Talk:Sylheti language
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[edit] Userbox
The following can be added to userboxes to indicate the user speaks Sylheti:
{{User language|
|language-code=syl
|language-name=Sylheti language
|level=N
|description=This user is a '''[[:Category:User syl-N|native]]'''
speaker of '''[[Sylheti language|Sylheti]]'''.
}}
AA, 09:25, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
___
- There is a slight error with the category in the code above. Here's a slight fix:
{{User language|
|language-code=syl
|language-name=Sylheti language
|level=N
|description=This user is a '''[[Category:User syl-N|native]]'''
speaker of '''[[Sylheti language|Sylheti]]'''.
}}
- Jagged 85 10:03, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
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- The word "native" with wikified link is not shown. The colon is necessary to show the full description.
- AA, 12:05, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Uniqueness
The examples in the table are arbitrary. Most of the people of Bangladesh call a shoe by "জুতা" (Juta), only in standard written Bangla, it is sometimes (mostly by authors from West Bengal) as "Juto". Same goes for "Kala" - there is nothing unique in this, and it's used by most Bangladeshis from other regions as well.
The whole section, therefore, needs references from reliable sources. --Ragib 22:19, 24 April 2007 (UTC)
- Reference from STAR added (who have done extensive research in the Sylheti language). Sylheti is most definitely a language, having both a distinct oral and written differentiator from other languages. The fact that the written script has wained off since the independence of Bangladesh does not make it any less of a language. → AA (talk • contribs) — 22:33, 24 April 2007 (UTC)
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- Thanks for the reference. Could you reword the section title and the table too, or provide other examples? The table, as I commented above, doesn't look convincing enough to support the claims. Such vocabulary differences are available in every dialect, and perhaps you could elaborate along the line of word origins, opinion from linguists etc. Thanks a lot. --Ragib 22:36, 24 April 2007 (UTC)
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- Also, Sylheti Nagari script examples (images) should be interesting. If you have pictures of documents written using the script, please add it to the page. Thanks. --Ragib 23:02, 24 April 2007 (UTC)
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[edit] Notes for incorporating into article
- Exact origins unknown and earliest surviving manuscriptss date from either 1549 or 1774.
- Traditional story of the origin of the alphabet is around beginning of 14th century by Hazrat Shah Jalal.
- In late 17th century, Persian became official language of Delhi Sultanate and Perso-Arabic script was used for official documentation. Sylheti language and alphabet continued to be used by ordinary people.
- In 1860s, Moulvi Abdul Karim of Sylhet, spent several years in Europe where he learnt the printing trade. Returned to Sylhet in 1870s and setup first printing press in Sylhet Town (Islamia Press) using woodblock type for the alphabet. Other presses setup in Sunamgonj, Shillong and Calcutta. These presses dwindled out of use following independence of Bangladesh. Since then Nagri used mainly by academics and linguists.
- The alphabet is written in horizontal lines from left to right, but Sylheti books are paginated from right to left. This means that the front cover of a Sylhettan book is where the back cover of an English book would be.
- This is a syllabic alphabet in which consonants all have an inherent vowel. Other vowels are indicated with diacritics or separate letters. The inherent vowel can be muted with a special diacritic called a hasanta.
- Vowels can be written as independent letters, or by using a variety of diacritical marks which are written above, below, before or after the consonant they belong to.
- When consonants occur together in clusters, special conjunct letters are used. The letters for the consonants other than the final one in the group are reduced. The inherent vowel only applies to the final consonant.
Syloti Nagri alphabet
→ AA (talk • contribs) — 00:04, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
- Interesting. I have some questions:
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- How common was the usage of Nagri script compared with Bengali script? (any numbers?)
- Not sure - will try to find out.
- Any linguistic study from peer reviewed journals on this? (suggest looking via JSTOR and other publications). The linguist community should be quite interested in such a topic, and there might be some publications from linguists if you dig deep enough :). If you can't access JSTOR, you can ask me to look up the journal/publication by giving the article title/author.
- I did come across something on JSTOR but I didn't have access. Thanks for the offer. I'll let you know the article details.
- Any major publication in the script? (Newspaper, books etc.)
- Many books[1]. I'm kicking myself now as I had a "puthi" in Nagri which got destroyed recently. Some of the photos on the STAR website were taken from my copy of "Mohobbot Nama".
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- I can find name of all discovered puthis but i can't give you any web link. If any one can contact "Sylot Academy" they found full list.user:classicbanna 02:52, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
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- Can you get free-licensed screenshots of books or other publications to show an example of Nagri script?
- I'm pretty sure this will be possible. Will make attempts to do so.
- What led to the decline of the Nagri script?
- I believe it was due to (a) destruction of the printing presses during the liberation war and (b) independence of Bangladesh where Bengali became the national language. At one time Sylheti nagri reached as far as Barisal.
- Thanks. --Ragib 03:58, 29 April 2007 (UTC)
