some influences of neighbouring dialects of Maithili and other Bihari languages.

Classification

Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah divided all Bengali dialects into two main groups: Prācya (Bengali: প্রাচ্য, romanized: prachyô, lit. 'eastern'Category:Articles containing Bengali-language text) and Pāścātya (Bengali: পাশ্চাত্য, romanized: pashchatyô, lit. 'western'Category:Articles containing Bengali-language text). Within his Pāścātya grouping, he identified a subdivision termed "Northern" or "Udīcya", which broadly corresponds to what is described here as North Central Bengali but also including Far Northern Bengali dialects. This classification aligns with the combined dialect groups of "Varendra" and "Kāmarūpa" proposed by Suniti Kumar Chatterji, while the remaining area corresponds to Rāḍha dialects. In Shahidullah's classification, this northern zone is said to extend from Goalpara to Purnia, encompassing much of the historical regions of Kamarupa and Varendra.^[6] This area includes the modern divisions of Rangpur and Rajshahi in Bangladesh as well as Jalpaiguri and Malda in West Bengal. The Varendri dialect is also known as the "Rajshahi-Malda dialect".^[7] It is sometimes divided into Indian varieties, such as the "Maldahiya" or "Gaudi" dialects^[8] and Bangladeshi varieties known as the "Purbo Varendri" dialects.^[9][10]

Comparison

Varendri Bengali is a Bengali dialect belonging to North Bengal. Alongwith Eastern Bengali, the standardised register of Bengali was based on the Central Bengali dialect spoken in Nadia and Greater Kushtia (West-Central Bengal). A comparison of Varendri dialects and their varieties is presented below:

Examples:

• English: (First person) will eat
  • Standard Bengali: খাবো (khabo)
  • Eastern Bengali: খামু (khamu); খাইমু (khaimu); খাম (kham)
  • Varendri Bengali: খামোঁ (khamõ); খাইমোঁ (khaimõ); খাইম (khaim)
• English: Money
  • Standard Bengali: টাকা (taka)
  • Varendri Bengali: টেকা (tæka)

In popular culture

Gambhira, a Bengali folk genre is originally evolved with this dialect. This dialect is famous in many Bengali dramas. A web series by Chorki named Shaaticup is created in this dialect.^[11]

References