| Dhakaiya Kutti Bengali | |
|---|---|
| Old Dhakaiya Bengali | |
| ঢাকাইয়া কুট্টি পুরাণ ঢাকাইয়া (Puran Dhakaiya) | |
 | |
| Native to | Bangladesh |
| Region | Old Dhaka |
| Ethnicity | Bengalis |
Indo-European
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| Bengali alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | vang1242 Vanga |
 Map of the Dhaka District and the areas where the Dhakaiya Kutti dialect is spoken. | |
Dhakaiya Kutti Bengali (Bengali:ঢাকাইয়া কুট্টি বাংলা,romanized: Dhakaiya Kutti Bengali,lit. 'Dhakaite dialect of the rice-huskers'), also known asOld Dhakaiya Bengali (Bengali:পুরান ঢাকাইয়া বাংলা,romanized: Purān Dhākāiyā Bānglā) or simplyDhakaiya, is aBengalidialect,[1] spoken by theKutti-Bengalis ofOld Dhaka in Bangladesh. This dialect is fully mutually intelligible withStandard Bengali but has some differences in vocabulary.[2] It is not used in formal settings anymore although historically the localBais and Barapanchayets are said to have used it sometimes.[3][4]
Dhakaiya Kutti Bengali is aneastern dialect of Bengali and the vocabulary of this dialect has an influence ofUrdu due to interactions with the Urdu-speaking people inOld Dhaka.[5] It has only a few breathy voiced sounds in comparison toStandard Bengali. Some breathy voiced sounds such as [gʱ], [d̪ʱ], [bʱ] are not pronounced commonly in this dialect.[6] The use of double sounds in certain words are also quite common. The word for younger brother-in-law,shala (শালা) in Standard Bengali andhala (হালা) in Dhakaiya Kutti Bengali and other eastern dialects, is seen as offensive in almost allBengali dialects except in the Dhakaiya Kutti dialect this is a common and inoffensive word which can be applied to teachers, parents and animals.[6]
| English | Standard Bengali | Dhakaiya Kutti Bengali |
|---|---|---|
| Boy | Chhele (ছেলে) | Pola (পোলা) |
| Girl | Meye (মেয়ে) | Maiya (মাইয়া) |
| Youngsters | Chhelemeye (ছেলেমেয়ে) | Polapan (পোলাপান) |
| True | Shotti (সত্যি) | Sotti (সত্যি)/Hacha (হাছা) |
| Why | Keno (কেন) | Kela (ক্যালা) |
| How | Kemon (কেমন) | Kemte (কেমতে) |
| Listen | Shon (শোন) | Son (সোন)/Hon (হোন) |
| After drinking tea | Cha kheye (চা খেয়ে) | Cha khaiya (চা খাইয়া) |
| You'll go with me? | amar shonge jaben naki? (আমার সঙ্গে যাবেন নাকি?) | amar loge jaiben niki?(আমার লগে যাইবেন নিকি?)[6] |
| What did you buy from market? | Bazar theke ki kinechhen? (বাজার থেকে কি কিনেছেন?) | Bazar theika/thon ki kinchhen? (বাজার থেইকা/থন কি কিনছেন?)[6] |
| From | theke (থেকে) | theika (থেইকা)/thon (থন)[6] |
| Banana | kola (কলা) | kolla (কল্লা)[6] |
| Gourd/pumpkin | lau/kodu (লাউ/কদু) | koddu (কদ্দু)[6] |
| But | kintu (কিন্তু) | mogor (মগর),magar - from Persian[6] |
| Me too | amio (আমিও) | ami bi (আমি বি)bhi - from Hindustani[6] |
| All | shob (সব) | sob (সব/ছব)[6] |
| I see | dekhi (দেখি) | dehi (দেহি)[6] |
| Going (perfect participle) | giye (গিয়ে) | giya (গিয়া)/jaiya (যাইয়া)[6] |
| I'm doing (present continuous) | ami korchhi (আমি করছি) | ami kortechhi (আমি করতেছি) |
| I will do | korbo (করবো) | kormu (করমু) |
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During theMughal era, theBengal Subah was famous for rice cultivation and the city ofJahangirnagar (now Dhaka) was the province's capital. Rice was a very important export product in the mid-eighteenth century, centred in Dhaka. The merchants who exported the rice were predominantly ofMarwari andCentral Indian descent. These merchants would go to different areas inEastern Bengal and collect the rice. The rice was first needed to be cleaned up usingdhekis before packaging, and this process is calledkuta (কুটা) inBengali. Many local Bengali rice cultivators were employed to do this. They would come from various parts of Bengal to Dhaka to complete this job, and as it was long and tiring to get there and do the job, many of them started living in Dhaka. This migration took place circa 1760. However, not all were involved in the rice trade. The presence of the Mughals in Dhaka meant that there was generally a lot more employment opportunities there and so they took other occupations such askhansamahs, footsoldiers, guards, chefs and chauffeurs for theDhakaiya Urdu-speakingNawabs of Dhaka and other aristocratic families.[7][8] These groups of people lived together and engaged in conversations andaddas with theirHindustani counterparts and their main occupation led them to be known askuttis. The interactions ofBengalis with the migratedNorth Indian Urdu-speaking people in Old Dhaka led to birth of the Urdu influenced Kutti Bengali dialect.[9] The Baispanchayets ofOld Dhaka in the twentieth-century used to converse in eitherDhakaiya Urdu or Dhakaiya Kutti Bengali.[4] Eventually, the common people living in the localities of Old Dhaka, Kutti or not, used to speak in this dialect.[10]
Presently, the speakers of Kutti dialect are minority inDhaka city following the mass migration of non-DhakaiteBengalis from districts all overBengal during thefirst andsecond partitions during the British colonial period. The new educated migrant community (now also commonly known as "Dhakaiyas" with the former now being referred to as "Old Dhakaiyas") spoke inStandard Bengali (Bengali:শুদ্ধ বাংলা,romanized: Shuddho Bangla), a standardised dialect of Bengali. The culture of Kuttis of Old Dhaka is in decline due to the influence ofDhaka city, as the capital, welcoming migrants from all over the country who are not familiar with their regional culture.[11]Some of theDhakaiya kutti-Bengali community began to see the new migrant community as their opponents due to these dialectal and regional cultural differences. This division was the source of modern troubles in the identities of the Old Dhakaiyas (who view themselves as original inhabitants in the city) and the post-partition migrant community (who currently form the majority in the city).[11]
There has been literature written in the Dhakaiya Kutti Bengali. One popular poem is "Channi-poshor Raiter Lour" (চান্নিপশর রাইতের লৌড়) by Jewel Mazhar.[12] Dhakaiya Kuttinatoks are popular throughout the country and even the IndianBengali filmmaker,Satyajit Ray, has written dialogues in this dialect.[13] The Kutti-Bengali folk of Dhaka are renowned for "Kutti Jokes" and the dialect's humorous aspect in general; generally consisting of short stories in which Dhakaiyas mess around with thebhadralok gentry.[14] It is considered to be one of the wittiest amongBengali dialects.[15] Generally referred to as "Dhakaiya" folk, they call outsiders or non-Dhakaite Bengalis by the name "Gaiya" (গাঁইয়া), meaningfrom the village,[16] andKolkatans in particular asDemchi (ডেমচি).[17]
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