According to linguist and historian Andrew Dalby, Bishnupriya (also known as "Mayang") is historically a form of Bengali language once current in Manipur.[22]
KP Sinha, who has done considerable research on Bishnupriya Manipuri, disagrees with the theory of Bishnupriya being associated with the Manipur (Mahabharata) and is of the opinion that the language was originated through Magadhi Prakrit. It is found from his observations that the language has retained dominant characteristics of Magadhi. According to Sinha, pronouns and declensional and conjugational endings seem to be same as or closely related to those of Maithili, Oriya and Bengali. These forms of Oriya, Bengali, etc. are on their parts, derived from Magadhi Apabhramsa coming from the Magadhi Prakrita.[26]
However, the Bishnupriya Manipuri language is certainly not one of the Tibeto-Burman languages, but is closer to the Indo-Aryan group of languages with remarkable influence from Meitei both grammatically and phonetically. At a different stage of development of the language the Sauraseni, Maharashtri and Magadhi languages and the Tibeto-Burman languages exerted influence on it as well. So it was probably developed from Sanskrit, Sauraseni-Maharashtri Prakrit and Magadhi Prakrita. The Sauraseni-Maharastri relation can be traced by observing some characteristics of pronouns. The Magadhi element is also remarkable, as the language retains many characteristics of Magadhi.[citation needed]
Conflict of classification as a dialect of Bengali and Assamese
Several scholars and linguists opine Bishnupriya as a dialect of Bengali language while many opine it as a dialect of Assamese language. At the same time, closer to the observations of the status of being a Bengali dialect, many renowned scholars opine Bishnupriya as a creole language (mixed language) of Bengali language and Meitei language, by retaining its pre-Bengali features in present times.
According to renowned Padma Shri awardee Indian scholar Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra, "Bishnupriya" is a fragmented Bengali Hindu community, originally native to Assam-Bengal trans border areas. When they migrated and lived in Bishnupur, Manipur (formerly known as "Lamangdong"), they were known as "Bishnupuriyas", and later corrupted as "Bishnupriyas". Ethnolinguistically, they are Bengalis. Unlike the large number of Bengali-Assamese immigrants in Manipur being assimilated into Meitei ethnicity until the 18th century, they remain un-assimilated.[28]
Bishnupriya as a Bengali-Meitei creole
According to scholar William Frawley, Bishnupriya was once a creole language of Bengali and Meitei and it still retains its pre-Bengali features.[12] American linguist and professor Masica also has the same opinion like that of William.[13]
According to Shobhana Chelliah, Bishnupriya Manipuri is a mixed language spoken by former Bengali immigrants, having significant amount of Meitei lexicons. Bishnupriya still retains its basic Bengali structural and morphological features.[14]
Bishnupriya has 4000 borrowed root words from Meitei language.[30]
Bishnupriya Manipuri retains the old eighteen sounds of Meitei. Of them, there were three vowels, such as ɑ, i and u, thirteen consonants such as p, t, k, pʰ, tʰ, kʰ, c͡ʃ, m, n, ŋ, l, ʃ, h and two semi-vowels, such as w and j. In later stage nine more sounds added to Meitei but Bishnupriya is not concerned with them, because the Bishnupriyas left Manipur during the first part of 19th century. That is why Bishnupriya Manipuri retains the older sounds of Meitei, whereas in Meitei itself the sound system has undergone various changes.[31]
Vocabulary
Like other Indic languages, the core vocabulary of Bishnupriya Manipuri is made up of tadbhava words (i.e. words inherited over time from older Indic languages, including Sanskrit, including many historical changes in grammar and pronunciation), although thousands of tatsama words (i.e. words that were re-borrowed directly from Sanskrit with little phonetic or grammatical change) augment the vocabulary greatly. In addition, many other words were borrowed from languages spoken in the region either natively or as a colonial language, including Meitei, English, and Perso-Arabic.[citation needed]
Inherited/native Indic words (tadbhava): 10,000 (Of these, 2,000 are only found in Bishnupriya Manipuri, and have not been inherited by other Indic languages)
Words re-borrowed from Sanskrit (tatsama): 10,000
Words re-borrowed from Sanskrit, partially modified (ardhatatsama): 1,500
^ abCardona, George; Jain, Dhanesh, eds. (2003), "The historical context and development of Indo-Aryan", The Indo-Aryan Languages, Routledge language family series, London: Routledge, pp. 46–66, ISBN0-7007-1130-9
^ abSouth Asian folklore: an encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, By Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, Margaret Ann Mills, Routledge, 2003, p. 203
^"Bishnupriya Manipuris demand satellite autonomous council - Sentinelassam". www.sentinelassam.com. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2022. The Tripura government has categorized and placed the Bishnupriya Manipuri language under the Tribal Language Cell of the State Council of Educational Research and Training, while in Assam they are considered among Other Backward Classes (OBC), whereas in Manipur from where these people originated remains status-less
^"Meitei | Ethnologue". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2023. Used as L2 by Bishnupuriya [bpy].{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)