Rohingya language analysis (LADO): Rakhine State, Cox's Bazar and the Chittagonian question
Rohingya is spoken in northern Rakhine State in Myanmar and by very large numbers of people in the camps of Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. Its closest relative, Chittagonian, is spoken just across the border, which is why Rohingya claims so often turn on fine linguistic distinctions. SILA Linguists® provides Rohingya language analysis that examines those distinctions with native-speaker analysts and careful attention to each person's history of displacement.
The origin question in Rohingya cases
Rohingya claimants are often asked to show that they come from Myanmar rather than from Bangladesh. Many have had limited access to formal education, hold few or no documents, and have lived in Cox's Bazar, Malaysia, the Middle East or South Asia before reaching a country of protection. Their speech can therefore become central evidence in an asylum claim or appeal.
Language analysis for the determination of origin approaches this carefully. It asks whether the person speaks Rohingya rather than Chittagonian or standard Bengali, what their speech shows about where they grew up, and how later years in camps or abroad have shaped it. The report gives a reasoned expert opinion; it does not decide nationality.
Rohingya, Chittagonian and Bengali: close but distinct
Rohingya belongs to the Bengali-Assamese branch of Eastern Indo-Aryan and is closely related to Chittagonian, spoken around Chattogram and southwards towards Cox's Bazar. The two are partly mutually intelligible, and whether they are separate languages or varieties of one is still debated, though Rohingya is generally treated as a language in its own right. Standard Bengali is more distant.
That closeness is the analyst's main challenge. Rohingya vocabulary includes words from Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Burmese and English, and the presence and use of Burmese loans in particular can be relevant to a claimed upbringing in Rakhine State. The analyst examines pronunciation, grammar and everyday vocabulary, compares them with Chittagonian and Bengali, and notes any Burmese, Bengali or other second-language knowledge the person shows.
A Rohingya analysis, stage by stage
Set out the journey
Share the claimed home area, years spent in Cox's Bazar or other countries, languages the person reports and any recording or previous report.
Select a Rohingya analyst
We assign a native-speaker analyst who can distinguish Rohingya from Chittagonian and Bengali and recognise Burmese contact.
Capture calm speech
The analyst advises on a trauma-aware interview in Rohingya that encourages the person to speak naturally.
Separate the layers
The report distinguishes the underlying variety from camp and migration influences and weighs Myanmar against Bangladeshi explanations.
Support the hearing
We respond to questions and opposing reports, and an expert witness can explain the findings to the tribunal.
Reading speech shaped by camps and displacement
Many Rohingya people have spent years in the camps of Cox's Bazar, where Rohingya and Chittagonian speakers live side by side, or in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or India. Contact of this kind can bring Chittagonian, Bengali, Malay, Urdu or Arabic features into a person's speech without changing where they first learned to talk.
Our analysts treat such contact as part of the story rather than as a contradiction. The report separates the underlying variety from later influences, sets out how each fits the person's account, and explains openly where the evidence is limited. Interviews are conducted by calm, trauma-aware native speakers, because a relaxed speaker gives a far better sample than a frightened one.
SILA Linguists® method for Rohingya analysis
The analyst works from recorded speech, usually an interview in Rohingya in which the person talks about home, family, village life and the journey. The recording is transcribed with dialect features marked and examined with methods from forensic phonetics, dialectology and sociolinguistics, supported by acoustic measurement software where it clarifies a sound.
Every plausible origin is considered, not only the one claimed, and every step is documented in a written expert report that discusses alternatives and states uncertainty. Our analysts are native speakers with linguistic training who follow recognised professional codes of practice, and none of our LADO reports has ever been successfully challenged.
LADO and nationality assessment for Rohingya claimants
LADO places speech in a region or community, such as northern Rakhine State or the Chattogram area. A nationality assessment works at country level, considering knowledge of places, institutions and documents. For Rohingya claimants, whose access to state institutions and documents has often been limited, this needs particular care, and the report says what can and cannot reasonably be expected.
Documents held by Rohingya people are typically in Burmese, Bengali or English, and certified translation of those papers can be read alongside the linguistic evidence. Linguists advise; the deciding authority decides.
Rohingya interpreters, translation and transcription
SILA Linguists® can provide Rohingya interpreters, rather than Chittagonian or Bengali substitutes, for legal advice, interviews and hearings, face to face, by video or by telephone 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Relay through Burmese or Bengali is used only with your agreement. A same-gender interpreter can be requested.
Certified translation of Burmese, Bengali or English documents comes with a signed statement of accuracy accepted by UK authorities. Rohingya transcription and translation of interview audio, with time stamps, gives representatives an exact record. Because many speakers read neither of the Rohingya scripts, Hanifi Rohingya or the Latin-based Rohingyalish, we can also prepare audio materials.
Independent Rohingya reports for lawyers and charities
Our analysts can prepare independent reports for solicitors, barristers, immigration advisers, refugee charities and individuals in the UK, North America, Australia, New Zealand and beyond, and for courts and tribunals. Second-opinion reports and expert witness evidence are available.
SILA Linguists® combines over 6,500 trained, vetted and qualified interpreters and translators with one project team for each case and strict confidentiality agreements, with personal data handled under UK GDPR.
How LADO and nationality assessment fit together
- Nationality assessment works at national level: the macro view.
- LADO traces a speaker to a region, town or community: the micro view.
- Used together, they give the most robust and reliable picture.
Questions about this language analysis
Can an analysis tell Rohingya from Chittagonian?
It can provide a reasoned opinion. The two are closely related and partly mutually intelligible, so the analyst looks closely at pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and loanwords, including Burmese, and explains how firmly the speech fits one variety rather than the other.
My client spent years in Cox's Bazar. Does Chittagonian influence weaken the claim?
Not necessarily. Long contact in the camps can add Chittagonian or Bengali features. The analyst separates those later influences from the underlying speech and discusses whether the overall pattern fits the account.
Can you provide a Rohingya interpreter for the interview?
Yes. We provide Rohingya-speaking interviewers and interpreters, and we use relay through Burmese or Bengali only with your agreement and after checking the person's understanding.
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By location
LADO in Norway
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