Umlaut of Middle Bengali ছেলিয়া (cheliẏa, “young person or animal”), from Magadhi Prakrit 𑀙𑁂𑀮𑀺𑀅𑀓 (cheliaka), from 𑀙𑁂𑀮𑀺𑀅 (chelia) + Middle Indo-Aryan -𑀓- (-ka-), from earlier Ashokan Prakrit *𑀙𑀬𑀮𑀺𑀅 (*chayalia), from Sanskrit छगलिक (chagalika, “kid, young goat”), from छगल (chagala, “goat”) + -इक (-ika);[1] the semantic shift of a word for the young of a farm animal to mean the offspring of people is not uncommon (compare Bengali বাচ্চা (bacca) and বৎস (botśo), both of which were once solely used to refer to calves; compare also English kid). Cognate with Odia ଛେଳି (cheḷi).
ছেলে • (chele)
| Inflection of ছেলে | |||
| nominative | ছেলে chele | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| objective | ছেলেকে cheleke | ||
| genitive | ছেলের cheler | ||
| Indefinite forms | |||
| nominative | ছেলে chele | ||
| objective | ছেলেকে cheleke | ||
| genitive | ছেলের cheler | ||
| Definite forms | |||
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | ছেলেটা, ছেলেটি cheleṭa (colloquial), cheleṭi (formal) |
ছেলেরা chelera | |
| objective | ছেলেটাকে, ছেলেটিকে cheleṭake (colloquial), cheleṭike (formal) |
ছেলেদের(কে) cheleder(ke) | |
| genitive | ছেলেটার, ছেলেটির cheleṭar (colloquial), cheleṭir (formal) |
ছেলেদের cheleder | |
| Objective Note: In some dialects -রে (-re) marks this case instead of -কে (-ke). | |||