Bengali language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bengali |
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| Bangla বাংলা |
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"Bangla" in Bengali script
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| Region | Bangladesh and India | |||
| Ethnicity | Bengalis | |||
| Native speakers | 250–300 million (2017) (L1 plus L2 speakers) |
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| Language family |
Indo-European
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| Early forms: |
Abahattha
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| Dialects |
see Bengali dialects
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| Writing system | Eastern Nagari script (Bengali alphabet) Bengali Braille |
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| Official status | ||||
| Official language in |  Bangladesh India (in West Bengal, Tripura and Barak Valley) |
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| Regulated by | Bangla Academy Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi |
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| Linguasphere | 59-AAF-u |
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Bengali speaking region of South Asia
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Bengali (also called Bangla) is a very important language spoken in South Asia. It is part of the Indo-Iranian language family. This means it's related to languages like Hindi and Persian. Bengali grew from an older language called Pali.
Contents
Where is Bengali Spoken?
Bengali is mainly spoken in two places. It is the official language of Bangladesh. Almost everyone in Bangladesh speaks Bengali. It is also a major language in India. Many people speak Bengali in the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura. You can also find Bengali speakers in other parts of India, like the Barak Valley.
How Many People Speak Bengali?
Bengali is one of the most spoken languages in the world! About 220 million people speak Bengali as their first language. If you count people who speak it as a second language, the number goes up to about 250 million. This makes Bengali the seventh most spoken language globally.
Why is Bengali Important?
Bengali has a rich history and culture. Many famous books and poems have been written in Bengali. One of the most famous writers was Rabindranath Tagore. He wrote many beautiful poems and songs in Bengali. Tagore even won the Nobel Prize in Literature!
Did you know that the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh were written in Bengali? This shows how important the language is to the culture and identity of these countries.
Images for kids
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This map shows where Indo-European languages are spoken today. Bengali is one of the easternmost languages in this family.
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Here you can see the Indo-Iranian language family. Bengali is marked in yellow.
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This chart shows how Bengali developed from older languages. Its ancestor is called proto-Gauda.
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This is an old silver coin from the Harikela Kingdom (around 9th–13th century). It has early Bengali writing on it.
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A colorful mural in Hamtramck, USA, with Bengali letters.
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This is an example of handwritten Bengali. It's part of a poem by Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore from 1926.
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An old manuscript from 1855 called Halat-un-Nabi. It was written in the Sylheti Nagri script.
See also
In Spanish: Idioma bengalí para niños
