Bishnupriya Manipuri

, the family where Bishnupriya belongs to. Bishnupriya is a member of the Māgadhan languages (Eastern Indo-Aryan languages), having origin associated with Magadha. KP Sinha, who has done considerable research on Bishnupriya Manipuri, disagrees with the theory of Bishnupriya being associated with the Manipur (Mahabharata) and is of the opinion that the language originated from Magadhi Prakrit. In his opinion, the language has retained dominant characteristics of Magadhi. According to Sinha, pronouns and declensional and conjugational endings seem to be same as or closely related to those of Maithili, Oriya and Bengali. These forms of Oriya, Bengali, etc. are in part derived from Magadhi Apabhramsa coming from the Magadhi Prakrita. However, the Bishnupriya Manipuri language is not one of the Tibeto-Burman languages, but is closer to the Indo-Aryan group of languages with remarkable influence from Meitei both grammatically and phonetically. At a different stage of development of the language the Sauraseni, Maharashtri and Magadhi languages and the Tibeto-Burman languages exerted influence on it as well. So it was probably developed from Sanskrit, Sauraseni-Maharashtri Prakrit and Magadhi Prakrita. The Sauraseni-Maharastri relation can be traced by observing some characteristics of pronouns. The Magadhi element is also remarkable, as the language retains many characteristics of Magadhi. == Conflict of classification as a dialect of Bengali and Assamese ==

Several scholars and linguists opine Bishnupriya as a dialect of Bengali language, while many opine it is a dialect of the Assamese language. Many scholars opine that Bishnupriya is a creole language (mixed language) of Bengali language and Meitei language, retaining its pre-Bengali features in present times. Bishnupriya is greatly influenced by Meitei (a Tibeto-Burman language) and other Indo-Aryan languages, including Assamese and Bengali to a great extent. Bishnupriya as a dialect of Bengali Padma Vibhushan–awardee Indian linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji, who is also a recognised Bengali phonetician, listed Bishnupriya to be a dialect of Bengali. According to Padma Shri–awardee Indian scholar Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra, "Bishnupriya" is a fragmented Bengali Hindu community, originally native to Assam-Bengal trans-border areas. When they migrated and lived in Bishnupur, Manipur (formerly known as "Lamangdong"), they were known as "Bishnupuriyas", and later corrupted as "Bishnupriyas". Ethnolinguistically, they are Bengalis. Unlike the large number of Assamese-Bengali immigrants in Manipur being assimilated into Meitei ethnicity until the 18th century, they remain un-assimilated. The 1903 Linguistic Survey of India led by Grierson also classified "Bishnupriya" alias "Mayang" (Code no. 555) as a dialect of Assamese (Code no. 552). == Meitei elements in Bishnupriya ==

Bishnupriya has 4000 borrowed root words from Meitei language. Bishnupriya Manipuri retains the old 18 sounds of Meitei. Of them, there were three vowels, such as ɑ, i and u, thirteen consonants such as p, t, k, pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, c͡ʃ, m, n, ŋ, l, ʃ, h and two semi-vowels, such as w and j. Nine more sounds were later added to Meitei, but Bishnupriya is not concerned with them because the Bishnupriyas left Manipur during the first part of the 19th century. That is why Bishnupriya Manipuri retains the older sounds of Meitei, whereas in Meitei itself the sound system has undergone various changes. ==Vocabulary==

Like other Indic languages, the core vocabulary of Bishnupriya Manipuri is made up of tadbhava words (i.e. words inherited over time from older Indic languages, including Sanskrit, including many historical changes in grammar and pronunciation), although thousands of tatsama words (i.e. words that were re-borrowed directly from Sanskrit with little phonetic or grammatical change) augment the vocabulary greatly. In addition, many other words were borrowed from languages spoken in the region either natively or as a colonial language, including Meitei, English, and Perso-Arabic. • Inherited/native Indic words (tadbhava): 10,000 (Of these, 2,000 are only found in Bishnupriya Manipuri, and have not been inherited by other Indic languages) • Words re-borrowed from Sanskrit (tatsama): 10,000 • Words re-borrowed from Sanskrit, partially modified (ardhatatsama): 1,500 • Words borrowed from Meitei: 4000 • Words borrowed from other indigenous non-Indic languages (desi): 1,500 • Words borrowed from Perso-Arabic: 2,000 • Words borrowed from English: 700 • Hybrid words: 1,000 • Words of obscure origin: 1,300 ==Notes and references==