বাংলা দক্ষিণ এশিয়ার পূর্বপ্রান্তের একটি ইন্দো-আর্য ভাষা। সংস্কৃত, পালি ও প্রাকৃত ভাষার মধ্য দিয়ে বাংলা ভাষার উদ্ভব হয়েছে। বাংলা দক্ষিণ এশিয়ার পূর্বে অবস্থিত বঙ্গ বা বাংলা নামক অঞ্চলের মানুষের মুখের ভাষা। এ অঞ্চলটি বর্তমানে রাজনৈতিকভাবে স্বাধীন রাষ্ট্র বাংলাদেশ ও ভারতের অঙ্গরাজ্য পশ্চিমবঙ্গ নিয়ে গঠিত। এছাড়াও মিয়ানমারের উত্তরাঞ্চলের রোহিঙ্গা জনগোষ্ঠীও বাংলা ভাষাতে কথা বলে। প্রায় ২০ কোটি মানুষের মাতৃভাষা বাংলা বিশ্বের বহুল প্রচলিত ভাষাগুলোর মধ্যে একটি (ভাষাভাষীর সংখ্যানুসারে এর অবস্থান চতুর্থ থেকে সপ্তমের মধ্যে [১])। বাংলা বাংলাদেশের প্রধান ভাষা; ভারতে বাংলা দ্বিতীয় সর্বোচ্চ কথিত ভাষা। অসমীয়া ও বাংলা ভৌগলিকভাবে সবচেয়ে পূর্বে অবস্থিত ইন্দো-ইরানীয় ভাষা।

Bengali (বাংলা Bangla [ˈbaŋla] ) is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script. With nearly 300 million total speakers, Bengali is one of the most spoken languages (ranking sixth) in the world.

Spoken In : Bangladesh, India (mainly in West Bengal); significant communities in UK, USA, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Burma, Canada

Native Speakers: 193 million , Total: 230 million (2003)

Language family: Indo-European > Indo-Iranian > Indo-Aryan > Eastern > Assamese-Bengali > Bengali

Writing system: Bengali script

Official language in: Bangladesh, India (West Bengal, Tripura and Barak Valley) (comprising districts of south Assam- Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi)

Regulated by: Bangla Academy (Bangladesh) Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi (West Bengal)

Language codes: bn (ISO 639-1), ben (ISO 639-2, ISO 639-3)

Along with other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Bengali evolved circa 1000–1200 AD from the Magadhi Prakrit, which developed from a dialect or group of dialects that were close to, but different from, Vedic and Classical Sanskrit. It is now the primary language spoken in Bangladesh and is the second most commonly spoken language in India. With a long and rich literary tradition, Bengali binds together a culturally diverse region and is an important contributor to Bengali nationalism. In former East Bengal (today Bangladesh), the strong linguistic consciousness led to the Bengali Language Movement, during which on 21 February 1952, several people were killed during protests to gain its recognition as a state language of the then Dominion of Pakistan. The day has since been observed as Language Movement Day in Bangladesh, and was proclaimed the International Mother Language Day by UNESCO on 17 November 1999. In India, Bengali is the second most spoken language, after Hindi. The National song and National anthem of India were composed in Bengali.

References :
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• Government of West Bengal, India : www.westbengal.gov.in
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