Joe Shearer
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So having the same script means Jack Squat. It does not prove that Assamese and Bengali are the same language, any more than it proves that Maithil (talking of their script Maithilakshar, very similar to Bengali, Assamese and Manipuri script) and Bengali are the same language.
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It shows that (a) the script was a superficial attribute of the language. Bengali used other scripts, and this one came to be the standard only because of an effort at standardisation by the British and the Sanskrit pundits. So - again - no use saying that the script is the same, or almost the same; that is irrelevant.
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"Even the Assamese" are not experts in linguistics and history. They are simple members who can smell a fake, but don't know how to contradict him.
The bold part is clear to anybody who has simple English comprehension. If you couldn't understand it, just use some swear words, and we will know that you couldn't understand simple stuff.
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Wrong again.
Look it up; I suggest Suniti Chatterjee, but there are others as well.
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No, genius, I do not mean the Chorjapod. Those are sometime between the 10th and 12th centuries AD.
By ignoring the hint, you've just painted yourself into a corner. All the Assamese members must be laughing at you. As well they should.
I can't help feeling how accurately my words addressed to iajdani fit the situation:
At the moment, you stand a monument to Bengali provincialism and smug, self-centred ignorance
One passage was pure Bengali. Don't kid yourself.
OK and so??The same Brahmi-derived script is used for several languages, and was a common alternative to the Nagari version that is now used for Hindi, as far back as the eleventh century at least, although this script or a predecessor has been used for the Kamarupa Inscriptions as far back as the 7th century. It was used for Bengali, Assamese and, in later years, for variations found in Manipur. The script was in no way connected organically with the language Bengali, until as late as the 18th century, and the centralisation which happened as a consequence of British research into the language. Iswarchandra Vidyasagar's name is associated with this adoption of the script for Bengali as a standard, but it is possible that the general direction was set by the Fort William College and the first researches into Bengali by scholars from that college, assisted by Sanskrit scholars.
So having the same script means Jack Squat. It does not prove that Assamese and Bengali are the same language, any more than it proves that Maithil (talking of their script Maithilakshar, very similar to Bengali, Assamese and Manipuri script) and Bengali are the same language.
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And how is it relevant to the topic?The Sanskritisation of Bengali and the purging of Persian words that took place then is a separate matter; this misunderstanding of the British, guided by Sanskrit-oriented pundits, led to the reaction known as Muhammedan Bengali, or Mussulman Bengali, which existed earlier but not in particularly widespread a form.
It shows that (a) the script was a superficial attribute of the language. Bengali used other scripts, and this one came to be the standard only because of an effort at standardisation by the British and the Sanskrit pundits. So - again - no use saying that the script is the same, or almost the same; that is irrelevant.
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Care to explain the bold part? Even the Assamese members here didn't go on to claim such thing.That is for the script. For the language, what we need to know is that all these eastern languages were derivatives of 'eastern' Prakrit, or Magadhi Prakrit, which was the Prakrit that was taught to newcomers to the language. In contrast, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Marathi, Punjabi and other western languages of the Indo-Aryan family were derived from 'western' Prakrit, or Suraseni. Assamese drew apart and achieved linguistic autonomy as far back as the 7th century.
"Even the Assamese" are not experts in linguistics and history. They are simple members who can smell a fake, but don't know how to contradict him.
The bold part is clear to anybody who has simple English comprehension. If you couldn't understand it, just use some swear words, and we will know that you couldn't understand simple stuff.
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Thirdly, the impression conveyed that until recent years, Bengali itself was one large, happy family is an egregious myth. Magadhi Prakrit itself split into perhaps four parts, of which one was the predecessor of modern-day Assamese, right at the outset, perhaps as much as a millennium ago, but probably around the time of the Bhakti movement in Bengal. Three of these splits coalesced into modern-day Bengali. The fourth was used as a foundation for modern-day Assamese.So what's the name of the fourth part of Magadhi that is the predecessor of Assamese? If I'm not wrong Magadhi Prakrit evolved into five groups, Bihari languages, Tharu Languages, Oriya Languages, Halbic Languages and the Bengali-Assamese languages. Bengali-Assamese languages don't have any language groups and modern Bengali, Assamese and other North East languages are direct descendants of it.
Wrong again.
Look it up; I suggest Suniti Chatterjee, but there are others as well.
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Read up on the Kamrup Inscriptions before you make statements like that.
Kamarup inscriptions? You mean the Chojapod? That's also a classic example of ancient Bengali.
No, genius, I do not mean the Chorjapod. Those are sometime between the 10th and 12th centuries AD.
By ignoring the hint, you've just painted yourself into a corner. All the Assamese members must be laughing at you. As well they should.
I can't help feeling how accurately my words addressed to iajdani fit the situation:
At the moment, you stand a monument to Bengali provincialism and smug, self-centred ignorance
I'm not too knowledgeable on languages, but as a Sylheti speaker, I understood completely what the Assamese member said. Only difference is, he added the letter x at the front of some of the words.
One passage was pure Bengali. Don't kid yourself.