Mal Paharia language

Mal Paharia is a language spoken by 51,000 of 110,000 ethnic Mal Paharia in the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal in India, and regions of Bangladesh. The language is also known as Mal Pahoria, Malto, Malti, Paharia, Parsi, and Mal Pahariya. It has been variously regarded as a Bengali–Assamese language, a dialect of Malto, and a mixed Dravidian–Indo-Aryan language. There is a generally positive attitude among speakers of the language towards it, but it is considered vulnerable as some speakers have shifted to Bengali. Mal Paharia uses the Devanagari script and rules for its writing/ reading/ speech.

Mal Paharia is classified under the Indo-European, Indo- Iranian, Indo- Aryna and Eastern Zone language groups.

Mal Paharia is derived from Malto and the Bengali language. The speakers of this language originated in Jharkhand as early as 1881, and since then it has declined in popularity. According to the 1921 census, the town had Indo-European 500 speakers at that time. Industrialization and urbanization were factors in the fragmentation of the Bengali language into dialects because of the making of dams, mines, homes, and more. This caused a displacement in the population of the Indo-European speakers, which led to the emergence of Mal Paharia.

Mal Paharia is considered a Northern Dravidian language, which is spoken in Northeastern India.

Official status The regions that use Mal Pahari are Jharkhand, West Bengal, and parts of Bangladesh.

Dialects/ Varieties Mal Paharia can be considered a dialect of Benjali but can also be classified separately. It is also derived from Malto, which is a more commonly used language. Mal Paharia is considered a Dravidian language, which is spoken by the people of Jharkhand and in Bangladesh.