Alternate Names: Chatgaiyan Buli, Chatgaya, Chittagonian Bengali
Dialects: Not inherently intelligible with Bengali ,, although considered a nonstandard Bengali dialect. Dialects form a continuum from north to south, with a larger religious distinction between Muslim and others. Rohingya , in Myanmar is reportedly similar to the southern dialect of Chittagonian. Lexical similarity: 43%–64% with Bangla ,.
Status Notes: Used as an L2 in Rangamati, Bandarban, Cox’ s Bazar, and Chittagong districts primarily for business and market.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 13,000,000 (2006 SIL).
Language Use: Home, family, religion. 60% also use Bengali [ben]. Village women without access to TV do not understand Bengali. Educated people understand some Bengali, but are not comfortable using it. Education is in standard Bengali. Used as L2 by Bengali [ben], Chakma [ccp], Marma [rmz], Mru [mro], Rakhine [rki], Rohingya [rhg], Tippera [tpe].
Language Development: Lower literacy rate than most of the country. TV.
Writing System: Arabic, Latin
Nation of Origin: Bangladesh
Other Comments: Muslim, Christian, Hindu.