Sylhetis

Sylhetis
Map of Sylheti speaking areas of South Asia
Total population
c. 10.3 million[1][2]
Regions with significant populations
Bangladesh (Sylhet Division)
India (Barak Valley, Hojai, North Tripura, Unakoti, Shillong)
Middle East (GCC countries)
Western world (United Kingdom, United States, Canada)
Languages
Sylheti (L1)
Bengali (L2)
Religion
Predominantly:
Islam
Significant minority:
Related ethnic groups

The Sylheti (English: /sɪˈlɛti/) or Sylhetis are an Indo-Aryan ethnocultural group,[3] that are associated with the Sylhet region (Sylhet Division of Bangladesh and the Karimganj district of south Assam, India). There are strong diasporic communities in Barak Valley of Assam, India,[4][1][5][6][7] North Tripura,[1] Shillong, Meghalaya,[8] and Hojai, Central Assam.[9] Outside South Asia, there are significant numbers in the United Kingdom,[10] the United States,[11][12] and Canada.[13]

They speak Sylheti, an eastern Indo-Aryan language that is considered "a distinct language by many and a dialect of Bengali by some others".[14] Sylheti identity is associated primarily with its regional culture and language, alongside a broader cultural and ethnic Bengali identity.[15][9]

  1. ^ a b c Sylheti at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019) Closed access icon
  2. ^ "Ranked: The 100 Most Spoken Languages Around the World". Visual Capitalist. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. ^ Shahela Hamid (2011). Language Use and Identity: The Sylheti Bangladeshis in Leeds. pp.Preface. Verlag Peter Lang. Retrieved on 4 December 2020.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference barak-diaspora was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Bhattacharjee 2013, p. 59–67.
  6. ^ Wouters, Jelle J. P.; Subba, Tanka B. (30 September 2022). The Routledge Companion to Northeast India. Taylor & Francis. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-000-63699-4.
  7. ^ Glanville Price (2000). Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe. pp. 91–92.
  8. ^ Bhattacharjee 2013, p. 62.
  9. ^ a b Simard, Candide; Dopierala, Sarah M; Thaut, E Marie (2020). "Introducing the Sylheti language and its speakers, and the SOAS Sylheti project" (PDF). Language Documentation and Description. 18: 5. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  10. ^ Sylhetis, Assamese, 'Bongal Kheda', and the rolling thunder in the east The Daily Star. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury. 7 September 2018. Retrieved on 5 December 2022.
  11. ^ Nazli Kibria (2011). Muslims in Motion. pp. 58–61. Rutgers University Press.
  12. ^ Sook Wilkinson (2015). Asian Americans in Michigan. pp. 166–167. Wayne State University Press.
  13. ^ Harald Bauder (2012). Immigration and Settlement Challenges, Experiences, and Opportunities. Canadian Scholars' Press Incorporated. p. 239.
  14. ^ "Along the linguistic continuum of eastern Indic languages, Sylheti occupies an ambiguous position, where it is considered a distinct language by many and also as a dialect of Bengali or Bangla by some others."(Mahanta & Gope 2018:81)
  15. ^ Bhattacharjee 2013, p. 54–67.