The Bengali Language

Bengali came from Púrvii Ardha-Mágadhii. It is the language of Ráŕh.

It has 12 main dialects. Some of the dialects are so big that they include more than one sub-dialect within them.

1. Mid-Ráŕhii Báḿlá:

a) Birbhum District, except for Nalhati and Murari b) Kandi Subdivision c) Dumka, Jámtuŕá and Deoghar Subdivisions of Santal Parganas District d) Durgapur and Asansol Subdivisions of Burdwan District e) Dhanbad District (up to Pareshnath Hill in the west) f) Purulia District g) some parts of Giridih District h) the eastern part of Ranchi District, – Silli, Sonahatu, Bundu and Tamáŕ i) the north-eastern part of Singhbhum District j) Midnapur District except for the Contai area k) Bankura District except for the Indás police station

Within this dialect there are numerous sub-dialects. Two of the many characteristics of this dialect are: i) the use of the second [objective] case-ending if destination is meant, for example, Mui ghare áchi [“I am at home”], but Mui gharke yábu [“I shall go home”], ii) the use of the suffix ek in the first person of a transitive verb, for example, dilek [“I/We shall deliver”], dibek [“I/We shall give”], basibek [“I/We shall sit”], habek [“I/We shall be”].

Tathástu baliyá devii dilá baradán, Dudhe bháte thákibek tomár santán.

–Bharatchandra

[“Blessed thou art” was the boon of the goddess, “Your children will live in affluence.”]

2. Contai Báḿlá: It extends from the mouth of the Rasulpur River to the mouth of the Suvarnarekha River.

3. Kolkata Báḿlá: It is spoken in a) the city of Kolkata and b) the adjoining regions of Ráŕh and Bagri.

4. Shantipuri Báḿlá:

a) Nadia District b) the southern part of eastern Murshidabad c) the areas along the bank of the Bhagirathi River in Burdwan District d) the Bijpur-Naihati regions of 24 Parganas District. (At one time this [sub-dialect of] Shantipuri Báḿlá was the literary Báḿlá.)

5. Sher Shahvadiiya or Jangipuri Báḿlá:

a) most areas of Murshidabad District b) the Nalhati-Murari police station areas of Birbhum District c) Pakurh and Rajmahal Subdivisions in Santal Parganas d) Maldah District (Sher Shahvad Pargana is located in Maldah District) e) some parts of Katihar District f) Nawabgunj Subdivision of Rajshahi District. (This dialect contains some sub-dialects.)

6. Jessore Báḿlá:

a) Jessore District except for Banagram Subdivision b) the Sadar Subdivision of Khulna District c) Gopalgunj Subdivision of Faridpur District

7. Chandradwipi Báḿlá:

a) the whole of Bakhargunj District b) Patuakhali District c) Bagerhat Subdivision of Khulna District d) the areas adjoining Madaripur Subdivision of Faridpur District

8. Bikrampuri Báḿlá:

a) Dhaka District b) the eastern part of Pabna District c) the areas adjoining Faridpur District

9. Sylheti Báḿlá:

a) Sylhet District b) Kachar District c) the adjoining areas of Mymensingh District d) Brahmanberia Subdivision of Comilla District e) the southern foothills of the Khasia-Jayantia Hills

10. Chattal Báḿlá:

It is spoken in the entire coastal area of Chittagong Division.(1) Within this dialect there are some sub-dialects.

11. Barendri Báḿlá:

a) Rajshahi District except for Nawabgunj Subdivision b) the western part of Pabna District c) the southern bank of the Karatoya River of Bagurha District d) the southern part of Dinajpur District

12. Rangpuri Báḿlá:

a) Rangpur District b) Dinajpur District c) certain parts of Bagurha d) West Dinajpur District e) Coochbehar District f) Jalpaiguri District g) the plains of Darjeeling District h) Kishanganj Subdivision of Purnea District and the Palashi Police Station of Araria Subdivision i) Goalpara District of Assam j) Jhampa District of Nepal

The above list tells us that:

• Bengali has a number of sub-dialects.
• 5 dialects or so, some primary and some secondary, are prevalent in Ráŕh.

Today every dialect of Bengali has a natural tendency towards literary Bengali. And within a short time, no dialect will be prevalent among the people. So all the folk-rhymes and folk-songs of the different dialects should be collected and preserved without delay. Otherwise, there will be no trace of them within another fifty years.

Bengali pronunciation: Every language has some specialities of pronunciation. The dialects of Ráŕh as well as the [other dialects of the] Bengali language have a host of specialities in pronunciation. These specialities more or less follow the Yajurvedic system. Unlike “a” in the English alphabet, which has twenty-one different pronunciations, a [the first letter of all Indo-Aryan alphabets] is pronounced mainly in three ways in India: 1) saḿvrta [short], 2) vivrta [long] and 3) tiryak [extended]. When a is pronounced according to the saḿvrta system, it sounds like “au” in the English word “authentic”. When a is pronounced according to the vivrta system, it sounds somewhat like “u” in the English word “but”. And when a is pronounced according to the tiryak system, it sounds somewhat like “o” in the English word “origin”. In the Bengali language the saḿvrta and tiryak pronunciations of a are in use, while the vivrta is not in use.

The pronunciation of ণ [cerebral ńa] in Bengali is according to the Yajurvedic rule – নঁ [dental na with dot and crescent to indicate nasalization]. It is not like the Rgvedic ঢ়ঁ [ŕha with dot and crescent to indicate nasalization]. In Bengali the pronunciations of antahstha ব [the semi-vowel va] and vargiiya ৰ [ba belonging to a particular varga, or group of consonants, namely the labial group] are the same. In Bengali, regarding the pronunciations of antahstha য [the semi-vowel ya] and antahstha য় [the semi-vowel ya occurring in the middle of a word], Padánte padamadhyasthe ya-kár “ia” ucyate, that is, “If the letter comes at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced somewhat like vargiiya জ [ja belonging to a particular varga, or group of consonants, namely the palatal group] (it is pronounced like a soft version of vargiiya ja), but if it is in the middle or at the end, it is pronounced ia.” ড় and ঢ় [ŕa and ŕha in the middle of a word] follow the same rule as does য়. As regards two of the other semi-vowel letters, র [ra] and ব [va] (ua) the difference between their semi-vowel and non-semi-vowel versions has been lost.(2) In Bengali the semi-vowel ল [la] has no pronunciation of ল় [lra]. In Bengali dental স [sa] has almost no [separate] pronunciation. In most cases, the pronunciation of tálavya শ [palatal sha] is used. Múrdhanya ষ [cerebral śa] has no separate pronunciation, but in accordance with the Yajurvedic rule, if this ষ follows ক [ka], it is pronounced like ক্ষ [kśa – an aspirated “k” sound]. In Assamese and Punjabi, however, múrdhanya ষ is pronounced in all cases like múrdhanya খ [cerebral kha – খ being used here for purposes of illustration].

As regards the pronunciations of mahápráń [letters – i.e., emphatic letters] and hiinapráń [letters – i.e., mild letters] in the Bengali language, mahápráń has not been given much importance. In fact, except for the Sher Shahvadiya dialect, in no dialect do we find full pronunciation of mahápráń [letters]. In Chattal and some other dialects, the pronunciation of mahápráń is almost negligible. In the pronunciation of words of the Kolkata dialect, the mahápráń pronunciation is given fully only at the beginning of the words: for example, chele [“boy”], d́háká [covered], jháláno [soldering], thálá [plate] dhámá [a basket made of rattan], etc. If such letters are in or at the end of words, they are converted into the respective hiinapráń: for example, mách (mác) [fish], májh (máj) [middle], kathá (katá) [word], sádh (sád) [desire], etc.

Full pronunciation and pronunciation with hasanta [consonantal mark]: For the most part all letters in the Bengali language are fully pronounced. There are, however, some exceptions, such as Shiva (Shiv), Ráma (Rám), rúpa (rúp), etc. The rules which govern such pronunciations are roughly as follows:

1. The consonants are fully pronounced if they are at the beginning of, or in the middle of, words, but if they are at the end of words, they are pronounced with consonantal mark; for example, rúpa becomes rúp, but rúpaváńii will not be pronounced as rúpváńii, as pa is no longer at the end of the word, it has now come inside the word. So its pronunciation will be rúp-a-váńii. Shiva will be Shiv, but Shivarám will be Shiv-a-rám, Shivaprasád will be Shiva-a-prasád.

2. In the case of a conjunct letter, it will be fully pronounced; pronunciation with hasanta [consonantal mark] is not acceptable – for example, Kanishka (not Kanishk), Devadatta (not Devadat), Vaedya (not Vaed), etc.

3. Even if the letter is not a conjunct, its pronunciation will be full, should there be a suffix like kta in krdanta or ta in taddhitartha;(3) for example, sammata [“agreed”] (not sammat), grhiita [“accepted”] (not grhiit), sthagita [“postponed”] (not sthagit), álocita [“discussed”] (not álocit), diirgháyata [“prolonged”] (not diirgháyat), etc. It is a pity that very often incorrect pronunciations such as sthagit, ápyáyit, etc., are heard on radio and television. This creates confusion among students. The lack of knowledge of Bengali phonetics is the cause of this kind of defective pronunciation.

4. Even in the absence of suffixes such as kta and ta, non-[conjuncts] will be fully pronounced if the letter concerned is preceded by anusvára (ং [aḿ]), visarga (ঃ [ah]), the sign for ঐ [ae] or the sign for ঔ [ao], for example, Kaḿsa (not Kaḿs), vaḿsha [“lineage, pedigree”] (not vaḿsh), siḿha [“lion”] (not siḿ), duhkha [“woe”] (not dukh), nihsva [“penniless”] (not nis), Jaena [“Jain”] (not Jaen), gaońa [“inconsequential”] (not gaoń), saodha [“mansion”] (not saodh), etc. Moreover, where as a consequence of metamorphosis vowels are used in place of consonants in Sanskrit, it is desirable to use i and u (respectively) instead of ae and ao even if there is no difference so far as pronunciation is concerned. (I have not mentioned ঈ [ii] and ঊ [ú], as they are not pronounced in Bengali.) Dadhi → dahi → dai (dai, not dae [though the pronunciation would be the same – dai indicates that a vowel has replaced a consonant]), badhú → bahu → bau (bau, not bao), madhu → mahu → mau (mau, not mao).

5. Words which are created with the suffix d́a will be pronounced fully; for example, jalada [“rain-cloud”] (not jalad), varada [“one who gives a boon”] (not varad), Amitábha (not Amitábh), drutaga [“someone or something that goes fast”] (not drutag), etc.

1981, Kolkata Footnotes

(1) Modern Bangladesh (which is basically coextensive with the eastern part of Samatat and with Vauṋga-D́abák) consists of six divisions, each containing several districts. –Trans.

(2) The non-semi-vowel version of ra is r, and the non-semi-vowel version of va is ba. –Trans.

(3) Krdanta and taddhitartha are two kinds of suffixes. When kta or ta is suffixed to a root, it does not mean that the resulting word will necessarily contain kta or ta in that exact form. –Trans.