Banglish
hybrid language
Banglish, also known as Bangreji (portmanteau of 'Bangla' and 'Īngrejī'), Benglish or Bengalish (portmanteau of 'Bengali' and 'English') and Bonglish, is the mixed use ("code switching") of the Bengali and English languages. The first usage of the word "Benglish" was found in 1972 and "Banglish" in 1975.
In written
contexts, Benglish refers to Romanised Bengali—Bengali written in Roman script (English alphabet)—often with English lexical borrowings.
In academic circles, "Benglish verb" refers to a compound verb consisting of an English word and a Bengali verb, such as: "accident kora" (meaning "to be involved in an accident"), "in howa" (meaning "to enter"), "confuse kora" (meaning "to cause confusion"), and so on.
In 2012 to maintain the purity of the Bengali language, according to an order of the Bangladesh High Court, "Banglish" was banned in all media including TV and radio in Bangladesh.
The earliest instance of a long Bengali text printed in the Roman script was a collection of Aesop's Fables titled Oriental Fabulist, published in 1803 in six Indian languages. During 1930s Suniti Kumar Chatterji suggested that Bengali be written in Roman script to eliminate spelling inconsistencies and to appeal to a pan-Indian audience. In Kolkata, West Bengal, India some publishers have begun releasing classical and children's books in the Roman script (i.e., English alphabet) to cater to readers who speak Bengali but are unfamiliar with the Bengali alphabet. Remarkably, these "Benglish books" became the third highest-selling book category of a publisher's sales chart at the Kolkata Book Fair in 2018.
See also
Murad Takla
Bong (term)
Romanization of Bengali
References
Sources
Tahereen, Tanzina (May 2016).
“Banglish” enters the record as hybrid language. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Banglish, hybrid and language can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Banglish” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Banglish, hybrid and language provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q124638679. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1972, 1975, 2012 and 1803.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Banglish”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Banglish primary sources, Banglish archive and Banglish research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Banglish”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Banglish” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.