Ethnicity Chakma, Daingnet | Writing system Chakma script | |
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Native to Bangladesh, India, Burma Region Chittagong Hill Tracts, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura Native speakers 330,000 in Bengal (2007)
also in Burma Language family Indo-European
Indo-Iranian
Indo-Aryan
Eastern
Bengali–Assamese
Chakma | ||
Chakma language (Changma Vaj or Changma Kodha) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Chakma and Daingnet people. Its better-known closest relatives are Bengali, Assamese, Chittagonian and Rohingya of Arakan, Bishnupriya Manipuri of Manipur, Tanchangya, and Sylheti. It is spoken by nearly 310,000 people in southeast Bangladesh near Chittagong City, and another 300,000 in India in Mizoram, Assam, and Tripura. It is written using the Chakma script, which is also called Ajhā pāṭh, sometimes romanized Ojhopath. Literacy in Chakma script is low.
It is officially recognized by neither the Bangladesh government nor the Indian government, the only two countries where native Chakma people live.
Although there were no Chakma language radio or television stations as of 2011, the language has a presence in social media and on YouTube. The Hill Education Chakma Script website provides tutorials, videos, e-books, and Chakma language forums.
In 2012, the Government of Tripura announced it would "introduce Chakma language in Chakma script in primary schools of Tripura. Imparting of education up to elementary stage in mother tongue is a national policy. To begin with Chakma language subjects in its own scripts will be introduced in 58 primary schools in Chakma concentrated areas."
"In preparation for the January 2014 education season, the national curriculum and textbook board has already started printing books in six languages ... Chakma, Kokborok (Tripura community), Marma, Santal, Sadri (Orao community) and Achik."
Mor Thengari was Bangladesh's first Chakma-language movie. However, it was banned in Bangladesh.
Medieval Chakma
The Chakma and Daingnet people now speak what may be considered divergent dialects of Bengali. However, this is due to language shift from a Tibeto-Burman language; that medieval language may have been related to Sak or Chairel.