Thar
ঠার, ঠের, ঠেট
The word "Thar" in theBengali-Assamese script
Native to	Bangladesh andIndia
Region	The rivers and coasts ofEast India andBengal
Ethnicity	Bede,Buno and other river gypsies fromBengal andEast India
Speakers	40,000[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Bengali–Assamese Thar
Early forms	Magadhi Prakrit MagadhanApabhraṃśa Abahaṭ‌ṭha
Writing system	Mostly oral; theBengali-Assamese script is sometimes used
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)

Thar (Thar: ঠারṬhar), also known asTher orThet (Thar: ঠেরṬher or ঠেটṬheṭ) , is the traditional language of theBede people, a semi‑nomadic riverine community ofBangladesh and parts ofIndia. The language is predominantly oral,^[2] lacking a standardized writing system and is spoken within Bede communities across various districts, upazilas and towns includingSavar,Kaliganj,Munshiganj,Sunamganj,Joydevpur,Mirsarai,Cumilla andSonagazi. Most speakers are bilingual inBengali.^[3]The total number of Thar speakers is not well documented due to the community's mobility, internal dispersion and limited linguistic surveys, some say it is around 40,000.^[4] It is anEastern Indo-Aryan language of theIndo-European family,^[5] although it is sometimes considered part of theChak-Luish orBurmish branch of theSino-Tibetan family.^[6]

This article containsIndic text. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

Thar exhibits distinct linguistic features, includingsyntax,phonology,phonetic transformations, verb changes,morphology,tenses, moods,genders, sentence structure, andvocabulary. The language contains thousands of basic words, as well as synonyms and antonyms, and shows patterns in how social, economic, cultural and environmental terms are expressed and transformed in itslexicon.^[7] Thar exhibits nominal gender and inflects verbs for tense and mood. The language marks three tenses, present, past, and future and employs verb conjugation to express mood. Structurally, Thar follows asubject-object-verb (SOV) word order, similar to neighboringIndo-Aryan languages. Verbs typically take suffixes to indicate tense and mood, a feature also found in Bengali. Thar usespostpositions to mark grammatical relations and maintains a clear distinction between present and past forms.^[8] The language's known vocabulary comprises approximately 2,131 words.^[9]

Thar utilizes the sounds, phonemes and letters ofBengali, though their pronunciation may vary.^[10] Some sounds are retained with identical pronunciation, while others undergo modification.^[11]

Phonetic analysis indicates that Thar is based on the fifty letters of theBengali alphabet. Among these, ten letters ঙ (ṅa), ঞ (ña), ণ (ṇa), ড় (ṛa), ঢ় (ṛha), য় (ya), ৎ (ta), ং (ṅa), ঃ (ḥa) and ঁ (m̐a) are never used as the initial letter of a word. Of the remaining forty letters, thirty-five, such as: ক (ka), খ (kha), গ (ga), ঘ (gha), চ (ča), জ (ja/za) , ট (ṭa), ঠ (ṭha), ড (ḍa), ঢ (ḍha), ত (ta), থ (tha), দ (da), ধ (dha), ন (na), প (pa), ফ (pha/fa), ব (ba), ভ (bha), ম (ma), য (ja), র (ra), ল (la), হ (ha), অ (a/ô), আ (ā), ই (i), ঈ (ī), উ (u), ঊ (ū), ঋ (r̥i), এ (e), ঐ (ai), ও (o), ঔ (au), ৱ (wa/va) are typically transformed into the sound ঝ (jha/zha) in Thar speech. For example, the Bengali word "চশমা" (čôšma, "glasses") becomes ঝশমা (jhôšma), and বায়ান্ন (bāyānnô, "fifty-two") becomes ঝায়ান্ন (jhāyānnô).^[12] Some words begin with ঝ (jha/zha) instead of replacing the first letter completely, this only happens for vowel letters. Such as the word আমি (āmi, "I am") would become ঝামি (jhāmi).^[13] The language uses Bengali's all eleven vowels.^[14]

Conversely, the letters শ (ša/śa), ষ (ṣa), স (sa), ছ (čha), and ঝ (jha/zha) (not always for ঝ) tend to be replaced with ন (na) in Thar. For instance, শরৎকাল (šôrôtkāl, "autumn") becomes নরৎকাল (nôrôtkāl), and সবুজ (sôbuj, "green") becomes নবুজ (nôbuj). Despite these phonetic transformations, Thar also contains a number of unique, indigenous words not derived from Bengali. Besides ঝ (jha/zha) and ন (na), Sometimes some letters are replaced with খ (kha).^[15]

The morphology of Thar has been examined to describe its structure and word formation. The language exhibits distinct patterns in the composition of words and morphemes, indicating both influence from Bengali and the presence of original grammatical features.^[16]

The Thar language may have derivation from Middle Indo‑AryanPrakrit forms, suggesting a long history of linguistic formation rather than a recent invention,^[17] Ethnographically, Thar shows influence from older Eastern Indo-Aryan forms and from the dialects ofRakhine andChak speakers inMyanmar,Mizoram and theChittagong Hill Tracts.^[18] Many of its words originate from the early Prakrit form of Bengali. It was also influenced byPersian,Arabic,Portuguese,English andHindustani besidesBengali andArakanese.

The Thar language is spoken by Bede or other river gyspy people only, not in mainstream society.^[19][20] The Thar language developed as a "community code" to be used internally. The language has no formal recognition or use in government activities. It is listed among "ethnic languages" in a digitisation project of Bangladesh's government (for 40 endangered ethnic languages) including "Thar".^[21] Over time, modern developments have altered the Bede way of life, which in turn impacts the language. For example, more Bede children speak Bengali and fewer speak Thar regularly.^[22] Because the language is spoken in scattered communities across theGanges Delta and plains, it has many dialects, subdialects and variations, some of which are unintelligible to one another.

Today Thar is endangered, the language is used by fewer people, transmission to younger generations is weak and mainstream Bangla (Bengali) dominates.^[23][24]

Thar is close toBengali,Arakanese,Chak and nearbyIndo-European languages. Here is a comparison betweenStandard Bengali, Thar (Dhaka) andRomani (Vlax):

The Thar language is the subject of a book byHabibur Rahman, titled "Thar: Bede Jonogoshthhir Bhasha" (2022), which describes its grammar, vocabulary and use among native speakers. The book also examines the social and cultural context of the language, including traditional expressions, oral stories, and everyday communication practices. As one of the few sources documenting the language in detail, it has been used in linguistic studies, educational materials and initiatives aimed at promoting awareness and preservation. Through this publication, the language has reached a wider audience beyond its native-speaking community, helping to highlight its distinctive features and the cultural heritage of its speakers. The book has also encouraged interest in further research and documentation of the language, providing a foundation for future works on its structure and usage.^[25]

• Romani people
• Bede people
• Buno people
• Romani language

• Bengali dialects
• Languages of Assam
• Languages of West Bengal
• Romani people

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