দেহান ভাষার রূপতত্ত্ব : লিঙ্গ ও বচন/ Morphology of the Dehan Language : Gender and Number

Abstract

As the Koch rulers governed the Cachar region for a long period, a section of their army gradually settled there permanently. This community, being followers of Chilarai—the dewān (minister) and commander-in-chief of Koch King Naranarayan—came to be known as the ‘Dehan’. Due to historical and geographical separation, the Dehan community is now distinct from the Koch-Rajbanshi society of North Bengal, a distinction clearly reflected in their language, religion, and culture. The influence of Assamese and Manipuri on Dehan language and culture is particularly evident.

      The Dehan community is one of the earliest inhabitants of the Barak Valley. Although geographically distant from the Koch-Rajbanshi communities of Assam and West Bengal, they continue to maintain cultural ties with their historical roots. While the Dehan people were previously educated mainly through Bengali-medium schools, they now primarily receive education in Assamese-medium institutions; however, the Dehan language continues to be actively used as the mother tongue within the domestic sphere.

       From a linguistic perspective, the Dehan language belongs to the Indo-European language family. The present research paper, entitled “Morphology of the Dehan Language: Gender and Number,” attempts to analyze the morphological structure of the Dehan language with particular focus on the categories of gender and number, in order to highlight its structural characteristics.