Bangladeshi English

Bangladeshi English is a nativized variety of the English language that has evolved since its introduction in Bangladesh primarily as a medium of administration, education, and commerce during British colonial rule in the eighteenth century.

After independence in 1971, amid nationalist efforts to decolonize institutions, Bengali was established as the sole state language. But English still retained a significant role in higher education, government documents, judicial proceedings, and mass media, alongside remaining a compulsory subject in primary and secondary education.

Linguistically, Bangladeshi English is distinguished by phonological features deeply influenced by the Bengali substrate. These include the monophthongization of diphthongs, the neutralization of aspiration contrasts, and the absence of certain English consonant clusters and vowel lengths in Bengali phonology. Its lexical innovations include the addition of Bengali loanwords to express local flora, fauna, and cultural concepts; calques and simplified syntactic structures, adapted for non-native speakers using it as a lingua franca in multinational professional environments, are also observed.

Classified as an emerging postcolonial variety within the framework of World Englishes, this language exemplifies the nativization processes observed in other South Asian Englishes. Some critics opine that deficient pronunciation has hindered intelligibility.

Bengali is the sole official and national language of Bangladesh. However, English is often used secondarily in the higher tier of the judiciary in the country. Laws were written in English during the British Raj.

Since the introduction of Bangla Bhasha Procholon Ain, all the laws by parliament and all Ordinances promulgated by the President are being enacted in Bengali in Bangladesh.

There are ten English language newspapers in Bangladesh. English medium schools are also operated in English. Mainly, the people of Bangladeshi descent residing in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US and students of English medium schools in Bangladesh use Benglish (though the teaching of Standard English is also attempted).

However, upon public demand in 2012, the High Court of Bangladesh banned the use of Benglish, described as a slang mixture of Bengali and English, in radio and television programs "to protect local tongue".