Sylhetis

Sylhetis
Siloṭi
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 & English (L2)
Religion
Predominantly:
Islam
Minority:
Related ethnic groups

The Sylheti (English: /sɪˈlɛti/) or Sylhetis are an Indo-Aryan ethnocultural group,[4] 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,[5][1][6][7][8] North Tripura,[1] Shillong, Meghalaya,[9] and Hojai, Central Assam.[10] Outside South Asia, there are significant numbers in the United Kingdom,[11] the United States,[12][13] and Canada.[14]

They speak Sylheti, an eastern Indo-Aryan language that is considered "a distinct language by many and a dialect of Bengali by some others".[15] Sylheti identity is associated primarily with its regional culture and language, alongside a broader cultural and ethnic Bengali identity.[16][10]

  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. ^ "Population and Housing Census 2022" (PDF). bbs.portal.gov. 4 February 2025.
  4. ^ Shahela Hamid (2011). Language Use and Identity: The Sylheti Bangladeshis in Leeds. pp.Preface. Verlag Peter Lang. Retrieved on 4 December 2020.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference barak-diaspora was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Bhattacharjee 2013, p. 59–67.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Glanville Price (2000). Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe. pp. 91–92.
  9. ^ Bhattacharjee 2013, p. 62.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ Nazli Kibria (2011). Muslims in Motion. pp. 58–61. Rutgers University Press.
  13. ^ Sook Wilkinson (2015). Asian Americans in Michigan. pp. 166–167. Wayne State University Press.
  14. ^ Harald Bauder (2012). Immigration and Settlement Challenges, Experiences, and Opportunities. Canadian Scholars' Press Incorporated. p. 239.
  15. ^ "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)
  16. ^ Bhattacharjee 2013, p. 54–67.

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