The Present Situation of the Manipuri Meitei Language : A Study of the Socio-Cultural Aspects of Bangladesh

Abstract

This article aims to highlight the real context of the Manipuri Meitei language that exists in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been known as a monolingual country since its independence in 1971.Manipuri Meitei, like other indigenous community, must adhere to the country’s multilingualism. After learning their mother tongue, Meitei people begin to communicate with the local Bengali community in which they live. Furthermore, throughout the academic phase, Meitei pupils need to study basic Bangla and English as well. In recent days, Multilingualism has become a threat to Meitei indigenous community. In a situation, this study involves finding out the historical background of the Manipuri Meitei language community in Bangladesh and how their language has been associated with their culture, arts, and literature beyond multilingualism. Furthermore, the researcher tried to investigate the attitude of Meitei different aged group generations of using Bangla and English in their daily life conversation. In this research, the researcher follows qualitative methods by doing some interviews and FGD (Focus group discussion).