Langenesis

Indo-European family

Bengali

c. 1100 CE – today Living

Bengali (c. 1100 CE – today) is a living Indo-European language. Lineage: Proto-Indo-European → Proto-Indo-Iranian → … → Magadhi Prakrit → Magadhi Apabhramsha → Bengali.

See Bengali on the interactive map
Speakers
240M (240,000,000)
ISO 639-3
ben
Glottocode
beng1280

Eastern Indo-Aryan. The Charyapada (10th–12th c.) are claimed as the earliest literature of Bengali, Assamese and Odia alike. Middle Bengali from c. 1400.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4,500 BCE – 2,500 BCE
  2. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2,500 BCE – 1,800 BCE
  3. Proto-Indo-Aryanc. 1,800 BCE – 1,500 BCE
  4. Vedic Sanskritc. 1,500 BCE – 500 BCE
  5. Magadhi Prakritc. 300 BCE – 600 CE
  6. Magadhi Apabhramshac. 600 CE – 1100 CE
  7. Bengalic. 1100 CE – today

Sister languages 4

Also descended from Magadhi Apabhramsha.

Sources