The Marma, is the second-largest Indigenous minority community in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts. Primarily residing in the Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati Hill Districts.
They speak the endangered “Marma” Language, a member of the Lolo-Burmese branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family.
Marma is a dialect of Arakanese, a Southwestern variety of Burmese. It is spoken by about 180,000 people from Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari districts.
Marma language has its own unique alphabet, which is based on the Burmese script.
Marma has 13 different clans and even different clans have distinctive tonal features. There has been very little linguistic research done on Marma, hence not much data available on the internet.
Our objective is to make Marma young people's capacity to read and write on a digital platform accessible. Being a minority in Bangladesh, their cultures and languages are on the verge of extinction.
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This course can play a significant role in giving the Marma community members throughout Bangladesh or across the globe the chance to study and practice their native language. A special thanks to Mr. Aung Kya Jai Marma & Bhante Indasara (for script), Tongsa (for technical support), and Ms. Ushing Mya Marma (audio).
