Sylheti belongs to the Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, that evolved from Magadhi Prakrit. Sylheti is also known as Sylhetti, Sylheti Bangla, Sileti, Siloti, Syloti, and Syloty.

Though the speakers at that time referred to it as Jaintiapuri, Purba Srihattiya, or Ujania with the latter meaning 'the language of the upper country'. According to Grierson (1903) the vernacular was called Sylhettia by the Europeans after the town of Sylhet. Sylheti is eponymously named after Sylhet, referring to the dialect or language spoken of that area. Some incorrectly consider it as a 'corrupt' form of Bengali, and there is a reported language shift from Sylheti to Standard Bengali in Bangladesh, India and the diaspora though Sylheti has more vitality than Standard Bengali in the United Kingdom. While most linguists consider it an independent language, for many native speakers Sylheti forms the diglossic vernacular, with standard Bengali forming the codified lect. It is variously perceived as either a dialect of Bengali or a language in its own right. Besides, there are substantial numbers of Sylheti speakers in the Indian states of Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland as well as diaspora communities in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the Middle East. Sylheti ( Sylheti Nāgarī: ꠍꠤꠟꠐꠤ Bengali: সিলেটি ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by an estimated 11 million people, primarily in the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh, Barak Valley of Assam, and northern parts of Tripura in India. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

Bengali written alphabet