From intentional political neglect that denies Sylheti the support other languages receive, which explains the lack of resources in and for the Sylheti language (most materials today being conserved and produced by small groups in the Sylheti diaspora, outside south Asia), and social policing, which perpetuates shame for using the Sylheti language outside of home in any formal setting, the Sylheti language has changed over time, notably changing from pressure to be/sound more like standard Bangla, to construct a Sylheti in the image of the ‘dialect of Bangla/Bengali’ that those in power self-servingly claimed and still claim today that it ‘should’ be, as well as changing more recently through revitalization/reclamation efforts to undo some of the Banglafication Sylheti has been seen to endure. As a minoritized and under-resourced language, Sylheti(-Cachari) has been politically dismissed as a ‘dialect of Bangla/Bengali’ since British colonialization (when other languages like Assamese and Oriya/Odia were also misclassified as ‘dialects of Bangla/Bengali’).
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