A field-based Analysis of linguistic features of the spoken language of Raidighi region of Sundarbans/ সুন্দরবনের রায়দিঘি অঞ্চলের কথ্যভাষার ভাষাতাত্ত্বিক বৈশিষ্ট্য-ক্ষেত্রসমীক্ষা ভিত্তিক পর্যালোচনা

Abstract

The Sundarbans, a unique cultural and ecological region, exhibits a rich linguistic diversity. Among the various linguistic group, four primary language communities dominate the region. They are the Poundra kshatriyas and other lower caste, the spoken language of Mahishya and Kaibarta community from south-west frontier Bengal, the language of tribes and the spoken language of Muslim community. Notably, the language of Poundra kshatriyas and other lower castes is the most widespread and prominent spoken language in the region, influencing the linguistic landscape of the Sundarbans. The focus of the paper is primarily to understand the spoken language of the Raidighi region, located in the Mathurapur-II block, a part of the Sundarbans. It should be noted that the language here is not different from the linguistic tendency of the Sundarbans. The central objective of the paper is to map the linguistic features of the region, emphasizing both the morphological and phonological characteristics of the dialects spoken in this area. This would help in illustrating how local variations interact with the larger dialectal patterns of Sundarbans. In addition to the structural aspects of the language, the paper also explores socio-linguistics perspective, particularly language contact and language extinction. The paper will discuss how language contact has shaped the evolution of the spoken dialects and highlight the risk of language extinction as younger generations may shift to more dominant regional languages, leading to a gradual loss of indigenous dialects.