Rohingya language facts for kids
The Rohingya language is spoken by about 1 million people in a place called Arakan. Many speakers also live in other countries. About half a million live in Makkah, Jeddah, and Madinah in Saudi Arabia. Around 300,000 live in Karachi and other parts of Pakistan. In Bangladesh, about 200,000 Rohingya speakers live in the Cox's Bazaar District. Smaller groups are found in Malaysia, Thailand, the UAE, and India. The language has several other names, like Rohinga, Rohinja, Ruaingga, Arakani, and Arakanese.
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What is the Rohingya Language?
The Rohingya language is part of the Indo-Aryan language family. This family includes many languages spoken across South Asia. It is closely related to the Bengali language, which is spoken in Bangladesh and India. Rohingya has its own unique features and sounds.
Where is Rohingya Spoken?
Most Rohingya speakers originally come from the Rakhine State in Myanmar, which was once known as Arakan. However, many have moved to other countries due to difficult situations. This is why you can find speakers in places like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Malaysia.
How is Rohingya Written?
For a long time, Rohingya was mostly a spoken language. People used different ways to write it down, sometimes using Arabic letters or even a script similar to Urdu. In recent years, a new writing system called Hanifi Rohingya has been developed. This system uses a mix of Arabic and other symbols to make it easier to write the language. There are also efforts to use the Latin alphabet (like English) for writing Rohingya.
Images for kids
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Layout of the Rohingya virtual keyboard.
