Native speakers 1.8 million (2012) Glottolog rohi1238 | ISO 639-3 rhg | |
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Native to Myanmar (Burma) & Bangladesh Region Northern Rakhine (Arakan) region in Myanmar, southeastern Chittagong region of Bangladesh Language family Indo-European
Indo-Iranian
Indo-Aryan
Eastern
Bengali-Assamese
Rohingya | ||
Rohingya (/ˈroʊɪndʒə/, /ˈroʊhɪndʒə/, /ˈroʊɪŋjə/, or /ˈroʊhɪŋjə/), or Ruáingga, is a language spoken by the Rohingya people of northern Rakhine State (Arakan) in Myanmar. It is related to the Chittagonian language spoken in the neighboring southeastern Chittagong Division of Bangladesh.
Contents
Scripts
Various writing systems are used, including Arabic, Urdu, Hanifi, and Burmese, and the newer Rohingyalish, based on the Latin script.
Arabic script
Written in Arabic script, the first Rohingya language texts are more than 200 years old. While Arakan was under British rule (1826–1948), the Rohingya people used mainly English and Urdu for written communication. Since independence in 1948, Burmese has been used in all official communications. Since the early 1960s, Rohingya scholars have started to realize the need for a writing system suited to their own language.
In 1975 a writing system was developed using Arabic letters; other scholars adopted Urdu script to remedy some deficiencies of the Arabic. Neither proved satisfactory, however, and most Rohingyas found it difficult to read the language in either version.
Today, there are efforts for creating a Rohingya Unicode font based on Arabic letters (since those are far more understood by the people) with additional tone signs.
Hanifi script
Molana Hanif and his colleagues developed a new set of right-to-left oriented characters based mainly on Arabic script, with a few borrowings from Roman and Burmese. This approach was an improvement and was appreciated by Rohingya Islamic scholars, used to studying in Arabic and Urdu. However, the new script was criticized because the characters were very similar to each other, requiring longer memorization time and careful writing to avoid confusion. Despite such criticism, the Hanifi script is currently in use and a proposal to get it into the Unicode standard has been written.
A revised proposal to encode Hanifi Rohingya in Unicode was proposed in October 2016.
Roman script
Soon afterwards, E.M. Siddique took a different approach, using Latin letters only. The result is a writing system known as Rohingyalish that comprises 26 Roman letters, five accented vowels, and two additional Latin characters for retroflex and nasal sounds.
Q, V, and X are only used for loan-words.
The character set table of the Rohingya language writing system uses the Latin letters shown above (ç and ñ with green background). The vowels are written both unaccented (aeiou) and accented (áéíóú). The use of c, ç and ñ is adapted to the language; c represents /ʃ/ (English sh), ç is the retroflex r ([ɽ]), and ñ indicates a nasalized vowel (e.g., fañs /faⁿs/ 'five'). Crucially, these can all be accessed from an English keyboard, for example by using the English (US) International keyboard.
Names and pronunciation of letters
The names of the letters of the Latin Rohingya alphabet are similar to the names of the letters of the English alphabet.
Digraphs
Long vowels in Rohingya are spelled with double vowels: for example, a long /ɔ/ is spelled as "oo", while a long /o/ is spelled as "oou".
Consonants
Rohingya has primarily the following 25 native consonant phonemes. There are some other consonant phonemes which are from foreign languages such as Arabic, Bengali, Burmese and Urdu.
Vowels
There are six vowels and several diphthongs in the Rohingya language. They contrast between "open-o" ([ɔ]) and "closed-o" ([o]) by using the different spellings ⟨o⟩/⟨ó⟩ and ⟨ou⟩/⟨óu⟩ respectively.
Tones
Accented vowels represent stressed (or "hard" vowels). Repeating a vowel lengthens it. Thus, tonals are marked by arranging the location of a stressed vowel in a lengthened pair, like ⟨aá⟩ and ⟨áa⟩.
Definite articles
1. If a noun ends with a vowel then the article is either án or wá if singular, or ún if plural or uncountable.
Usually wá is used for round-fatty objects, and án for flat-thin objects.
2. If a noun ends with a consonant then the article is the end-consonant plus án or wá for singular or ún for plural.
Debal lán (the wall) Debal lún (the walls) Mes sán (the table) Mes sún (the tables) Kitap pwá (the book) Kitap pún (the books) Manúic cwá (the man) Manúic cún (the men)3. If a noun ends with r, then the article is g plus án or wá for singular or ún for plural.
Tar gán (the wire) Tar gún (the wires) Duar gán (the door) Duar gún (the doors) Kuñir gwá (the dog) Kuñir gún (the dogs) Faár gwá (the mountain) Faár gún (the mountains)Indefinite articles
Indefinite articles can be used either before or after the noun. Uggwá usually is used for roll/round/fatty shaped objects and ekkán is for thin/flat shaped objects.
( singular ) ( plural ) Uggwá fata (a leaf) Hodún fata (some leaves) Ekkán fothú (a picture) Hodún Fothú (some pictures) -or- -or- Fata uggwá (a leaf) Fata hodún (some leaves) Fothú ekkán (a picture) Fothú hodún (some pictures)Word order
Rohingya word order is subject–object–verb.
Subject Object Verb Aññí(I) bát(rice) hái(eat). Ite(He) TV(TV) saá(watches). Ibá(She) sairkél(bicycle) soré(rides). Ítara(They) hamot(to work) za(go).Tenses
Rohingya distinguishes 12 tenses, as shown in the examples below. In these tenses, the helping verb félai shows perfect action (comparable to English "has/have") and félaat shows perfect continuous action (compare English "has/have been"). The helping verb táki and táikki are comparable to English "be" and "been".
Verb-form-suffix (basic and/or helping verb) indicate both person and tense. The suffixes ~ir, ~yi, ~lám, ~youm are used for the first person, the suffixes ~or, ~yó, ~lá, ~bá for the 2nd person, and the suffixes ~ar, ~ye, ~l, ~bou for the 3rd person. Similarly ~ir, ~or, ~ar indicate present continuous tense, ~yi, ~yó, ~ye present perfect tense, ~lám, ~lá, ~l past tense, and ~youm, ~bá, ~bou future tense.
First person ( I ):
Second person ( You ):
1. Present (a)Tuñí/Oñne hóo. [Tui hós.] (You eat.) (b)Tuñí/Oñne hóor. [Tui hóor.] (You are eating.) (c)Tuñí/Oñne hái félaiyó. [Tui hái félaiyós]. (You have eaten.) (d)Tuñí/Oñne hái féloor. [Tui hái féloor]. (You have been eating.) 2. Past (a)Tuñí/Oñne háiyo. [Tui háiyós.] (You ate.) Note: refer near past. Tuñí/Oñne háailá. [Tui háailí.] (You ate.) Note: refer far past. (b)Tuñí/Oñne háat táikkilá. [Tui háat táikkilí.] (You were eating.) (c)Tuñí/Oñne hái félailá. [Tui hái félailí.] (You had eaten.) (d)Tuñí/Oñne hái félaat táikkilá.[Tui hái félaat táikkilí.](You had been eating.) 3. Future (a)Tuñí/Oñne háiba. [Tui háibí.] (You will eat.) (b)Tuñí/Oñne háat tákibá. [Tui háat tákibí.] (You will be eating.) Tuñí/Oñne háiba goi. [Tui háibi goi.] " (c)Tuñí/Oñne hái félaibá. [Tui hái félaibí.] (You will have eaten.) (d)Tuñí/Oñne hái félaat tákibá. [Tui hái félaat tákibí.] (You will have been eating.)Third persons ( He/She/They ):
1. Present (a)Ite/Ibá/Itará há. (He/She/They eats/eats/eat.) (b)Ite/Ibá/Itará hár. (He/She/They is/is/are eating.) Ite/Ibá/Itará hái boi. " (c)Ite/Ibá/Itará hái félaiye. (He/She/They has/has/have eaten.) (d)Ite/Ibá/Itará hái félaar. (He/She/They has/has/have been eating.) 2. Past (a)Ite/Ibá/Itará háaiye. (He/She/They ate.) Note: refer near past. Ite/Ibá/Itará háail. (He/She/They ate.) Note: refer far past. (b)Ite/Ibá/Itará háat táikkil. (He/She/They was/was/were eating.) (c)Ite/Ibá/Itará hái félail. (He/She/They had eaten.) (d)Ite/Ibá/Itará hái félaat táikkil. (He/She/They had been eating.) 3. Future (a)Ite/Ibá/Itará háibou. (He/She/They will eat.) (b)Ite/Ibá/Itará háat tákibou. (He/She/They will be eating.) Ite/Ibá/Itará háibou goi. " (c)Ite/Ibá/Itará hái félaibou. (He/She/They will has/has/have eaten.) (d)Ite/Ibá/Itará hái félaat tákibou. (He/She/They will has/has/have been eating.)Pronouns
Gender: m=male, f=female, n=neuter., *=the person or object is near., **=the person or object is far.
Interrogative
The interrogative is indicated by né at the end of the sentence.
Itattú gór ekkán asé né? [Does he have a house?]
Itattú gór ekkán asé. [He has a house.]
Ibá za né? [Does she go?]
Ibá za. [She goes.]
Itará giyé né? [Did they go?]
Itará giyé. [They went.]
Inflection for person
Rohingya verbs indicate person by suffixes.
Present Tense
lek = write (command to you sg.)
lekí = I/we write.
lekó = write (command to you pl.)
lekós = You write(sg./pl.).
leké = He/she/they write(s).
Present Continuous Tense
lekír = I/we am/are writing.
lekór = You(sg./pl.) are writing.
lekér = He/she/they is/are writing.
Present Perfect Tense
lekífélaiyi = I/we have written.
lekífélaiyo = You (sg./pl.) have written.
lekífélaiyós = You (sg.) have written. (used to very closed people)
lekífélaiye = He/she/they has/have written.
Future Tense
lekíyóum = I/we will write.
lekíbá = You (sg./pl.) will write.
lekíbi = You (sg.) will write. (used to very closed people)
lekíbóu = He/she/they will write.
Past Tense (Immediate/near past)
leikkí = I/we wrote.
leikkó = You (sg./pl.) wrote.
leikkós = You (sg.) wrote. (used to very closed people)
leikké = He/she/they wrote.
Past Tense (Remote past)
leikkílám = I/we wrote long ago.
leikkílá = You (sg./pl.) wrote long ago.
leikkílí = You (sg.) wrote long ago. (used to very closed people)
leikkíl = He/she/they wrote long ago.
Past Tense (If possibility)
lekítám = I/we would have written.
lekítá = You (sg./pl.) would have written.
lekítí = You (sg.) would have written. (used to very closed people)
lekítóu = He/she/they would have written.
Forming Noun, Doer, Tool, Action
lekóon = act of writing.
e.g. Debalor uore lekóon gom noó. Writing on wall is not good.
lekóya = writer.
e.g. Itaráttú lekóya bicí. They-have many writers.
lekóni = thing with which you write.
e.g. Añártú honó lekóni nái. I-have no any writing-thing (i.e. pen, pencil)
lekát = in the action of writing.
e.g. Tui lekát asós. You are busy-in-writing.
Rohingya grammatical case
Example of a Rohingya case inflection is given below, using the singular forms of the Rohingya term for "hóliba (tailor)" which belongs to Rohingya's first declension class.
Morphology
Seventy or more different forms are available in Rohingya. Dash (-) between letters are to be removed, it is used for initial understanding only, how it is formed.
01 lek =write(sg.) Tui yián ehón lek. You write this right now.
02 lek-ó =write(pl.) Tuñí yián ehón lekó. You write this right now.
03 lek-á =cause to write Tui/Tuñí John ór áta leká/lekó. You ask John to write.
04 lek-í-de =help to write Tui/Tuñí ibáre lekíde/lekído. You help John in writing.
05 lek-í =write(I) Aññí hámicá gór ot lekí. I always write at home.
06 lek-ó =write(II) Tuñí hámicá gór ot lekó. You always write at home.
07 lek-ó-s =write(IIa) Tui hámicá gór ot lekós. You always write at home.
08 lek-é =write(III) Tará hámicá gór ot leké. They always write at home.
09 lek-í-r =writing(I) Aññí ciñçí ekkán lekír. I am writing a letter now.
10 lek-ó-or =writing(II) Tuñí/Tui ciñçí ekkán lekóor. You are writing a letter now.
11 lek-é-r =writing(III) Tará ciñçí ekkán lekér. They are writing a letter now.
12 lek-í-féla-iyi =have written(I) Aññí ciñçí lekífélaiyi. I have written a letter.
13 lek-í-féla-iyo =have written (II) Tuñí ciñçí lekífélaiyi. You have written a letter.
14 lek-í-féla-iyo-s =have written(IIa) Tui ciñçí lekífélaiyos. You have written a letter.
15 lek-í-féla-iye =has/have written (III) Tará ciñçí lekífélaiye. They have written a letter.
16 leik-kí =wrote(I) Aññí ciñçí ekkán leikkí. I wrote a letter.
17 leik-kó =wrote(II) Tuñí ciñçí ekkán leikkó. You wrote a letter.
18 leik-kó-s =wrote(IIa) Tui ciñçí ekkán leikkós. You wrote a letter.
19 leik-ké =wrote(III) Tará ciñçí ekkán leikké. They wrote a letter.
20 lek-í-youm =will write(I) Aññí ciñçí ekkán lekíyoum. I will write a letter.
21 lek-í-ba =will write(II) Tuñí ciñçí ekkán lekíba. You will write a letter.
22 lek-í-bi =will write(IIa) Tui ciñçí ekkán lekkíbi. You will write a letter.
23 lek-í-bou =will write(III) Tará ciñçí ekkán lekíbou. They will write a letter.
24 leik-kyóum =will write(I) Aññí ciñçí ekkán leikkyóum. I will write a letter.
25 leik-bá =will write(II) Tuñí ciñçí ekkán leikbá. You will write a letter.
26 leik-bí =will write(IIa) Tui ciñçí ekkán leikbí. You will write a letter.
27 leik-bóu =will write(III) Tará ciñçí ekkán leikbóu. They will write a letter.
28 lek-á-giye =(passive I,II,III) Ciñçí ekkán lekágiyé. A letter is/was written.
29 lek-á-za =being writable Ciñçí yián leká za. This letter is not writable.
30 lek-á-za-ibou =being writable in future Ciñçí yián leká zaibou. This letter will be writable.
31 lek-á-di-ya-za =can be made writable Ciñçí yián lekádiyaza. This letter can be made writable.
32 lek-á =writing Leká yián bicí cúndor. This writing is very beautiful.
33 lek-ó-on =act of writing Email beggún óttu lekóon saá. All should write emails.
34 lek-ó-ya =person who writes Ahmed bála lekóya. Ahmed is a good writer.
35 lek-ó-ni =thing used to write Añártu honó lekóni ciz nái. I do not have anything to write with.
36 lek-á-ni =tool used to write Añártu honó lekáni boudh nái. I do not have any writing board.
37 lek-á-lekí =activities to write Tuáñrár bútore lekáleki tákoon saá. There should be writing between you.
38 lek-é-de =thing used for writing Añártu honó lekéde ciz nái. I do noy have any writable thing.
39 leik-kyá =of written Kitab ibá fura leikká. This book is fully written.
40 leik-kyé-dé=of that written Añártu honó leikkyéde juab nái. I do not have any written answer.
41 lek-í lek-í =by writing & writing/while writing Ite gór ottu lekí lekí aiyér. He is coming from home while writing.
42 lek-í-lam =acted to write(I) Aññí habos sán lekílam. I write the letter.
43 lek-í-la =acted to write(II) Tuñí habos sán lekíla. You write the letter.
44 lek-í-li =acted to write(II) Tui habos sán lekíli. You write the letter.
45 lek-í-lou =acted to write(III) Tará habos sán lekílou. They write the letter.
46 leik-lám =acted to write(I) Aññí habos sán lekílam. I write the letter.
47 leik-lá =acted to write(II) Tuñí habos sán lekíla. You write the letter.
48 leik-lí =acted to write(II) Tui habos sán lekíli. You write the letter.
49 leik-lou =acted to write(III) Tará habos sán lekílou. They write the letter.
50 leik-kí-lam =had written(I) Aññí habos sán leikkílam. I had written this paper long ago.
51 leik-kí-la =had written(II) Tuñí habos sán leikkíla. You had written this paper long ago.
52 leik-kí-li =had written(II) Tui habos sán leikkíli. You had written this paper long ago.
53 leik-kí-l =had written(III) Tará habos sán leikkíl. They had written this paper long ago.
54 lek-í-youm éri =will write later(I) Aññí habos sán lekíyoum éri. I will write the paper sometime later.
55 lek-í-ba ri =will write later(II) Tuñí habos sán lekíba ri. You will write the paper sometime later.
56 lek-í-bi ri =will write later(IIa) Tui habos sán lekíbi ri. You write the paper sometime later.
57 lek-í-bou ri =will write later(III) Tará habos sán lekíbou ri. They will write the paper sometime later.
58 lek-í-tam =would have written(I) Aññí email lán lekítam. I would have written the email.
59 lek-í-ta =would have written(II) Tuñí email lán lekíta i. You would have written the email.
60 lek-í-ti =would have written(IIa) Tui email lán lekíti. You would have written the email.
61 lek-í-tou =would have written(III) Tará email lán lekítou. They would have written the email.
62 leik-tám =would have written(I) Aññí email lán leiktám. I would have written the email.
63 leik-tá =would have written(II) Tuñí email lán leiktá. You would have written the email.
64 leik-tí =would have written(IIa) Tui email lán leiktí. You would have written the email.
65 leik-tóu =would have written(III) Tará email lán leiktóu. They would have written the email.
66 lek-ó-na =please write Meérbanigorí lekóna. Please write the letter.
67 lek-ó-goi =allowed to write Tuñí lekó gói. Let you write.
68 lek-se-ná =please write Meérbanigorí leksená. Please write the letter.
69 lek-gói =allowed to write Tui lek gói. Let you write.
70 lek-í-le =if (I/II/III) person write Tuñí lekíle gom óibou. It will be good if you write.