[21][22] Although Sanskrit has been spoken by Hindu Brahmins in Bengal since the 3rd century BC,[24] the local Buddhist population spoke varieties of the Prakrit.

[25] These varieties are generally referred to as "eastern Magadhi Prakrit", as coined by linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji,[26] as the Middle Indo-Aryan dialects were influential in the first millennium when Bengal was a part of the Greater Magadhan realm.

[33][34] During the medieval period, Middle Bengali was characterised by the elision of the word-final অ ô and the spread of compound verbs, which originated from the Sanskrit Schwa.

[citation needed] The arrival of merchants and traders from the Middle East and Turkestan into the Buddhist-ruling Pala Empire, from as early as the 7th century, gave birth to Islamic influence in the region.

[citation needed] In the 13th century, subsequent Arab Muslim and Turco-Persian expeditions to Bengal heavily influenced the local vernacular by settling among the native population.

[37] Subsequent Muslim rulers actively promoted the literary development of Bengali,[38] allowing it to become the most spoken vernacular language in the Sultanate.

Major texts of Middle Bengali (1400–1800) include Yusuf-Zulekha by Shah Muhammad Sagir and Srikrishna Kirtana by the Chandidas poets.

[40] The standard literary form of Modern Bengali was developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries based on the west-central dialect spoken in Shantipur region of the Nadia district.

Modern Bengali shows a high degree of diglossia, with the literary and standard form differing greatly from the colloquial speech of the regions that identify with the language.

On 21 February 1952, five students and political activists were killed during protests near the campus of the University of Dhaka; they were the first ever martyrs to die for their right to speak their mother tongue.

Some varieties of Bengali, particularly Sylheti,[76] Chittagonian and Chakma, have contrastive tone; differences in the pitch of the speaker's voice can distinguish words.

Kharia Thar and Mal Paharia are closely related to Western Bengali dialects, but are typically classified as separate languages.

What is accepted as the standard form today in both West Bengal and Bangladesh is based on the West-Central dialect of Nadia and Kushtia District.

[90] Since the Bengali script is an abugida, its consonant graphemes usually do not represent phonetic segments, but carry an "inherent" vowel and thus are syllabic in nature.

Often, syllable-final consonant graphemes, though not marked by a hôsôntô, may carry no inherent vowel sound (as in the final ন in মন [mon] or the medial ম in গামলা [ɡamla]).

where the letter forms stand on an invisible baseline, the Bengali letter-forms instead hang from a visible horizontal left-to-right headstroke called মাত্রা matra.

Throughout history, there have been instances of the Bengali language being written in different scripts, though these employments were never popular on a large scale and were communally limited.

The first version of the Aesop's Fables in Bengali was printed using Roman letters based on English phonology by the Scottish linguist John Gilchrist.

In spite of some modifications in the 19th century, the Bengali spelling system continues to be based on the one used for Sanskrit,[91] and thus does not take into account some sound mergers that have occurred in the spoken language.

The letter ষ also, sometimes, retains the voiceless retroflex sibilant [ʂ] sound when used in certain consonant conjuncts as in কষ্ট [kɔʂʈo] "suffering", গোষ্ঠী [ɡoʂʈʰi] "clan", etc.

The near-open front unrounded vowel [æ] is orthographically realised by multiple means, as seen in the following examples: এত [æto] "so much", এ্যাকাডেমী [ækademi] "academy", অ্যামিবা [æmiba] "amoeba", দেখা [dækʰa] "to see", ব্যস্ত [bæsto] "busy", ব্যাকরণ [bækorɔn] "grammar".

Furthermore, the inherent vowel is often not pronounced at the end of a syllable, as in কম [kɔm] "less", but this omission is not generally reflected in the script, making it difficult for the new reader.

For example, the combination of the consonants ক্ [k] and ষ [ʂ] is graphically realised as ক্ষ and is pronounced [kkʰo] (as in রুক্ষ [rukkʰo] "coarse"), [kʰɔ] (as in ক্ষমতা [kʰɔmota] "capability") or even [kʰo] (as in ক্ষতি [kʰoti] "harm"), depending on the position of the cluster in a word.

Published under the imprint of Benglish Books, these are based on phonetic transliteration and closely follow spellings used in social media but for using an underline to describe soft consonants.

An appropriate measure word (MW), a classifier, must be used between the numeral and the noun (most languages of the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area are similar in this respect).

[113] Because of centuries of contact with Europeans, Turkic peoples, and Persians, Bengali has absorbed numerous words from foreign languages, often totally integrating these borrowings into the core vocabulary.

Persian influence was significant for the development of Bengali up to the modern day, and was the primary official language in the region for 600 years, until British rule, when it was changed to English in 1836.

[citation needed] The following is a sample text in Bengali of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: সমস্তSômôstôʃɔmostoAllমানুষmanushmanuʃhumanস্বাধীনভাবেshadhinbhabeʃadʱinbʱabefree-manner-inসমানsômanʃomanequalমর্যাদাmôrjadamɔɾdʒadadignityএবংebôngeboŋandঅধিকারôdhikarodʱikaɾrightনিয়েniyenie̯etakenজন্মগ্রহণjônmôgrôhôndʒɔnmoɡrohonbirth-takeকরে।kôre.kɔɾedo.তাঁদেরTãdertãdeɾTheirবিবেকbibekbibekreasonএবংebôngeboŋandবুদ্ধিbuddhibudʱːiintelligenceআছে;achhe;atʃʰeexist;সুতরাংsutôrangʃutoraŋthereforeসকলেরইsôkôleriʃɔkoleɾieveryone-indeedএকেêkeɛkeoneঅপরেরôpôrerɔporeɾanother'sপ্রতিprôtiprotitowardsভ্রাতৃত্বসুলভbhratrittôsulôbhbʱratritːoʃulɔbʱbrotherhood-lyমনোভাবmônobhabmonobʱabattitudeনিয়েniyenie̯etakenআচরণachôrônatʃorɔnconductকরাkôrakɔradoউচিত।uchit.utʃitshould.সমস্ত মানুষ স্বাধীনভাবে সমান মর্যাদা এবং অধিকার নিয়ে জন্মগ্রহণ করে। তাঁদের বিবেক এবং বুদ্ধি আছে; সুতরাং সকলেরই একে অপরের প্রতি ভ্রাতৃত্বসুলভ মনোভাব নিয়ে আচরণ করা উচিত।Sômôstô manush shadhinbhabe sôman môrjada ebông ôdhikar niye jônmôgrôhôn kôre.

Tãder bibek ebông buddhi achhe; sutôrang sôkôleri êke ôpôrer prôti bhratrittôsulôbh mônobhab niye achôrôn kôra uchit.ʃɔmosto manuʃ ʃadʱinbʱabe ʃoman mɔɾdʒada eboŋ odʱikaɾ nie̯e dʒɔnmoɡrohon kɔɾe tãdeɾ bibek eboŋ budʱːi atʃʰe ʃutoraŋ ʃɔkoleɾi ɛke ɔporeɾ proti bʱratritːoʃulɔbʱ monobʱab nie̯e atʃorɔn kɔra utʃitAll human free-manner-in equal dignity and right taken birth-take do.

Their reason and intelligence exist; therefore everyone-indeed one another's towards brotherhood-ly attitude taken conduct do should.All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.