Sylheti language

Sylheti
Syloti
ꠍꠤꠟꠦꠐꠤ, সিলেটি
"Syloti" in Sylheti Nagri script
Pronunciation	[silɔʈi]
Native to	Bangladesh India
Region	Sylhet region and Barak Valley
Ethnicity	Sylhetis
Native speakers	10 million (2017) L2 speakers: 1.5 million (2017)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Bengali–Assamese Disputed Sylheti
Writing system	Sylheti Nagri Bengali script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	syl
Linguist List	syl
Glottolog	sylh1242
Linguasphere	59-AAF-ui
Sylheti speakers within Bangladesh and Northeast India (shown in red)

Sylheti (Bengali: সিলেটি, Sylheti Nagri: ꠍꠤꠟꠦꠐꠤ Sileṭi), also known as Syloti, is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language variety. It is spoken by an estimated 11 million people worldwide today, primarily in Sylhet Division of Bangladesh, the Barak Valley and the Hojai district of Assam as well as in northern parts of Tripura in India. Outside of these regions, there are substantial numbers of Sylheti speakers in Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland; as well as diaspora communities in the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Middle East.

It is generally considered to be a dialect of Bengali, as a part of the Vangiya dialect group, though some linguists consider it an independent language. For many native speakers, Sylheti forms the diglossic vernacular with standard Bengali forming the codified lect. Some consider it as a corrupt form of Bengali, and there is a reported language shift from Sylheti to Bengali in Bangladesh, India and the diaspora.

Name

See also: Names of Sylhet

Sylheti is eponymously named after Sylhet, referring to the dialect or language spoken of that area. "Sylhet" is the anglicanised spelling of the historical name, Silhat. According to the Linguistic Survey of India by George Abraham Grierson (published in the early 20th century), the vernacular was called Sylhettia by the Europeans after the town of Sylhet. Though the speakers at that time referred to it as Jaintiapuri, Purba Srihattiya, or Ujania with the latter meaning "the language of the upper country". Today, its other given names include Syloti (ছিলটি, ꠍꠤꠟꠐꠤ [silɔʈi]) or Sylheti Bangla. Some Sylhetis generally refer to it as "Bengali", one reason may be due to not expecting outsiders to be well informed about the vernacular.

History

A Sylheti Nagri book titled Halat-un-Nabi, written in 1855 by Sadeq Ali.

Sylheti is part of the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, which evolved from Magadhi Prakrit that replaced earlier Sanskrit. The origin and development of Sylheti is not clear due to lack of archaeological or literary evidences within the Sylhet region. However there were copper plate inscriptions found in the region that were written in Sanskrit, with the earliest from the 7th century found in a village called Nidhanpur (near Sylhet) issued by the Kamarupa king, Bhaskaravarman. Another notable copper plate inscription was found in the village of Paschimbhag in Rajnagar, Moulvibazar that was issued by King Srichandra during the 10th century. There are also evidences of grants from kings of the Gour Kingdom, Kesava Deva and Isana Deva in Sylhet. These inscriptions were from the 11th century written in Sanskrit and early Bengali, that had also included some Sylheti words.

The Muslim Conquest of Sylhet in 1303 extended the migratory movements of Muslim Turks, Arabs and Afghans, who settled among the native population and greatly influenced the local language. Thus Sylheti derived a large number of words from Persian and Arabic, which cultivated a form of Islamic culture on the dialect or language. A script was developed in the region called Sylheti Nagri, which primarily focused on disseminating Islamic poetry, known as puthi. Its earliest known work had been written during the 1600s, called Bhedsar by Syed Shah Husayn Alam. Its literature was mainly written in Dobhashi, which was a highly Persianised variant of Bengali (as was customary in Middle Bengali literature). Though its phonology and some of its vocabulary was strongly influenced by Sylheti. The script was read and taught culturally among households and was not institutionalised, as the Islamic dynasties who ruled over Bengal established Persian alongside Arabic as the official languages. Printed texts of the script reached its peak during the late 19th century, however its use became obsolete by around the middle of the 20th century.

The earliest appearance of a Sylheti dictionary was the Government Report on the History and Statistics of Sylhet District by T. Walton, B.C.S. in 1857, which contained a list of peculiar Sylheti vocabulary. Many terms that were listed here differ from modern Sylheti – highlighting its evolution. In 1868, another short glossary of local Sylheti terms were written up and compared to standard Bengali to allow ease in understanding the vernacular. There was an influence of the Assamese language on Sylheti when Sylhet was separated from Bengal and became part of the Assam Province, British India in 1874. This however led to an opposition in Sylhet where demands to be reincorporated with the Bengal Province were not taken heed of by the British. Sylhetis not only felt a historical or cultural affinity with Bengal, but also linguistically. Bengali literature had some influence from Sylheti, popular songwriters or poets such as Hason Raja or Shah Abdul Karim, significantly contributed to the literature. Sylhet was reunited with Bengal following a referendum in 1947.

Status

According to Simard, Dopierala and Thaut, Sylheti is a "minoritised, politically unrecognised, and understudied language." It is currently not officially recognised as a language in either Bangladesh or India. Native speakers too consider it to be an informal version of Bengali and not an independent language; and there is a reported language shift to Bengali and a decrease in the number of native speakers since parents are not teaching it to their children. In Bangladesh there is a diglossia where Sylheti is in a low status among other regional dialects while standard Bengali, the official language, has a high status. In the Barak Valley of Assam, India, where majority speak Sylheti, Bengali is also the official language. Colonial study in the 19th century considered Sylheti to be a dialect of Bengali. Sylheti shares some linguistic properties with Bengali, with a lexical similarity of 70%.

Classification

Grierson identified two variations of Sylheti: "Western Sylheti" and "Eastern Sylheti" and grouped them in "Eastern Bengali'". Chatterji too calls it a dialect of Bengali and places it in the eastern Vangiya group but clarifies that all Bengali dialects were independent speeches that did not emanate from the standardised "sadhu bhasha". Among the different dialect groups of the eastern dialects, to which Sylheti belonged, have phonetic and morphological properties that are alien to standard Bengali and other western dialects of Bengali, and these differences are such that Sylheti is more distant to standard Bengali than is Assamese. Recent scholarship notes that these morpho-phonological and mutual intelligibilty differences are significant enough that Sylheti could claim itself as a language on its own right. Ethnologue groups Sylheti in Bengali-Assamese languages; whereas Glotolog gives further subgrouping and places it in "Eastern Bengali", a branch parallel to "Bengali".

Language-dialect controversy

The classification of Sylheti is contentious with it generally identified as a dialect of Bengali, though many consider it a distinct language. Both claims have been made—that the difference between standard Bengali and Sylheti is relatively small, and that the two are not mutually intelligble. Anecdotal evidences collected from the British Bangladeshi community in London agree with the former claim. This difference is resolved on the consideration that the mutual intelligibility claims are an effect of exposure to both languages and that Sylheti speakers, not earlier exposed to Bengali, fail to understand it. The academic consensus is that mutual intelligibility ranges from "unintelligible" to "hardly intelligible"; and on this basis, it is claimed that, linguists almost universally consider Sylheti to be a separate language.

This consideration by linguists is also due to linguistic properties such as phoneme inventory, allophony, inflectional morphology, and lexicon that differ from standard Bengali. Phonologically Sylheti is distinguished from standard Bengali and other regional varieties by significant deaspiration and spirantization, leading to major restructuring of the consonant inventory and the development of tones. Although Grierson had classified Sylheti as an Eastern Bengali dialect, he had identified Sylheti sharing some features with Assamese including a larger set of inflections than Bengali.

Particularly in the United Kingdom, the majority of the diaspora using Sylheti as the main vernacular has led some to view it as a distinct language, due to an environment that was somewhat uninfluenced by standard Bengali. During the 1980s there were unsuccessful attempts to recognise Sylheti as a language in its own right by a small group in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, which lacked support from the Sylheti community itself. On the contrary, such a movement has not yet taken place in Bangladesh as most Sylheti speakers who are proficient in standard Bengali see small differences between the two.

Geographical distribution

Brick Lane (in London) street sign with Bengali transliteration, it is the heart of the Bangladeshi-Sylheti community

Sylheti is the primary dialect or language of northeast Bengal (also known as the Sylhet region) which today comprises the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh and Karimganj district of Assam, India. It is also primarily spoken in the districts of Cachar and Hailakandi of Assam, which alongside Karimganj make up the Barak Valley, as well as in the northern parts of Tripura and the western edge of Manipur. There is also a significant population of Sylheti speakers in the Hojai district of Assam (since before Partition), Shillong in Meghalaya, and the state of Nagaland. A few numbers are also located in Kolkata, most of whom are migrants from Assam.

Outside the Indian subcontinent, the largest Sylheti diaspora communities reside in the United Kingdom and North America. In the UK, there are around 400,000 Sylheti speakers. The largest concentration live in east London boroughs, such as Tower Hamlets. In the United States, most are concentrated in New York City borough's such as the Bronx, and there are significant numbers in Hamtramck, Michigan where they constitute the majority of Bangladeshis in the city. There are also small numbers located in Toronto, Canada. Significant Sylheti-speaking communities reside in the Middle East of which most are migrant workers, and in many other countries throughout the world.

Writing system

Sylheti currently does not have a standardised writing system. Historically, Sylheti Nagri was commonly used by some Muslims of the east of the Sylhet region and mostly limited to writing religious poetry. This written form was identical to those written in the Dobhashi register due to both lacking the use of tatsama and using Perso-Arabic vocabulary as a replacement. As per Dobhashi custom, many Sylheti Nagri texts were paginated from right to left. An endangered script, it has since seen a revival mostly by academics and linguists. Bengali is the medium of instruction in Bangladesh, some may therefore write in Sylheti using the Bengali script, though it is viewed as more formal to write in standard Bengali.

Phonology

Sylheti is distinguished by its tonal characteristics and a wide range of fricative consonants corresponding to aspirated consonants in closely related languages and dialects such as Bengali; a lack of the breathy voiced stops; word-final stress; and a relatively large set of loanwords from other Bengali dialects and Assamese.

Vowels   Front Central Back Close i ꠁ   u ꠃ Close-mid e ꠄ     Open-mid     ɔ ꠅ Open   a ꠀ

Consonants   Labial Dental/ Alveolar Retroflex Palato- alveolar Velar Glottal Nasal m ꠝ n ꠘ     ŋ ꠋ   Plosive/ Affricate voiceless unaspirated p ꠙ, ꠚ t̪ ꠔ, ꠕ ʈ ꠐ, ꠑ t͡ʃ ꠌ, ꠍ k ꠇ, ꠈ   voiced unaspirated b ꠛ, ꠜ d̪ ꠖ, ꠗ ɖ ꠒ, ꠓ d͡ʒ ꠎ, ꠏ ɡ ꠉ, ꠊ   Fricative voiceless fricative ɸ~f ꠙ, ꠚ s ꠌ, ꠍ   ʃ ꠡ x ꠇ, ꠈ   voiced fricative   z ꠎ, ꠏ       ɦ ꠢ Flap   ɾ ꠞ ɽ ꠠ       Approximant w l ꠟ   j

Tone

Sylheti is a tonal language. The Indo-Aryan languages are not generally recognised for tone. There are two types of tonal contrasts in Sylheti: the emergence of high tone in the vowels following the loss of aspiration, and a level tone elsewhere.

Word	Transliteration	Tone	Meaning
ꠀꠔ	at	level	intestine
‘ꠀꠔ	át	high	hand
ꠇꠣꠟꠤ	xali	level	ink
ꠈꠣꠟꠤ	xáli	high	empty
ꠉꠥꠠꠣ	guṛa	level	powder
ꠊꠥꠠꠣ	gúṛa	high	horse
ꠌꠥꠞꠤ	suri	level	theft
ꠍꠥꠞꠤ	súri	high	knife
ꠎꠣꠟ	zal	level	net, web
ꠏꠣꠟ	zál	high	spicy/punjent
ꠐꠤꠇ	ṭik	level	tick
ꠑꠤꠇ	ṭík	high	correct
ꠒꠣꠟ	ḍal	level	branch
ꠓꠣꠟ	ḍál	high	shield
ꠔꠣꠟ	tal	level	palmyra, rhythm
ꠕꠣꠟ	tál	high	plate
ꠖꠣꠘ	dan	level	donation
ꠗꠣꠘ	dán	high	paddy
ꠙꠥꠟ	ful	level	bridge
ꠚꠥꠟ	fúl	high	flower
ꠛꠣꠟꠣ	bala	level	bangle
ꠜꠣꠟꠣ	bála	high	good, welfare
ꠛꠣꠔ	bat	level	arthritis
ꠜꠣꠔ	bát	high	rice

Recent study shows that there is a three way tonal system in Sylheti.

No.	Word	IPA	Tone	Meaning	Word	IPA	Tone	Meaning	Word	IPA	Tone	Meaning
1	ꠙꠣꠑꠣ	ɸáʈá	High	goat	ꠚꠣꠐꠣ	ɸàʈà	Low	torn	ꠙꠣꠐꠣ	ɸāʈā	Mid	grindstone
2	ꠇꠥꠑꠣ	kúʈá	High	room	ꠈꠥꠐꠣ	kùʈà	Low	taunting	ꠇꠥꠐꠣ	kūʈā	Mid	stick
3	ꠙꠣꠈꠣ	ɸáxá	High	fan	ꠚꠣꠇꠣ	ɸàxà	Low	empty	ꠙꠣꠇꠣ	ɸāxā	Mid	ripe

It is considered that these tones arose when aspirated consonants lost their aspiration. Sylheti continues to have a long history of coexisting with other Tibeto-Burman languages such as various dialects of Kokborok, Reang which are tonal in nature. Even though there is no clear evidence of direct borrowing of lexical items from those tonal languages into Sylheti, there is still a possibility that the emergence of Sylheti tones is due to an areal feature as the indigenous speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages by and large use Sylheti as a common medium for interaction.

Grammar

Sylheti grammar is the study of the morphology and syntax of Sylheti.

Nouns

Case

When a definite article such as -gu/ţa (singular) or -guin/ţin (plural) is added, nouns are also inflected for number. Below are two tables which show the inflections of an animate noun, ꠍꠣꠔ꠆ꠞ satrô (student), and an inanimate noun, ꠎꠥꠔꠣ zuta (shoe).

Noun Inflection

	Animate		Inanimate
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ꠍꠣꠔ꠆ꠞꠉꠥ/ꠍꠣꠔ꠆ꠞꠐꠣ satrô-gu/satrô-ţa the student	ꠍꠣꠔ꠆ꠞꠢꠇꠟ satrô-hôxôl the students	ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠉꠥ/ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠐꠣ zuta-gu/zuta-ţa the shoe	ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠉꠥꠁꠘ/ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠐꠤꠘ/ꠎꠥꠔꠣ‌ꠎꠥꠠꠣ zuta-guin/zuta-ţin/zuta-zuŗa the shoes
Objective	ꠍꠣꠔ꠆ꠞꠉꠥꠞꠦ/ꠍꠣꠔ꠆ꠞꠐꠣꠞꠦ satrô-gu-re/satrô-ţa-re (to) the student	ꠍꠣꠔ꠆ꠞꠢꠇꠟꠞꠦ satrô-hôxl-ôre (to) the students	ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠉꠥꠞꠦ/ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠐꠣꠞꠦ zuta-gu-re/zuta-ţa-re (to) the shoe	ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠉꠥꠁꠘꠔꠞꠦ/ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠐꠤꠘꠔꠞꠦ zuta-guint-ôre/zuta-ţint-ôre (to) the shoes
Genitive	ꠍꠣꠔ꠆ꠞꠉꠥꠞ/ꠍꠣꠔ꠆ꠞꠐꠣꠞ satrô-gu-r/satrô-ţa-r the student's	ꠍꠣꠔ꠆ꠞꠢꠇꠟꠞ satrô-hôxl-ôr the students'	ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠉꠥꠞ/ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠐꠣꠞ zuta-gu-r/zuta-ţa-r the shoe's	ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠉꠥꠁꠘꠔꠞ zuta-guint-ôr the shoes'
Locative	–	–	ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠉꠥꠔ/ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠐꠣꠔ zuta-gu-t/zuta-ţa-t on/in the shoe	ꠎꠥꠔꠣꠉꠥꠁꠘꠔꠧ zuta-guint-ô on/in the shoes

All of the inflected nouns above have an indefinite article preceding their case markers. There are some basic rules to keep in mind about the cases, apart from the "default" nominative.

For the genitive case, the ending may change, though never with a definite article attached. A noun (without an article) which ends in a consonant or the inherent vowel, ꠅ ô, is inflected by adding –ꠞ -ôr to the end of the word (and deleting the inherent vowel if applicable). An example of this would be the genitive of ꠉꠥꠍ gus "meat" being ꠉꠥꠍꠔꠞ gustôr "of meat" or "(the) meat's". A noun which ends in any vowel apart from the inherent vowel will just have a {{{text}}}-ꠞ -r following it, as in the genitive of ꠙꠥꠀ fua being ꠙꠥꠀꠞ fuar "(the) boy's". The genitive ending is also applied to verbs (in their verbal noun forms), which is most commonly seen when using postpositions (for example: ꠢꠤꠇꠣꠞ ꠟꠣꠉꠤ hikar lagi, "for learning").

For the locative case, the marker also changes in a similar fashion to the genitive case, with consonants and the inherent vowel having their own ending, -ꠧ -ô, and all other vowels having another ending, -ꠔ -t. For example, ꠍꠤꠟꠐꠧ silôţô "in Sylhet", ꠑꠣꠇꠣꠔ dáxát "in Dhaka", etc.

Measure words

When counted, nouns must also be accompanied by the appropriate measure word. The noun's measure word (MW) must be used in between the numeral and the noun. Most nouns take the generic measure word gu/ţa/xán, although there are many more specific measure words, such as zôn, which is only used to count humans.

Measure Words

Sylheti	Literal translation	Meaning
Nôy-ţa ghoŗi	Nine-MW clock	Nine clocks
Xôy-ţa balish	How many-MW pillow	How many pillows
Ônex-zôn manush	Many-MW person	Many people
Sair-fas-zôn mashţôr	Four-five-MW teacher	Four or five teachers

Measuring nouns in Sylheti without their corresponding measure words (e.g. aţ mekur instead of aţ-ţa mekur "eight cats") would typically be considered ungrammatical. However, omitting the noun and preserving the measure word is grammatical and not uncommon to hear. For example, Xáli êx-zôn táxbô. (lit. "Only one-MW will remain.") would be understood to mean "Only one person will remain.", since zôn can only be used to count humans.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Sylheti personal pronouns are somewhat similar to English pronouns, having different words for first, second, and third person, and also for singular and plural (unlike for verbs, below). Sylheti pronouns, like their English counterparts, do differentiate for gender. Sylheti has different third-person pronouns for proximity. The first are used for someone who is nearby, and the second are for those who are a little further away. The third are usually for those who are not present. In addition, each of the second- and third-person pronouns have different forms for the familiar and polite forms; the second person also has a "very familiar" form (sometimes called "despective"). It may be noted that the "very familiar" form is used when addressing particularly close friends or family as well as for addressing subordinates, or in abusive language. In the following tables, the abbreviations used are as follows: VF=very familiar, F=familiar, and P=polite (honor); H=here, T=there, E=elsewhere (proximity), and I=inanimate.

The nominative case is used for pronouns that are the subject of the sentence, such as "I already did that" or "Will you please stop making that noise?"

Personal pronouns (nominative case)

Subject	Proximity	Honor	Singular	Plural
1		VF	ꠝꠥꠁ (mui, I)	ꠝꠞꠣ (môra, we)
		F	ꠀꠝꠤ (ami, I)	ꠀꠝꠞꠣ (amra, we)
2		VF	ꠔꠥꠁ (tui, you)	ꠔꠥꠞꠣ (tura, you)
		F	ꠔꠥꠝꠤ (tumi, you)	ꠔꠥꠝꠞꠣ/ꠔꠥꠝꠤ-ꠔꠣꠁꠘ (tumra/tumi-tain, you)
		P	ꠀꠙꠘꠦ (afne, you)	ꠀꠙꠘꠣꠞꠣ (afnara, you)
3	H	F	ꠄ (e, he), ꠄꠁ (ei, she) / ꠁꠉꠥ (igu, he/she)	ꠄꠞꠣ (era, they)
		P	ꠄꠁꠘ (ein, he/she)	ꠄꠞꠣ/ꠄꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠁꠘ (era/ein-tain, they)
		I	ꠁꠉꠥ/ꠁꠇꠐꠣ (igu/ikţa, it)	ꠁꠉꠥꠁꠘ (iguin, these)
	T	F	ꠢꠦ (he, he), ꠔꠣꠁ (tai, she)	ꠔꠣꠞꠣ (tara, they)
		P	ꠔꠣꠁꠘ (tain, he/she)	ꠔꠣꠞꠣ/ꠔꠣꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠁꠘ (tara/tain-tain, they)
		I	ꠅꠉꠥ/ꠅꠇꠐꠣ (ôgu/ôxţa, it)	ꠅꠉꠥꠁꠘ (ôguin, those)
	E	F	ꠢꠦ (he, he), ꠔꠣꠁ (tai, she)	ꠔꠣꠞꠣ (tara, they)
		P	ꠔꠣꠁꠘ (tain, he/she)	ꠔꠣꠞꠣ/ꠔꠣꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠁꠘ (tara/tain-tain, they)
		I	ꠢꠉꠥ/ꠢꠇꠐꠣ (hôgu/hôxţa, it)	ꠢꠉꠥꠁꠘ (hôguin, those)

The objective case is used for pronouns serving as the direct or indirect objects, such as "I told him to wash the dishes" or "The teacher gave me the homework assignment". The inanimate pronouns remain the same in the objective case.

Personal pronouns (objective case)

Subject	Proximity	Honor	Singular	Plural
1		VF	ꠝꠞꠦ (môre, me)	ꠝꠞꠣꠞꠦ (môrare, us)
		F	ꠀꠝꠣꠞꠦ (amare, me)	ꠀꠝꠞꠣꠞꠦ (amrare, us)
2		VF	ꠔꠞꠦ (tôre, you)	ꠔꠥꠞꠣꠞꠦ (turare, you)
		F	ꠔꠥꠝꠣꠞꠦ (tumare, you)	ꠔꠥꠝꠞꠣꠞꠦ/ꠔꠥꠝꠣ-ꠔꠣꠘꠞꠦ (tumrare/tuma-tanre, you)
		P	ꠀꠙꠘꠣꠞꠦ (afnare, you)	ꠀꠙꠘꠣꠞꠣꠞꠦ/ꠀꠙꠘꠣꠁꠘꠔꠞꠦ (afnarare/afnaintôre, you)
3	H	F	ꠄꠞꠦ (ere, him), ꠄꠁꠞꠦ (eire, her)	ꠄꠞꠣꠞꠦ (erare, them)
		P	ꠄꠘꠞꠦ (enre, him/her)	ꠄꠞꠣꠞꠦ/ꠄꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠘꠞꠦ (erare/ein-tanre, them)
		I	ꠁꠉꠥꠞꠦ/ꠁꠇꠐꠣꠞꠦ (igure/ikţare, it)	ꠁꠉꠥꠁꠘꠔꠞꠦ (iguintôre, these)
	T	F	ꠄꠞꠦ (ere, him), ꠄꠁꠞꠦ (eire, her)	ꠄꠞꠣꠞꠦ (erare, them)
		P	ꠄꠘꠞꠦ (enre, him/her)	ꠄꠞꠣꠞꠦ/ꠄꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠘꠞꠦ (erare/ein-tanre, them)
		I	ꠅꠉꠥꠞꠦ/ꠅꠇꠐꠣꠞꠦ (ôgure/ôxţare, it)	ꠅꠉꠥꠁꠘꠔꠞꠦ (ôguintôre, those)
	E	F	ꠢꠦꠞꠦ/ꠔꠣꠞꠦ (here/tare, him), ꠔꠣꠁꠞꠦ (taire, her)	ꠔꠣꠞꠣꠞꠦ (tarare, them)
		P	ꠔꠣꠘꠞꠦ (tanre, him/her)	ꠔꠣꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠘꠞꠦ (tain-tanre, them)
		I	ꠢꠉꠥ/ꠢꠇꠐꠣ (hôgu/hôxţa, it)	ꠢꠉꠥꠁꠘ (hôguin, those)

The possessive case is used to show possession, such as "Where is your coat?" or "Let's go to our house". In addition, sentences such as "I have a book" (ꠀꠝꠣꠞ ꠄꠇꠐꠣ ꠛꠁ ꠀꠍꠦ) or "I need money" (ꠀꠝꠣꠞ ꠐꠦꠇꠣ ꠖꠞꠇꠣꠞ) also use the possessive (the literal translation of the Bengali versions of these sentences would be "There is my book" and "There is my need for money" respectively).

Personal pronouns (possessive case)

Subject	Proximity	Honor	Singular	Plural
1		VF	ꠝꠞ (môr, my)	ꠝꠞꠣꠞ (môrar, our)
		F	ꠀꠝꠣꠞ (amar, my)	ꠀꠝꠞꠣꠞ (amrar, our)
2		VF	ꠔꠞ (tôr, your)	ꠔꠥꠞꠣꠞ (turar, your)
		F	ꠔꠥꠝꠣꠞ (tomar, your)	ꠔꠥꠝꠞꠣꠞ/ꠔꠥꠝꠣ-ꠔꠣꠘ/ꠔꠥꠝꠣ-ꠔꠣꠘꠞ (tumar/tuma-tan/tuma-tanôr, your)
		P	ꠀꠙꠘꠣꠞ (afnar, your)	ꠀꠙꠘꠣꠞꠣꠞ/ꠀꠙꠘꠣꠁꠘꠔꠞ (afnarar/afnaintôr, your)
3	H	F	ꠄꠞ (er, his), ꠄꠁꠞ (eir, her)	ꠄꠞꠣꠞ (erar, their)
		P	ꠄꠘ/ꠄꠁꠘꠞ (en/einôr, his/her)	ꠄꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠘꠞ (ein-tanôr, their)
		I	ꠁꠉꠥꠞ/ꠁꠇꠐꠣꠞ (igur/ikţar, its)	ꠁꠉꠥꠁꠘꠔꠞ (iguintôr, of these)
	T	F	ꠄꠞ (er, his), ꠄꠁꠞ (eir, her)	ꠄꠞꠣꠞ (erar, their)
		P	ꠄꠘ/ꠄꠁꠘꠞ (en/einôr, his/her)	ꠄꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠘꠞ (ein-tanôr, their)
		I	ꠅꠉꠥꠞ/ꠅꠇꠐꠣꠞ (ogur/oxţar, its)	ꠅꠉꠥꠁꠘꠔꠞ (oguintôr, of those)
	E	F	ꠔꠣꠞ (tar, his/her)	ꠔꠣꠞꠣꠞ (tader, their)
		P	ꠔꠣꠘ/ꠔꠣꠘꠞ (tan/tanôr, his/her)	ꠔꠣꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠘꠞ (tain-tanôr, their)
		I	ꠢꠉꠥꠞ/ꠢꠇꠐꠣꠞ (hôgur/hôxţar, its)	ꠢꠉꠥꠁꠘꠔꠞ (hôguintôr, of those)

Indefinite and negative pronouns

Bengali has no negative pronouns (such as no one, nothing, none). These are typically represented by adding the negative particle ꠘꠣꠄ (nae) to indefinite pronouns, which are themselves derived from their corresponding question words. Common indefinite pronouns are listed below.

Question word	Indefinite pronoun	Indefinite negative pronoun
ꠇꠦ/ꠇꠦꠉꠥ/ꠇꠤꠉꠥ (xe/xegu/kigu, who)	ꠇꠦꠃ (xeu, someone)	ꠇꠦꠃ ꠘꠣꠄ (xeu nae, no one)
ꠇꠣꠞ/ꠇꠦꠉꠥꠞ/ꠇꠤꠉꠞꠥ (xar/xegur/kigur, whose)	ꠇꠦꠃꠞ/ꠇꠦꠃꠞꠞ (xeur/xeurôr, someone's)	ꠇꠦꠃꠞ/ꠇꠦꠃꠞꠞ ꠘꠣꠄ (xeur/xeurôr nae, no one's)
ꠇꠣꠞꠦ (kare, to whom)	ꠇꠦꠃꠞꠦ/ꠇꠦꠃꠞꠞꠦ (xeure/xeurôre, to someone)	ꠇꠦꠃꠞꠦ/ꠇꠦꠃꠞꠞ ꠘꠣꠄ (xeure/xeurôre nae, to someone)
ꠇꠥꠘ (kun, which)	ꠇꠥꠘꠥ/ꠇꠥꠘꠅ (kunu/kunô, any)	ꠇꠥꠘꠥꠉꠥ ꠘꠣꠄ (kunugu nae, none)
ꠇꠤꠔꠣ (kita, what)	ꠇꠤꠍꠥ/ꠇꠥꠘꠔꠣ (kisu/kunta, some/something)	ꠇꠤꠌ꠆ꠍꠥ/ꠇꠥꠘꠔꠣ ꠘꠣꠄ (kichchu/kunta nae, nothing)

Relative pronouns

The relative pronoun ꠎꠦ (ze) and its different variants, as shown below, are commonly employed in complex sentences. The relative pronouns for animate objects change for number and honor, but those for inanimate objects stay the same.

Animate relative pronouns

	Nominative (who)	Genitive (whose)	Objective (to whom)
Singular (VF/F)	ꠎꠦ	ꠎꠣꠞ	ꠎꠣꠞꠦ
Singular (P)	ꠎꠦꠁꠘ	ꠎꠦꠘ	ꠎꠦꠘꠞꠦ
Plural (VF/F)	ꠎꠣꠞꠣ	ꠎꠣꠞꠣꠞ	ꠎꠣꠞꠣꠞꠦ
Plural (P)	ꠎꠦꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠁꠘ	ꠎꠦꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠘ	ꠎꠦꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠘꠞꠦ

Inanimate relative pronouns

Nominative/Objective (which)	Genitive (of which)	Locative (in which)
ꠎꠦꠔꠣ	ꠎꠦꠔꠣꠞ	ꠎꠦꠔꠣꠔ

Adjectives

Adjectives do not inflect for case, gender, or number in Sylheti and are placed before the noun they modify.

Some adjectives form their opposites by prefixing ꠅ- (before consonants) or ꠅꠘ- (before vowels) or ꠘꠤ-, for example, the opposite of ꠡꠝ꠆ꠜꠛ (shômbôb, "possible") is ꠅꠡꠝ꠆ꠜꠛ (ôshômbôb, impossible"), the opposite of ꠝꠣꠔꠞꠣ (matra, speaker") is ꠘꠤꠝꠣꠔꠞꠣ (nimatra, quite").

Demonstrative adjectives – this and that – correspond to ꠁ and ꠅꠃ respectively, with the definite article attached to the following noun. Thus, this book would translate to ꠁ ꠛꠁꠐꠣ, while those books would translate to ꠅꠃ ꠛꠁꠐꠣ.

Comparatives and superlatives

Sylheti adjectives form their comparative forms with ꠀꠞꠅ (arô, "more"), and their superlative forms with ꠡꠛ ꠕꠣꠇꠤ (shôb táki, "than all"). Comparisons are formed by using genitive form of the object of comparison, followed by the postposition ꠕꠣꠇꠤ/ꠕꠘꠦ/ꠌꠦ (táki/tóne/se, "than") or the postposition ꠟꠣꠇꠣꠘ (laxan, "like") and then by ꠀꠞꠅ (arô, "more") or ꠇꠝ (xôm, "less"). The word for "more" is optional, but the word for "less" is required, so in its absence "more" is inferred. Adjectives can be additionally modified by using ꠛꠣꠇ꠆ꠇꠣ/ꠛꠃꠔ/ꠅꠘꠦꠇ (bakka/bout/ônex, "much") or ꠅꠘꠦꠇ ꠛꠦꠡꠤ (ônex beshi, "much more"), which are especially useful for comparing quantities.

Sylheti	Literal Translation	Meaning
ꠇꠞꠤꠝ ꠞꠢꠤꠝ ꠕꠘꠦ ꠟꠣꠝ꠆ꠛꠣ	Karim of Rahim than tall	Karim is taller than Rahim
ꠇꠞꠤꠝ ꠞꠢꠤꠝ ꠕꠣꠇꠤ ꠀꠞꠅ ꠟꠣꠝ꠆ꠛꠣ	Karim of Rahim than more tall	Karim is taller than Rahim
ꠇꠞꠤꠝ ꠞꠢꠤꠝ ꠕꠘꠦ ꠇꠝ ꠟꠣꠝ꠆ꠛꠣ	Karim of Rahim than less tall	Karim is shorter than Rahim
ꠇꠞꠤꠝ ꠞꠢꠤꠝꠞ ꠟꠣꠇꠣꠘ ꠟꠣꠝ꠆ꠛꠣ	Karim of Rahim like tall	Karim is as tall as Rahim
ꠇꠞꠤꠝ ꠞꠢꠤꠝ ꠕꠣꠇꠤ ꠛꠃꠔ ꠟꠣꠝ꠆ꠛꠣ	Karim of Rahim than much tall	Karim is much taller than Rahim

Verbs

Sylheti verbs are highly inflected and are regular with only few exceptions. They consist of a stem and an ending; they are traditionally listed in Sylheti dictionaries in their "verbal noun" form, which is usually formed by adding -a to the stem: for instance, ꠇꠞꠣ (xôra, to do) is formed from the stem ꠇꠞ. The stem can end in either a vowel or a consonant. Verbs are conjugated for tense and person by changing the endings, which are largely the same for all verbs. However, the stem vowel can often change as part of the phenomenon known as "vowel harmony", whereby one vowel can be influenced by other vowels in the word to sound more harmonious. An example would be the verb "to write", with stem lex-: ꠟꠦꠈꠧ (lexô, you all write) but also ꠟꠦꠈꠤ (lekí, we write). If verbs are classified by stem vowel and if the stem ends in a consonant or vowel, there are nine basic classes in which most verbs can be placed; all verbs in a class will follow the same pattern. A prototype verb from each of these classes will be used to demonstrate conjugation for that class; bold will be used to indicate mutation of the stem vowel. Additionally, there are irregular verbs, such as ꠎꠣꠅꠀ (zaoa, to go) that change the first consonant in their stem in certain conjugations.

Like many other Indo-Aryan languages (such as Bengali or Assamese), nouns can be turned into verbs by combining them with select auxiliary verbs. In Sylheti, the most common such auxiliary verb is ꠇꠞꠣ (xôra, to do); thus, verbs such as joke are formed by combining the noun form of joke (ꠓꠋ) with to do (ꠇꠞꠣ) to create ꠓꠋ ꠇꠞꠣ. When conjugating such verbs the noun part of such a verb is left untouched, so in the previous example, only ꠇꠞꠣ would be inflected or conjugated (e.g.: "I will make a joke" becomes ꠀꠝꠤ ꠓꠋ ꠇꠞꠝꠥ; see more on tenses below). Other auxiliary verbs include ꠖꠦꠅꠀ and ꠘꠦꠅꠀ, but the verb ꠇꠞꠣ enjoys significant usage because it can be combined with foreign verbs to form a native version of the verb, even if a direct translation exists. Most often this is done with English verbs: for example, "to vote" is often referred to as ꠜꠥꠐ ꠖꠦꠅꠀ (búţ deoa, where búţ is the transliteration of "vote").

Copula

Sylheti is considered a zero copula language in some aspects.

• In the simple present tense there is no verb connecting the subject to the predicative (the "zero verb" copula). There is one notable exception, however, which is when the predicative takes on the existential, locative, or possessive aspects; for such purposes, the incomplete verb ꠀꠍ- (as) is used, which is conjugated according to the rules given below.
• In the past tense, the incomplete verb ꠀꠍ- is always used as the copula, regardless of the nature of the predicative.
• For the future tense and non-finite structures, the copula is supplied by the verb ‘ꠅꠅꠀ (ówa), with the only exception being the possessive predicative for which the verb ꠕꠣꠇꠣ (táxa, "to remain") is utilized.

The following table demonstrates the rules above with some examples.

English	Sylheti	Notes
I am happy	ꠀꠝꠤ ꠈꠥꠡꠤ	No verb used to denote the copula
There is time	ꠡꠝꠄ ꠀꠍꠦ	ꠀꠍ- used to connect to an existential predicative
I am at home	ꠀꠝꠤ ꠛꠣꠠꠤꠔ ꠀꠍꠤ	ꠀꠍ- used to connect to a locative predicative
We were happy	ꠀꠝꠞꠣ ꠛꠦꠎꠣꠞ ꠀꠍꠟꠣꠝ	In the past tense, ꠀꠍ- is used as the copula
I will be at home	ꠀꠝꠤ ꠛꠣꠠꠤꠔ ꠕꠣꠇꠝꠥ	In the future tense, ꠕꠣꠇꠣ is used as the copula
He will have a car	ꠔꠣꠞ ꠄꠈꠣꠘ ꠉꠣꠠꠤ ꠕꠣꠇꠛ	In the future tense, ꠕꠣꠇꠣ is used to connect to a possessive predicative

Negation

There are three sentence negators employed in Sylheti:

• The zero verb copula is negated using the incomplete negator ꠘ-, which is conjugated as ꠘꠣꠄ (1), ꠘꠣꠁ (2), ꠘꠣ (3).
• Existential sentences that use the verb ꠀꠍ- are negated with ꠘꠣꠁ (nai), which does not need to be conjugated.
• All other verbs (with the exceptions of the ones listed above) are negated using the universal negative particle ꠘꠣꠄ (nae). ꠘꠣꠄ is typically placed after the finite verb (see examples below), but can also be placed at the end of the sentence, which negates the whole sentence. ꠘꠣꠄ can be used in all tenses except two: the present perfect and the past perfect.
• Verbs in the present perfect and the past perfect tenses are negated using the suffix -ꠘꠣ (na) which can also refer to "no" in yes-no questions.

Negating verbs

English	Sylheti	Notes
I am not happy	ꠀꠝꠤ ꠈꠥꠡꠤ ꠘꠣꠄ	Incomplete negator ꠘ- conjugated for first-person
We don't have a car	ꠀꠝꠞꠣꠞ ꠉꠣꠠꠤ ꠘꠣꠁ	ꠘꠣꠁ used to negate ꠀꠍ-, which is completely replaced
I don't work	ꠀꠝꠤ ꠇꠣꠝ ꠇꠞꠤ ꠘꠣ	ꠘꠣ is used to negate all other finite verbs
I didn't help him	ꠀꠝꠤ ꠔꠣꠞꠦ ꠡꠣꠁꠎ꠆ꠏ ꠇꠞꠍꠤꠟꠣꠝ ꠘꠣ

Person

Verbs are inflected for person and honour, but not for number. There are five forms: first person, second person (very familiar), second person (familiar), third person (familiar), and second/third person (polite). The same sample subject pronouns will be used for all the example conjugation paradigms: mui (ꠝꠥꠁ), ami (ꠀꠝꠤ), tui (ꠔꠥꠁ), tumi (ꠔꠥꠝꠤ), he (ꠢꠦ), tai (ꠔꠣꠁ) and afne (ꠀꠙꠘꠦ). These have the following plurals respectively: môra (ꠝꠞꠣ), amra (ꠀꠝꠞꠣ), tura (ꠔꠥꠞꠣ), tumra (ꠔꠥꠝꠞꠣ)/tumi-tain (ꠔꠥꠝꠤ-ꠔꠣꠁꠘ), tara (ꠔꠣꠞꠣ)/tain-tain (ꠔꠣꠁꠘ-ꠔꠣꠁꠘ) and afnara (ꠀꠙꠘꠣꠞꠣ).

Comparison

A notable characteristic of spoken Sylheti is the correspondence of the /x/ and /ɦ/, pronounced as a voiceless velar fricative to the /k/ or /kʰ/ of Bengali and voiceless glottal fricative to the /x/ of Assamese respectively.

Bengali	Assamese	Sylheti	IPA	Meaning
ঢাকা Dhaka	ঢাকা Dhaka	ꠓꠣꠇꠣ Daxa	/ɖáxa/	Dhaka
একজন লোক Ēkjôn lōk	এজন লোক Ezôn lük	ꠄꠇꠎꠘ ꠝꠣꠘꠥꠡ Ēxzôn manush	/exzɔn manuʃ/	A person
একজন পুরুষ Ekjôn purush	এজন মানুহ Ezôn manuh	‌ꠄꠇꠐꠣ ꠛꠦꠐꠣ Exta beta	/exʈa beʈa/	A man
কীসের Kisher	কিহৰ Kihôr	ꠇꠤꠅꠞ Kior	/kiɔ́ɾ/	Informal of Whereof
কন্যা, মেয়ে Kônna, Meye	জী, ছোৱালী Zi, Süali	ꠇꠂꠘ꠆ꠘꠣ, ꠏꠤ, ꠙꠥꠠꠤ Xôinna, Zí, Furi	/xɔinna/, /zí/, /ɸuɽi/	Daughter
মানবজাতি Manôbjati	মানৱজাতি, মানুহৰ জাতি Manôwzati, Manuhôr zati	ꠝꠣꠁꠘꠡꠞ ꠎꠣꠔ Mainshôr zat	/mainʃɔɾ zat̪/	Mankind
অসমিয়া, অহমিয়া Ôshômiya, Ôhômiya	অসমীয়া Ôxômiya	ꠅꠢꠝꠤꠀ Ôhômia	/ɔɦɔmia/	Assamese people
আঙুল Angul	আঙুলি Anguli	ꠀꠋꠉꠥꠁꠟ Anguil	/aŋguil/	Finger, toe
আংটি Angti	আঙুঠি Anguthi	ꠀꠋꠑꠤ Antí	/aŋʈi/	Ring
আগুনপোড়া Agunpora	জুইত পোৰা, জুইত সেকা Zuit püra, Zuit xeka	ꠀꠉꠥꠁꠘꠙꠥꠞꠣ Aguinfura	/aguinfuɽa/	Baked, grilled
পাখি, চিড়িয়া Pakhi, Chiriya	চৰাই, পখী Sorai, Pokhi	ꠙꠣꠈꠤꠀ, ꠙꠞꠤꠘ꠆ꠖꠣ Fakya, Forinda	/ɸakia/, /ɸɔrinda/	Bird
পরে, বাদে Pôre, Bade	পিছত, পৰত Pisot, Porot	ꠛꠣꠖꠦ, ꠙꠞꠦ Fôre, Bade	/ɸɔɾe/, /bad̪e/	Later
সকল, সমস্ত, সব Shôkôl, Shômôsto, Shômôsto, Shôb	সকলো, সব, চব Xôkôlü; Xôb; Sôb	ꠢꠇꠟ, ꠢꠇ꠆ꠇꠟ, ꠡꠛ, ꠔꠣꠝꠣꠝ Hôxôl, Hôkkôl, Shôb, Tamam	/ɦɔxɔl/, /ɦɔkkɔl/, /ʃɔb/	All
সারা, পুরা Shara, Puro	গোটেই Gutei	ꠀꠍ꠆ꠔꠣ, ꠢꠣꠞꠣ Asta, Hara	/ɦaɾa/	Whole
সাত বিল Shat bil	সাত বিল Xat bil	ꠢꠣꠔ ꠛꠤꠟ Hat bil	/ɦat̪ bil/	Seven wetlands
সাতকড়া Shatkôra	সাতকৰা Xatkôra	ꠢꠣꠔꠇꠠꠣ Hatxôra	/ɦat̪xɔɽa/	Citrus macroptera fruit
সিলেটি Sileṭi	ছিলঠীয়া Silôṭhiya	ꠍꠤꠟꠐꠤ Silôṭi	/silɔʈi/	Sylheti
ভালো করে খান। Bhalo kôre khan.	ভালকৈ খাওক। Bhalkoi khaük.	ꠜꠣꠟꠣ ꠇꠞꠤ/ꠑꠤꠇꠦ ꠈꠣꠃꠇ꠆ꠇꠣ। Bala xôri/tike xaukka.	/bála xɔɾi xaukka/, /bála ʈike xaukka/	Bon appetit
স্ত্রী, পত্নী, বউ Stri, Pôtni, Bôu	স্ত্রী, ঘৈণী, পত্নী Stri, Ghôini, Pôtni	ꠛꠃ Bôu	/bɔu/	Wife
স্বামী, বর, জামাই Shami, Bôr, Jamai	গিৰিয়েক, পতি, স্বামী Giriyêk, Pôti, Swami	ꠢꠣꠁ, ꠎꠣꠝꠣꠁ Hai, Zamai	/zamai/	Husband
জামাই Jamai	জোঁৱাই Züai	ꠖꠣꠝꠣꠘꠖ Damand	/damand/	Son-in-law
শ্বশুর Shôshur	শহুৰ Xôhur	ꠢꠃꠞ Hôur	/ɦɔúɾ/	Father-in-law
শাশুড়ি Shashuṛi	শাহু Xahu	ꠢꠠꠣ Hoṛi	/ɦɔɽi/	Mother-in-law
শালা Shala	খুলশালা Khulxala	ꠢꠣꠟꠣ Hala	/ɦala/	Brother-in-law
শালী Shali	খুলশালী Khulxali	ꠢꠣꠟꠤ Hali	/ɦali/	Sister-in-law
শেখা Shekha	শিকা Xika	ꠢꠤꠇꠣ Hika	/ɦika/	Learn
সরিষা Shôrisha	সৰিয়হ Xôriôh	ꠟꠣꠁ Hôirô	/ɦɔiɾɔ/	Mustard
শিয়াল Shiyal	শিয়াল Xiyal	ꠢꠤꠀꠟ Hial	/ɦial/	Fox, Jackal
বিড়াল Biral, Beral	মেকুৰী, বিৰালী Mekuri, Birali	ꠝꠦꠇꠥꠞ, ꠛꠤꠟꠣꠁ Mekur, Bilai	/mekuɾ/, /bilai/	Cat
শুঁটকি Shuṭki	শুকটি, শুকান মাছ Xukôti, Xukan mas	ꠢꠥꠐꠇꠤ, ꠢꠥꠇꠂꠘ Huṭki, Hukôin	/ɦuʈki/, /ɦukoin/	Sundried Fish
আপনার নাম কী? Apnar nam ki?	আপোনাৰ নাম কি? Apünar nam ki?	ꠀꠙꠘꠣꠞ ꠘꠣꠝ ꠇꠤꠔꠣ? Afnar nam kita?	/aɸnaɾ nam kit̪a/	What's your name?
ডাক্তার আসার পূর্বে রোগী মারা গেল। Daktar ashar purbe rogi mara gelo	ডাক্তৰ অহাৰ আগতেই ৰোগী মৰি গ’ল। Daktor ohar agotei rügi mori gól	ꠒꠣꠇ꠆ꠔꠞ ꠀꠅꠣ ꠀꠉꠦꠃ ꠛꠦꠝꠣꠞꠤ ꠝꠞꠤ ꠉꠦꠟ। Daxtôr awar ageu bemari môri gelo.	/ɖaxt̪ɔɾ awaɾ age bemaɾi mɔɾi gelo/	Before the doctor came, the patient had died.
বহুদিন দেখিনি। Bôhudin dekhini.	বহুদিন দেখা নাই। Bôhudin dekha nai.	ꠛꠣꠇ꠆ꠇꠣ ꠖꠤꠘ ꠖꠦꠈꠍꠤ ꠘꠣ। Bakka din dexsi na.	/bakka d̪in d̪exsi na/	Long time, no see.
আপনি কি ভালো আছেন? Apni ki bhalo achhen?	আপুনি ভালে আছেনে? Apuni bhale asênê?	ꠀꠙꠘꠦ ꠜꠣꠟꠣ ꠀꠍꠂꠘ ꠘꠤ? Afne bala asôin ni?	/aɸne bála asoin ni/	How are you?
আমি তোমাকে ভালোবাসি। Ami tomake bhalobashi.	মই তোমাক ভাল পাওঁ। Moi tümak bhal paü.	ꠀꠝꠤ ꠔꠥꠝꠣꠞꠦ ꠜꠣꠟꠣ ꠙꠣꠁ। Ami tumare bala fai.	/ami t̪umare bála ɸai/	I love you.
আমি ভুলে গিয়েছি। Ami bhule giyechhi.	মই পাহৰি গৈছোঁ। Môi pahôri goisü.	ꠀꠝꠤ ꠙꠣꠅꠞꠤ ꠟꠤꠍꠤ। Ami faûri lisi.	/ami ɸaʊɾi lisi/	I have forgotten.
মাংসের ঝোলটা আমার খুব ভালো লেগেছে। Mangsher jholṭa amar khub bhalo legeche.	‍মাংসৰ তৰকাৰীখন মোৰ খুব ভাল লাগিছে। Mangxôr tôrkarikhôn mür khub bhal lagise.	ꠉꠥꠍꠔꠞ ꠍꠣꠟꠘꠐꠣ ꠀꠝꠣꠞ ꠛꠣꠇ꠆ꠇꠣ ꠜꠣꠟꠣ ꠟꠣꠉꠍꠦ। Gustôr salônṭa amar bakka bala lagse.	/gust̪ɔɾ salɔnʈa amaɾ bakka bála lagse/	I liked the meat curry.
শিলচর কোনদিকে? Shilcôr kondike?	শিলচৰ কোনফালে? Xilsôr künphale?	ꠢꠤꠟꠌꠞ ꠇꠥꠘꠛꠣꠄ/ꠇꠥꠘꠛꠣꠁꠖꠤ/ꠇꠥꠘꠝꠥꠈꠣ? Hilcôr kunbae/kunbaidi/kunmuka?	/ɦil͡tʃɔɾ kunbae, kunbaed̪i, kunmuká/	Which way to Silchar?
এটা কী? Eṭa ki?	এইটো কি? Eitü ki?	ꠁꠉꠥ/ꠁꠇꠐꠣ/ꠁꠐꠣ ꠇꠤꠔꠣ? Igu/Ikṭa/Iṭa kita?	/igu, ikʈa, iʈa kit̪a/	What is this?
সেটা কী? Sheṭa ki?	সেইটো কি? Xeitü ki?	ꠢꠤꠉꠥ/ꠢꠤꠇꠐꠣ/ꠢꠤꠐꠣ ꠇꠤꠔꠣ? Higu/Hikṭa/Hiṭa kita?	/ɦigu, ɦikʈa, ɦiʈa kit̪a/	What is that?
শেষ Shesh	শেষ Xex	ꠢꠦꠡ Hesh	/ɦeʃ/	End, finish

Comparison with standard Bengali

A phrase in:

• Standard Bengali: এক দেশের গালি আরেক দেশের বুলি æk desher gali arek desher buli.
• Sylheti: ꠄꠇ ꠖꠦꠡꠞ ꠉꠣꠁꠟ ꠀꠣꠞꠇ ꠖꠦꠡꠞ ꠝꠣꠔ/এখ দেশর গাইল, আরখ দেশর মাত ex deshôr gail arôx deshôr mát.

which literally means "one land's obscenity is another land's language", and can be roughly translated to convey that a similar word in one language can mean something very different in another.

Another example: মেঘ megh in Standard Bengali means cloud .

ꠝꠦꠊ/মেঘ megh in Sylheti means rain.

In Pali मेघ megha means both rain and cloud.

See also

• Languages of Bangladesh

Bibliography

• Chatterji, Suniti Kumar (1926). The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language. Calcutta University Press.
• Gope, Amalesh; Mahanta, Sakuntala (2014). Lexical Tones in Sylheti (PDF). 4th International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages (TAL-2014). Retrieved 27 June 2020.
• Grierson, G A, ed. (1903). Linguistic Survey of India: Indo-Aryan Family Eastern Group. Vol. V. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
• Khan, Sameer Ud Dowla (21 February 2018). "Amago Bhasha: In celebration of our ethnic and linguistic diversity". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
• Lawson, Sarah; Sachdev, Itesh (2004). "Identity, Language Use and Attitudes: Some Sylheti-Bangladeshi Data from London, UK". Journal of Language and Social Psychology. 23 (1): 49–60. doi:10.1177/0261927X03261223. S2CID 144496795.
• Mahanta, Sakuntala; Gope, Amalesh (2018). "Tonal polarity in Sylheti in the context of noun faithfulness". Language Sciences. 69: 80–97. doi:10.1016/j.langsci.2018.06.010.
• McCarthy, K. M.; Evans, B. G.; Mahon, M. (2013). "Acquiring a second language in an immigrant community: The production of Sylheti and English stops and vowels by London-Bengali speakers". Journal of Phonetics. 41 (5): 344–358. doi:10.1016/j.wocn.2013.03.006.
• Sen, Satarupa (2020). "Mapping of spirantization and deaspiration in Sylheti: An Optimality Theory analysis" (PDF). Language Documentation and Description. 18: 42–55. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
• Simard, Candide; Dopierala, Sarah M; Thaut, E Marie (2020). "Introducing the Sylheti language and its speakers, and the SOAS Sylheti project" (PDF). Language Documentation and Description. 18: 1–22. Retrieved 16 October 2020.

External links

Sylheti phrasebook travel guide from Wikivoyage