Bengali: A Comprehensive Grammar [1 ed.] 0415411378, 9780415411370

Table of contents :
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Abbreviations and Glosses
PART 1 PERIPHERIES
1 Introduction
2 Script and sound
3 Morphological features
PART 2 WORD CLASSES
4 Nouns
5 Pronouns
6 Verbs
7 Adjectives
8 Adverbs
9 Postpositions
10 Conjunctions
11 Interrogatives
12 Emphasisers, particles, interjections
PART 3 FUNCTIONS
13 Noun phrase structure
14 Pronouns in use
15 Verbs of being
16 Extended verbs
17 Causative verbs
18 Compound verbs
19 Conjunct verbs
20 Verbal noun
21 Imperfective participle
22 Conditional participle
23 Perfective participle
24 Verb valency
PART 4 SENTENCES
25 Sentences and their components
26 Sentence classification
27 Modes
28 Patterns
29 Compound and complex sentences
PART 5 SEMANTIC FEATURES
30 Case use
31 Tense use
32 Aspect
33 Negation
34 Modals
35 Pairings and doublings
36 Onomatopoeia
37 Individual verbs
38 Idioms
39 Numerals
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 150 Common Verbs
Appendix 2 200 Adjectives
Appendix 3 Extended and Causative Verbs
Appendix 4 Compound verbs
Appendix 5 Conjunct verbs
Appendix 6 Numbers
Primary sources
Bibliography
Bangla Index
English Index

Citation preview

The volume is organised to promote a thorough understanding of Bengali grammar. It offers a stimulating analysis of the complexities of the language, and provides full and clear explanations. Throughout, the emphasis is on Bengali as used by present-day native speakers. An extensive index and numbered paragraphs provide readers with easy access to the information they require. Features include: •

Hanne-Ruth Thompson teaches Bengali at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Previous publications include Essential Everyday Bengali: A Grammar and Glossary of Colloquial Bengali with Examples Throughout (1999).

Hanne - Ruth Thompson

• • •

detailed treatment of the common grammatical structures and parts of speech extensive exemplification particular attention to areas of confusion and difficulty Bengali-English parallels highlighted throughout the book.

Routledge Comprehensive Grammars

Routledge Comprehensive Grammars

The Grammar is an essential reference source for the learner and user of Bengali, irrespective of level. It is ideal for use in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types. With clear and simple explanations this book will remain the standard reference work for years to come for both learners and linguists alike.

A Comprehensive Grammar

It presents a fresh, accessible and thorough description of the language, concentrating on the real patterns of use in modern Bengali. The book moves from the sounds and script through morphology and word classes to a detailed analysis of sentence structures and semantic features such as aspect, tense, negation and reduplication.

Bengali

Bengali: A Comprehensive Grammar is a complete reference guide to Bengali grammar.

Bengali

A Comprehensive Grammar

www.routledge.com

Bengali Language

Hanne - Ruth Thompson an informa business

Bengali A Comprehensive Grammar Bengali: A Comprehensive Grammar is a complete reference guide to Bengali grammar. It presents a fresh, accessible and thorough description of the language, concentrating on the real patterns of use in modern Bengali. The book moves from the sounds and script through morphology and word classes to a detailed analysis of sentence structures and semantic features such as aspect, tense, negation and reduplication. The Grammar is an essential reference source for the learner and user of Bengali, irrespective of level. It is ideal for use in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types. With clear and simple explanations this book will remain the standard reference work for years to come for both learners and linguists alike. The volume is organised to promote a thorough understanding of Bengali grammar. It offers a stimulating analysis of the complexities of the language, and provides full and clear explanations. Throughout, the emphasis is on Bengali as used by present-day native speakers. An extensive index and numbered paragraphs provide readers with easy access to the information they require. Features include: • detailed treatment of the common grammatical structures and parts of speech • extensive exemplification • particular attention to areas of confusion and difficulty • Bengali-English parallels highlighted throughout the book. Hanne-Ruth Thompson teaches Bengali at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Previous publications include Essential Everyday Bengali: A Grammar and Glossary of Colloquial Bengali with Examples Throughout (1999).

Routledge Comprehensive Grammars Comprehensive Grammars are available for the following languages: Bengali Cantonese Catalan Danish Dutch Greek Indonesian Japanese Modern Welsh Modern Written Arabic Slovene Swedish Ukrainian

Bengali A Comprehensive Grammar

Hanne-Ruth Thompson

First edition published 2010 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2010 Hanne-Ruth Thompson Typeset in Sabon and Gill by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 13: 978-0-415-41137-0 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978-0-415-41139-4 (pbk) ISBN 13: 978-0-203-88073-9 (ebk)

ahŸcxò g†hS Mhfu xhi - ahmhfk yqfwC BhXh/

Shamsur Rahman I go with a glass of amazement in my hand – you have given me language. To the children of Bangladesh

Contents

Acknowledgements Glossary Abbreviations and Glosses PART 1

PERIPHERIES

Chapter 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6

Chapter 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13

Introduction Aims and organisation of the book Bangla grammar terms Bangla and its speakers History (language and literature) The Bangla lexicon Sadhu bhasha

Script and sound The Bangla Alphabet Spellings and sounds Phonemes Sounds and phonemes Vowels The inherent vowel Syllable structure Consonants – use and occurrence Conjuncts Jophola Other symbols Punctuation Sounds and spellings

xvii xviii xxiii 1 3 3 5 8 9 13 15

19 19 21 23 24 31 36 40 42 46 52 53 57 60

vii

Contents

Chapter 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7

Morphological features Duplication Vowel harmony and vowel mutation Prefixes and suffixes Verbal patterns Adjective derivations Noun derivations Word classes overview

62 64 66 73 77 82 85

PART 2 WORD CLASSES

89

Chapter 4

91

4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14

Chapter 5 5.1 5.2

Nouns Types of nouns Formation of nouns Gender Bare nouns The classifiers – overview Noun paradigms The classifiers – one-by-one Plural formation Definite – indefinite Animate – inanimate Ordinary – honorific Count – non-count Case Multiple noun attachments

Pronouns Pronouns – overview Types of pronouns

Chapter 6 Verbs

viii

62

6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8

Verb morphology Verb classes Vowel mutation Verb forms Conjugation tables overview Conjugation charts Other verb endings Extended o-kar verbs

91 92 92 95 97 98 101 107 112 113 113 114 115 121

123 123 125

142 142 142 143 145 147 148 158 159

6.9 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13

Non-finite verb forms Imperatives Negation Incomplete verbs, verbal fragments and isolated verb forms Periphrastic tenses

Chapter 7 Adjectives 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8

Types of adjectives Attributive uses Predicative uses Verbal adjectives Comparison of adjectives Quantifiers Amounts Distributive adjectives

Chapter 8 Adverbs 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4

203

228

Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions Subordinating conjunctions Correlative conjunctions o, ahr and ebL

Chapter 11 11.1 11.2

174 175 177 178 179 188 198 201

Postpositions

Chapter 10 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4

174

204 205 207 226

Common postpositions – overview Case use Postpositions one by one Other uses khC `Ufk and other places

Interrogatives

Basic question words – overview

`k who

Contents

170 171

Formation of adverbs Uses of adverbs Types of adverbs Order of adverbs

Chapter 9 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5

161 165 168

229 229 230 255 258

261 261 266 267 269

271 271 271

ix

Contents

11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.8 11.9 11.10

yk what `kn why `kmn how `khUh where kfb and kKn when `khn which ku how much and kw how many Interrogatives as indefinites

Chapter 12 12.1 12.2 12.3

PART 3

281 288 293

FUNCTIONS

297

Noun phrase structure

299

The modifiers Possessives Deictics Quantifiers and numbers Qualifiers Reversed-order quantifiers bR ekth and Kvb ekth not much Numbers with and without classifiers ek and ekth

299 300 301 302 303 303 304 304 305

Chapter 14 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5

Pronouns in use

Independent deictics Indefinites Personal and relative pronouns Reflexivity – me, myself, on my own Reciprocality (mutuality) – one another

Chapter 15 Verbs of being 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 x

281

Emphasisers Particles Interjections

Chapter 13 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 13.9

Emphasisers, particles, interjections

272 274 275 276 276 278 279 280

Zero verb

ahC- exist, be present Uhkh stay Mowh be, become, happen, occur

Chapter 16

Extended verbs

307 307 308 313 317 320

322 322 323 325 325

327

Chapter 17 17.1 17.2

Causative verbs – one-by-one Causative verbs in context

Chapter 18 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 18.9 18.10 18.11 18.12 18.13 18.14

Compound verbs

xhowh go ahsh come clh move oTh rise, get up pRh fall bsh sit q£hRhfnh stand `qowh give `nowh take `Plh throw `uhlh lift, raise rhKh keep Same sense compounds Shortened participles

Chapter 19 19.1 19.2 19.3

Causative verbs

Conjunct verbs

Conjunct verbs examples Beyond conjunct verbs Locative verbal conjuncts

Chapter 20 Verbal noun 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5

Nominative verbal noun Verbal noun genitive Object verbal noun Locative verbal noun Verbal adjectives

Chapter 21 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4

Imperfective participle

With verbs With nouns and adjectives Expressing simultaneous events Idiomatic use: blfu

331

Contents

332 337

339 341 347 349 350 352 353 353 354 355 356 357 357 358 359

361 362 369 370

374 375 378 383 384 385

390 390 397 398 402

xi

Contents

Chapter 22 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7 22.8 22.9

If-Conditionals Temporal when-conditionals Conditional participle with Mowh and clh Negated conditional participle followed by nw is not Followed by phrh be able to Followed by o also, even Followed by emphatic i Followed by an imperative Idiomatic use blfu `gfl so to speak

Chapter 23 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 23.7 23.8 23.9 23.10

Conditional participle

Perfective participle

Sequence of events Simultaneous events Manner Implied meanings Perfective participles with different subjects Word order Doubled perfective participles Negation Individual verbs From verbal sequence to compound verb

Chapter 24 Verb valency 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4

PART 4

Monovalent verbs (subject only)

26.1 26.2

411 412 414 414 415 417 419 419 420 420 422

426

Bivalent verbs Trivalent verbs

SENTENCES

433

Sentences and their components

Verbal predicates Complements Word order flexibility Pro-drop

Chapter 26 xii

404 405 406 407 408 409 409 410 410

429 429 430 431

Mowh, ahC-, zero verb

Chapter 25 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4

403

Sentence classification

Internal structure (A) Sentence mode (B)

435 435 438 440 447

451 451 453

26.3 26.4 26.5

Verbal patterns (C) Mixed examples Sentence structure issues

Chapter 27 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4

Declarative sentences Interrogatives Imperatives Exclamations

Chapter 28 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4

PART 5

Compound and complex sentences

479 479 480 485 499

510

SEMANTIC FEATURES

561

Nominative Genitive Objective Locative

Chapter 31 Tense use 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4

464 465 470 477

510 514 515 518 522 526 533 541

Case use

Simple present Present continuous Present perfect Future tense

Contents

464

Compound sentences Contradicting compound sentences Causal sentences Result clauses Concessives Content clauses Conditional sentences Correlatives

Chapter 30 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4

Patterns

Active sentences Existential structures Impersonal structures Equational sentences

Chapter 29 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 29.6 29.7 29.8

Modes

456 458 460

563 563 566 572 580

591 593 595 597 598

xiii

Contents

31.5 31.6 31.7 31.8 31.9

Simple past Past continuous Past perfect Past habitual Mixed tenses

Chapter 32 Aspect 32.1 32.2 32.3

Grammatical aspect Lexical aspect Becoming properties of Mowh

Chapter 33 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 33.5 33.6 33.7 33.8

nh Negation and tense (yn) n- (ni , no, ns, nw, nn ) is not `ni -negation of existential sentences Positioning of nh Changed order for emphasis Double negatives Negation of compound verbs

Chapter 34 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4

xiv

Modals

Subjunctive-triggering conjunctions Tense changes Non-finite modal structures Verbal noun with qrkhr need, \ycu should ought, kUh supposed to

Chapter 35 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 35.5 35.6 35.7 35.8 35.9

Negation

Pairings and doublings

. . . etcetera Synonyms and near-synonyms Accumulative Echo words a-i pattern Opposite meanings Reduplication Doubling of interrogatives, indefinite and adverbs Doubling of non-finite verb forms Doubling of finite verb forms

600 603 604 606 608

611 611 613 619

621 621 622 624 627 629 633 634 635

636 637 643 646 654

663 663 664 665 666 668 669 670 670 671

Chapter 36

Onomatopoeia

672

Chapter 37

Individual verbs

683

37.1 37.2 37.3 37.4 37.5 37.6 37.7 37.8 37.9 37.10 37.11 37.12

ahsh come and xhowh go oTh get up, rise khth cut – khthfnh cause to cut Khowh eat Gth happen, occur chowh want, look at zhnh know `qKh see, `qKhfnh show phowh get, receive phrh be able to, be possible, may blh say, speak, tell mhnh respect, accept

Chapter 38 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.4 38.5 38.6 38.7 38.8 38.9 38.10 38.11 38.12 38.13 38.14

kUh statement, utterance, fact khz work, deed, action, result khn ear gh body `chK eye ph foot, leg bvk breast, chest mn mind, heart mhUh head mvK face, mouth Mhu hand k£hch raw, unripe and phkh ripe bR big Idioms with numbers

Chapter 39 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.4 39.5

Idioms

Numerals

Fractions and percentages Weights and measures Collective numbers Approximate numbers Indefinite big numbers

Contents

683 684 685 687 688 689 690 694 696 698 700 703

704 704 706 707 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 716 716 717

719 719 720 721 721 723 xv

Contents

APPENDICES Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix

xvi

725 1 2 3 4 5 6

150 Common Verbs 200 Adjectives Extended and Causative Verbs Compound verbs Conjunct verbs Numbers

727 729 734 740 744 749

Primary sources

753

Bibliography

757

Bangla Index

762

English Index

769

Acknowledgements

Many people have helped me with this book in many different ways: those who first taught me Bangla, those who patiently answered my many endless questions, those who encouraged me along the way, those who challenged me or allowed me to try out my theories on them, those who had faith in me and those who put up with me during my times of dogged single-mindedness. My heartfelt thanks go to William Radice, Probal Dasgupta, Monsur Musa, Mahbubul Haq, Niladri Shekhar Dash, Ghulam Murshid, Mina Dan, Ketaki Kushari Dyson, Protima Dutt, William L. Smith, Swarocish Sarker, Clinton Seely, Shanta Dey, Razima Chowdhury, Subhamay Ray, Sahana Bajpaie, John Stevens, Nancy Stewart, from my Bangladeshi family Prodip, Orup, Shontush, Madhobi and Shondhi, Ottul and Rima Rozario, my husband Keith and my children Henning, Maren and Astrid-Cumki. I am very grateful to the Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation for their financial support over the last two years and to Routledge for publishing the book.

xvii

Glossary

active A type of sentence which has a nominative subject and agreement between the subject and the verb. adjective A type of word which can describe or modify nouns the awful truth, a beautiful mind. adverb A type of word which is used to modify verbs, adjectives or sentences, e.g. slowly, very, quite; when there is more than one word involved we call them adverbials or adverb clauses, e.g. very soon, at 12 o’clock. agreement A formal concord between a subject and a verb. First person nouns take first person verb endings. animate Alive: Bangla makes a distinction between animate and inanimate nouns in, for instance, the formation of the plural. article A class of words which qualify nouns: in English we have definite and indefinite articles the Wizard of Oz (definite), an American in Paris (indefinite). Bangla has, instead of articles, a small number of classifiers which fulfil a variety of functions including the distinction between definite and indefinite noun phrases. aspect A grammatical category of the verb which expresses a type of temporal activity, e.g. progressive (continuous) the birds are singing, perfective the prophet has spoken. aspiration The property of consonants which are pronounced with a puff of air. K, G, C, Z, T, D, Z, U, Q, P, B are aspirated consonants in Bangla. attributive Adjectives that occur as modifiers within a noun phrase, describing the noun: the blue car, the proud parents. case A category of nouns and pronouns, marked by case endings, to show a grammatical relationship. In English, pronouns have some case distinctions, e.g. he, his, him but nouns only distinguish the genitive the girl’s. Bangla has four cases: nominative, genitive, objective and locative. causative Verbs expressing a causal relationship, e.g. in English the verb lie has a causative lay.

xviii

classifier Noun attachments which determine properties like singular and plural, definiteness and indefiniteness in Bangla: th, yt, zn, Khnh, tvkv, gvflh are classifiers in Bangla. clause A group of words containing a subject and predicate and functioning as part of a complex or compound sentence. complement The predicate in equational (copulative) sentences. compound Two words of the same class used together to express one meaning. compound maker One of a small number of verbs which can combine with the perfective participle of other verbs to form a compound verb. compound verb A type of verb in Bangla which combines a perfective participle with a compound maker. conditional Expressing a condition: if you come. conditional participle The non-finite verb form in Bangla which ends in -le krfl, `gfl, Mfl. conjugation The systematic change of verb stems to express, e.g., tense, person, degree of politeness. conjunct Consonant clusters. conjunction Joining, connecting words, e.g. and, but, although, because. conjunct verb A type of verb in Bangla which consists of a noun or adjective plus a common verb. consonant A sound which is produced by closing part of the vocal tract, as opposed to → vowel. content clause A type of subordinate clause which is introduced by that in English, `x in Bangla. copula A type of verb which serves to connect two equal parts of a sentence, e.g. the day is done, nothing seems right, if I were a rich man → equational.

Glossary

deictic (Pronounced as in dyke, dike) showing, pointing. A word specifying identity or spatial or temporal location from the perspective of a speaker in a given context. Examples are words like I, you, here, there, this, that, today, yesterday. demonstrative An alternative term for deictic, which is commonly used for pronouns. direct object The part of the sentence which is the goal of the verbal action, e.g. to kill a mockingbird, tie a yellow ribbon. equational The type of sentence which has a → copula how green was my valley. experiencer A human being involved in an event. In many Bangla sentences this experiencer is not the grammatical subject of the sentence. experiencer contrasts with subject in impersonal sentences.

xix

Glossary

extended verb stem.

A type of verb in Bangla which has a two-syllable verb

familiar Form of address, in many languages distinct from a polite or honorific form. finite Verb forms which contain endings for person and tense – most sentences contain a finite verb form → non-finite. genitive A noun case, can express possession ( Jenny’s skirt) or association (Gulliver’s travels). head A noun or pronoun which appears before a relative pronoun, i.e. we who have seen the film, ahmrh xhrh Cybth `qfKyC. Bangla can form relative clauses without a head xhrh efsfC those who came. honorific Polite form of address → polite → familiar. imperative In an order-giving mode meet me in St Louis, don’t look now. imperfective participle The → non-finite verb form in Bangla which ends in -te krfu, `xfu, Mfu. impersonal A type of sentence which does not have a ‘doing’ subject, e.g. it makes sense. indirect object The part of the sentence for or towards whom the action is performed; in the sentence I gave you my heart we have a direct object my heart and an indirect object you. infinitive A → non-finite verb form, in English the base form of a verb or used with to, e.g. you can’t take it with you or nowhere to hide, an affair to remember. interrogative Relating to questions. locative

A case of the noun, used, for instance, to express place.

modality Sometimes also referred to as mood, the dimension of language that deals with the speaker’s attitude to what he is saying. Anything that goes beyond a mere stating or questioning of facts, such as suggestions, commands, suppositions, promises or threats, counts as a modal feature. modifier Anything that stands in a subservient and modifying relationship to a noun. morphology The branch of grammar which studies the structure (or composition) of words.

xx

need to know A principle which underlies many Bangla sentence structures such as pro-drop, singular and plural formation and structures involving case. It means that grammatical information is restricted to what we need to know in order to understand a sentence.

nominative The base form of nouns and pronouns → case. non-finite Verb forms which are not conjugated and do not stand alone in a sentence → finite. noun The word class which names a person, place or thing; nouns can function as subjects and objects, take determiners and can have number, gender, case.

Glossary

object The sentence part towards which the action of the verb is directed: I asked him, he denied his statement. We can distinguish between → direct (accusative) object and → indirect object. participle A non-finite verb form which functions as a clause or an adjective towering inferno, gone with the wind. particle A grammatical term which is used for non-essential short, indeclinable words. passive Derived from active structures: he built the house: the house was built (by him). perfective participle The non-finite verb form in Bangla which ends in -e kfr, ygfw, Mfw. phoneme The smallest sound unit in language which makes a difference in meaning. phonology The study of the sound systems of languages. phrase A group of two or more grammatically related words that form a sense unit expressing a thought. A phrase goes with a single part of speech such as a noun, a verb, an adverb or a postposition. plural Referring to more than one. polite Respectful form of address (many languages distinguish between a familiar and a polite form). possessive Expresses belonging. postposition Has the same function as a → preposition, but comes after the noun phrase; a language has either pre- or postpositions. predicate The part of the sentence which is not the subject. subject and predicate together form a sentence. A predicate can consist of a verb, with or without objects, or of a complement. predicative Adjectives are often used as complements in a sentence: the children were asleep, the climb is dangerous. predicative adjectives contrast with attributive adjectives. preposition A type of word which positions a noun, e.g. in, against, for, beyond; prepositions form prepositional phrases on the waterfront, within our lifetime, under the influence. pro-drop Omission of nominative and sometimes objective pronouns where their reference can be inferred from the context. progressive A type of aspect: expressing an ongoing or repeated process they were talking, he was knocking.

xxi

Glossary

pronoun A type of word which can take the place of a previously mentioned noun phrase, e.g. John was angry, but he didn’t know why. reflexive Referring back to itself, e.g. he is washing himself, they hate each other. relative A kind of pronoun relating to something already mentioned, e.g. the man who knew too much. root The basic unit which carries the meaning, e.g. from the Latin root flux flow we have English words like fluent, influence, fluctuate, fluid. semantics The study of meaning of language. sentence A grammatically self-contained unit of speech or writing. singular Referring to one. stem The base form (usually of a verb) to which endings are added. subordinate clause (Dependent clause) A sentence which cannot stand on its own, e.g. *why we fight. subject The noun, pronoun or noun phrase in the sentence which is usually in the nominative and which has agreement with the finite verb. Bangla also has genitive experiencer subjects without verb agreement. syntax Sentence structure. tense Expression of time in verbs; the most basic tenses are past, present, future. transitive The type of verb which can take a direct object. verb Word class (doing or action words) ride, consider, forget, destroy. verb ending Added to the stem of the verb for use in sentences, e.g. walk: we walk-ed home, he was walk-ing away. verbal noun A non-finite verb form which is used as a noun krh, xhowh, Mowh. vowel A sound which has no audible constriction, e.g. a, e, i, o, u, as opposed to → consonant. word class zero verb

xxii

A group of words which share the same syntactic features. The copula in simple present equational sentences in Bangla.

* an asterisk indicates that an example is ungrammatical.

Abbreviations and Glosses

ADJ ADV ANM ASP baVN

adjective adverb animate aspect ba forms of the verbal noun krbhr, xhbhr CAUS causative CJV conjunct verb CL classifier COMP compound CONC concessive CONJ conjunction COP copula CP conditional participle CR correlative CV compound verb DEI deictic DEM demonstrative DO direct object e.g. exempli gratia = for example EMP emphasiser F familiar FUT future FUT-IMP future imperative GEN genitive HAB habitual HON honorific I intimate

id est = namely imperative inanimate indirect object interjection imperfective participle locative noun negative nominative noun phrase numeral objective oblique (= non-nominative cases, i.e. genitive and objective case) ONOM onomatopoeia ORD ordinary P past pro-copula PC past continuous P-C P-HABIT past habitual past perfect P-PERF simple past P-S PL plural polite POL positive POS POSS possessive

i.e. IMP INANM INDO INT IP LOC N NEG NOM NP NUM OBJ OBL

xxiii

Abbreviations and Glosses

POSTP PP PR PR-C PR-IMP PR-P PR-PERF PR-S PRED PRON PS QU

postposition perfective participle present present continuous present imperfective present participle present perfect simple present predicate pronoun person quantifier

R REFL SG SUBJ V VA VN *

relative reflexive singular subject verb verbal adjective verbal noun An asterisk * indicates that an example is ungrammatical

Glosses Nouns

th, yt, zn, tvkv are marked as -CL (classifiers), gvflh and gvyl as -PL-CL (plural classifier), rh and `qr are marked as -PL (plural) and PL-CASE (plural-case), respectively.

Pronouns Grammatical information in the glosses is kept to the minimum. This means that if a 3rd person pronoun is present in the gloss, only the 3H (honorific) label is marked. In all other cases, the pronoun is ordinary. With second person pronouns uvym is unmarked, ahpyn and uvi are marked 2H and 2I, respectively. Singular is unmarked, plural is marked. Case is only given where case endings are present. Bangla does not distinguish gender in its personal pronouns. In the translations, gender has to be assigned and I have variously assigned he or she. In cases where a genitive pronoun is clearly attributive and followed directly by a noun phrase, I have given my, your, our rather than I-GEN, your-GEN, etc.

xxiv

Abbreviations and Glosses

Verbs For conjugated verb forms, the following abbreviations are used: 1 2I 2 3 2H, 3H

first person ahym, ahmrh second person intimate uvi, `uhrh second person familiar uvym, `uhmrh third person ordinary `s, uhrh second person polite ahpyn, ahpnhrh and third person honorific yuyn, u£hrh

tenses

PR-S PR-C PR-IMP PR-PERF FUT FUT-IMP P-S P-C P-PERF P-HABIT

simple present present continuous present imperative present perfect future tense future imperative simple past past continuous past perfect past habitual

non-finites

VN VA IP PP CP

verbal noun verbal adjective imperfective participle perfective participle conditional participle

Verb glosses are always given in full except with some particular verb forms from incomplete verbs: forms of ahC- [exists] or [is present], `ni [is absent] and nw [is not] yCl [was/were] are given in square brackets. Verb forms with a following yn (negation of present and past perfect) are given as not verb-PERSON-TENSE rather than verb-PERSON-TENSE not to show the close connection between the verb and the negation. For conjunct verbs the noun and verb are linked with a hyphen, e.g.

pyr©khr krfl

clean-do-CP

Procopula forms of Mowh be, become are given as PC-PERSON-TENSE

xxv

Abbreviations and Glosses

Correlatives Relative and correlative pronouns and conjunctions are marked as such only where they are the topic of discussion.

Emphasisers

o, `uh and i are all given as -EMP (emphasiser) except when they are the topic of discussion. When o is used as a conjunction it is given as also or even. Glosses are given where they are deemed helpful in understanding sentence structures.

xxvi

Part 1

Peripheries

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1

Aims and organisation of the book

This book offers a descriptive outline of Bengali grammatical features at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The first step is to change from the term Bengali to Bangla. This changeover has been occurring over the past sixty years and reflects the rightful claim Bengali scholars and linguists make on their own language. In the English speaking linguistic community Bangla is now the more common term and calling the language Bangla also enables us to distinguish between the language and the people. A new grammar of modern Bangla is urgently needed and has been eagerly awaited by Bengalis and foreign learners of Bangla alike. No one book can fulfil everyone’s expectations, so in order to prevent disappointment, here is a brief background and rationale of this present book. I have been engaged in learning, teaching and researching the Bangla language for almost eighteen years. I learnt to speak the language mainly in Bangladesh but I have also been to Kolkata several times and have ongoing linguistic contacts in Kolkata. The political divide between Bangladesh and West Bengal is something which, in my perception, is not mirrored in the language. This may change in the future, but at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the linguistic differences between West Bengal and Bangladesh are relatively minor. Whether we say zl or phyn for water, anhU or eyum for orphan, esyC or ahiyC for I have arrived, o£r or \nhr for his, qvfth or qvth for two, ycbfnh or ycbhfnh for chew, kvyR or ybS for twenty, use a bit more or less nasalisation; none of these cause an identity crisis for the Bangla language. The interpretation in this book is therefore, quite deliberately, based on a rather vague concept of current Standard Colloquial Bengali and takes neither historical aspects nor dialects into account. I consider this to be important groundwork on which other findings can be based.

3

1 Introduction

What I have done in this book, to the best of my ability, is to observe, listen, read, record, analyse and interpret. I want this book to help foreigners learn Bangla – that is why there are some comparisons with English. I want this book to be useful to Bengalis who are interested in their language – that is why I have largely adhered to traditional terminology. I want this book to be practical – that is why examples take precedence over theoretical explanations. I want this book to be a contribution to linguistic thinking about Bangla – that is why I have tried to structure it in a clear progressive system. The whole book is organised around examples – lots of examples. This has four basic reasons: 1 There has been a tendency in previous books to focus on well-established, traditional example sentences for particular structures to such an extent that the relationship with the living language was in danger of getting lost. 2 Lots of examples give the reader the opportunity to see for himself or herself, to judge the accuracy or felicity of my interpretations and see things I may have missed. 3 For learners of a language the exposure to actual language patterns is, in my own experience, much more valuable than long explanations. 4 Bengali grammar books invariably display what I call the etcetera symptom: they give one or two examples and then iujhyq or —Béyu etcetera, which is perfectly adequate for them but can be intensely frustrating to a foreign learner.

4

The example sentences used in this book come from a great variety of sources. Quite a few are from spoken language. Early on in my research I gave up on the idea of asking people’s opinion on different language structures. Replies to these types of questions tend to be varied and contradictory, and there is a considerable gap between what people perceive to be ‘good language’ and the way they themselves speak. Instead of asking, I listened and kept a record. My readings have gone from essays to popular magazines, from great literature to children’s stories, from scholarly discussions to advertisements on the Metro in Kolkata. I have been reading `qS (Kolkata), —Um ahflh and khyl o klm (Dhaka) and countless stories and novels. I lost my heart to Buddhadeva Bose and Sunil Gangopadhyay and greatly enjoyed reading Bimal Mitra, Ashapurna Devi, Praphulla Ray, Sankar, Mahasveta Devi, Bimal Kar, Kabita Singh, Hasan Azizul Haque and many other writers. My initial resolve not to use any texts more than fifty years old crumbled before Buddhadeva’s mesmerising language and assured mastery of complex sentence structures which are a

joy to read and to analyse. Some of his sentences, as also some examples from Tagore and Bibhutibhusan, have found their way into this book. With all my reading, the structures of the language, the way sentences are formed and words put together were my primary interest and form the basis of my interpretation. As is almost inevitable with this kind of work, some questions, grey areas, uncertainties and, no doubt, blind spots remain. They are part of the learning process and will, I hope, challenge and encourage others to recognise that there is still a lot to discover in the field of Bangla language structures.

Bangla grammar terms

Organisation of the book Part 1 – Peripheries – deals briefly with the areas of language that cannot properly be classified as grammar: background, history, sounds and script, and some broad morphological features such as prefixes and suffixes, verb, noun and adjective formation. It ends with an overview of the morphological features of Bangla. Part 2 – Word Classes – gives us the word classes of Bangla, their subcategories and their morphological features – it is in this section that you will find paradigms and charts, conjugation patterns and the main forms of the language. The non-declinable word classes (adjectives, adverbs, postpositions, conjunctions, emphasisers, particles, interjections) are dealt with in this part. Part 3 – Functions – (phrase structure) expands on the description of nouns, pronouns and verbs to show their function in sentences. Part 4 – Sentences – moves away from individual word classes to an analysis and typology of sentences. Part 5 – Semantic Features – here we look at a number of semantic features, such as negation, tense and case, aspect and modality. We find out about idiomatic uses of particular words and the range of some of the important verbs in Bangla. Onomatopoeia are also given here. Part 6 – Appendices is a collection of lists of different types of verbs, adjectives and numbers.

1.2

Bangla grammar terms

The following is a list of grammatical terminology which is generally found in Bengali grammar books. Not all of them overlap with the terminology used in this book.

5

1 Introduction

6

English

Bangla

example \qhMrN, qé§h™

accusative adjective animate aspirated consonanant case classifier comparative comparison compound compound verb conditional participle conjunct conjunction consonant correlative definite deictic dental familiar finite verb form first person flap future tense gender genitive honorific imperative imperfective participle inanimate indeclinables indefinite interjection interrogative interrogative pronoun intimate intransitive verb labial locative morphology nasal nasal sounds negative nominative non-finite verb form noun number numerals

kmò khrk ybfSXN zYb™ mMh—hN bNò khrk pqhySîu ynfqòSk uvlnhmVlk ybfSXfNr uhrumj `xHygk `xHygk yœwh shfpÇ sL`xhzk asmhypkh xv∆hÇr sLfxhzk bj´nQáyn ynujsmáíY Sûq ynfqòSk `bhQk q™j Gyn©ThUòk smhypkh yœwhpq \≠m pvrßX uhRnzhu Qáyn BybXJ khl ylà smáí sôBîmhuÖk anv“h ynym≠hUòk asmhypkh zYb™ nw `x abjw aynŸcwsVck sfmáhQnsVck abjw —SähuÖk —SähuÖk sbònhm uvÉChUòk akmòk yœwh o©T ayQkrN khrk r∑puµ c~qîyb~qv anvnhysk Qáyn nh-bhck (nõUòk) kuòh khrk asmhypkh yœwh ybfSXj bcn sLKjhbhck ybfSXN

`mfwfk, ahmhfk sv~qr, bR, lhl mhnvX, pSv K, G, C, Z kuòh, kmò, ayQkrN th, yt, Khnh, zn, tvkv, gvflh \Écur uhr `cfw bR cfl xhowh, `Pfl `qowh `gfl, yqfl, Mfl Ç, Ã, ∆, µ, Ä, í ahr, ebL, yk≤, svurhL k, K, g, G xKn -uKn, `xmn - `umn mhnvXyt, `cwhrth, biKhnh `s, `si, e, ei, o, oi u, U, q, Q, n, s uvym, `uhmrh bfkjr —Qhn yœwh ahym, ahmrh R, ƒ krfbh, Mfb, Uhkfbn pvylÃ, ã«Yylà uhr, ahmhr, bhbhr, mhfwr ahpyn, yuyn ahfqS `qowh: xho, efsh etc `xfu, Uhkfu, chifu yzyns Sfûqr pyrbuòn Mw nh `k\, `khUho, khro `r, `uh, bhA, Mhw etc xh —Sä kfr `k, yk, kKn, `kn uvi, `uhrh Gvmhfnh, k£hqh, Mhsh p, P, b, B, m bhyRfu, bhshw £ W, õ, N, n, m nh, yn, `ni, nw ahym, mhnvX, khz xhowh, `gfl, ygfw, `xfu nqY, `lhMh, mhnvX ekbcn, bMvbcn ek, qvi, Mhzhr

objective palatal past continuous past habitual past participle past perfect person personal pronoun phonology plosives plural possessive pronoun postposition predicate prefix present continuous present perfect pronoun quantifier reflexive pronoun relative pronoun retroflex root second person semi-vowel sibilant simple past simple present singular spirant stem suffix subject subordinate clause superlative syntax tense third person transitive verb unvoiced consonant velar verbal adjective verbal noun voiced consonant vowel vowel harmony vowel mutation word class

kmò khrk uhlbj Gtmhn auYu ynujbé≠ auYu pVbòyœwh pvrhGytu auYu pvrßX bjy∆bhck Qáynuµ ãpSò bNò bMvbcn smáí sbònhm anvsgò ybfQw \psgò Gtmhn buòmhn pvrhGytu buòmhnkhl sbònhm pyrmhN ybfSXN ahuÖbhck sbònhm shfpÇ sbònhm mVQònj mVl mQjm pvrßX a™Añ ySSQáyn shQrN auYukhl shQhrN buòmhnkhl ekbcn \XÖQáyn r∑p, Qhuv ybBy∆ \fØSj aQYnbhkj um-—ujwh™ bhkjuµ khl —Um pvrßX skmòk yœwh afGhX Qáyn k∂TQáyn yœwh ybfSXN yœwh ybfSXj `GhXQáyn …rQáyn …rsÃyu ayBSîßyu Sûq `SîNY

uhfk, `mfwfk c, C, z, Z xhyÉClhm, kryCl kru, `xfun, zhnuhm Svfw, `qfK, ygfw, `zfn ygfwyCfl, `UfmyCl —Um, mQjm, \≠m ahym, ahpyn, \yn

Bangla grammar terms

from k to B except nasals

`cwhrgvflh, sb `Cfl uhr, ahmhr, `uhmhfqr ynfc, \pfr, sfÃ, zfnj etc an-, ayB-, \pxhyÉC, ahsfCn, blC kfryC, ygfwfC `s, uhr, uhfk, uh, yk, `k ykCv, ku, eu, sb etc ahpn, ynz `x, xhr, xhfqr t, T, d, D, N xh `Ufk anj Sûq Gtn Mw, Qhuv uvi, uvym, ahpyn x, r, l, b S, X, s `gl, `Klhm, yqfl xhi, oT, kfrn, Kho etc klmyt, `tyblth S, X, s, M kr, Uhk, Kh -`k, -`u, -r, -rh, -gvyl etc xh MfwfC qvbòlum, \Écum buòmhn, auYu, BybXJ `s, uhrh, yuyn, orh `qowh, krh, khth k, K, c, C, t, T, u, U, p, P k, K, g, G MhR-bhr-krh `cMhrh xhowh, blh, `qowh etc g, G, z, Z, d, D, q, Q, b, B a, ah, i, \ ybfSXj, sbònhm, yœwhpq 7

1 Introduction

1.3

Bangla and its speakers

Bangla is a world language. In terms of numbers of speakers it ranks fifth or sixth among the world’s languages. Bangla is the national language of Bangladesh with a population of over 150 million people. It is one of the official languages of India with about 80 million speakers in West Bengal. There are substantial Bengali communities in the USA, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. Although Bangladesh has been politically separated from West Bengal for over sixty years, the Bangla language belongs to both Bangladesh and West Bengal equally. For the purpose of studying the language, therefore, the area where Bangla is spoken is referred to as Bengal and the people who speak Bangla as Bengalis in this book. Bengal is situated in the low-lying Ganges–Brahmaputra river delta, the world’s largest delta and one of the most fertile areas on earth. Bengal is densely populated but its lush vegetation, its villages, vast rivers and open fields make it a place of great natural beauty. Bengal has borders with Assam, Sikhim, Bhutan and Myanmar (Burma) in the east and Orissa, Bihar, Jharkand and Nepal in the west. In terms of land use most of both Bangladesh and West Bengal are rural, with the main crops being rice, jute, tea, wheat and sugar-cane. The two capitals are Kolkata in West Bengal with a population of almost eight million and Dhaka in Bangladesh with a population of six and a half million. Poverty and illiteracy are still pressing problems in both Bangladesh and West Bengal. What Bengal lacks in material wealth it makes up for a hundredfold in the richness of its literature and culture, the energy and zest for life of its people and the enchanting beauty of its language. Bengalis are very aware of this beauty, and pride in their language is an inalienable part of their identity. This is equally true for West Bengal and for Bangladesh, and it was particularly visible in the early years after Indian independence in 1947.

8

India was split into two countries, India and Pakistan. East Bengal – then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh – became one of the provinces of the new Muslim state of Pakistan. This was at first welcomed by East Bengali Muslims but the geographical distance between them and the rest of the country – with the whole of India between the two halves of the country – as well as economic inequalities soon started to cause discontent and resentment in East Pakistan. Much more divisive, however, was the language question.

Having Urdu as the only state language in Pakistan imposed on them by the Pakistan government woke East Bengali Muslims to their own identity. From 1948 onwards a language movement started, led by students and professors of Dhaka University, with the express purpose of making Bangla a state language. This movement culminated in a violent clash between protestors and the police on 21 February 1952 in which five students were killed. This was the first time in Bengali history that lives were lost in the cause of a language. In the immediate wake of these events, throughout the whole province, a new Bengali consciousness emerged, based on language and culture rather than on religion. Bangla became a state language of Pakistan in 1956 but it was another 15 years later, in 1971, that Bangladesh became an independent country with a secular constitution. 21 February is still celebrated in Bangladesh every year and in 1999 it was made International Mother Language Day by UNESCO in memory of the events in 1952 and to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

1.4

History (language and literature)

History (language and literature)

The Bangla language is, like most other Indian languages, a descendant of Sanskrit, one of the oldest known languages with records dating back as far as 1500–1000 bc. It is not very clear where Sanskrit originated, but scholars place it in the Indus Valley, in what is now Pakistan and northwestern India. Sanskrit is an Indo-Aryan language and the relationship between Bangla and Sanskrit in terms of grammar and vocabulary is comparable to the relationship between French and Classical Latin. Although Sanskrit still counts as one of the official languages of India, it was always more a scholarly and devotional language rather than a means of communication. The Rig Veda, the oldest sacred writing of Hinduism, was written in an early form of Sanskrit, now called Vedic Sanskrit. Sometime around the fifth century bc the grammarian Panini standardised the language into a new form, referred to as Classical Sanskrit, and wrote what we now consider the first scientific grammar. In addition to this, many religious works, influential poetry and drama, and early scientific and mathematical documents were written in Sanskrit. From this mainly written and scholarly language, spoken or vernacular forms developed between 500 bc and ad 500. While Sanskrit sLãkéu put together, composed was described by Panini as correctly and perfectly

9

1 Introduction

formed in all its elements, roots and suffixes, these off-shoots are called Prakrits (—kéyu nature), indicating that they were closer to actual language. They are divided into three major branches: Sauraseni, Magadhi and Maharashtri. Bangla, alongside Assamese, Oriya and Bhojpuri (Bihari), developed out of the Magadhi branch, also known as Eastern Indo-Aryan. The Bangla language can be dated back as far as 1000 years ago. The oldest texts which can be identified as being written in Bangla were found in Nepal by the Bengali scholar Haraprasad Shastri and published in 1909. They are Buddhist devotional songs known as Charyapada and dated between ad 900 and 1100. It was during this period that Assamese, Oriya and Bangla split off from Sanskrit and from one another. The reasons for claiming the Charyapada for Bangla rather than for Assamese or Oriya are related to word formation, pronouns, case endings and emerging postpositions which seem to point the way for later forms in Bangla. The period between ad 900 and 1400 is called Old Bengali. Verb inflections were starting to appear and pronouns like ami and tumi were formed. Also around that time the Bengali script started to develop its own characteristic features, separating it from Devanagari. Both Devanagari and the Bangla script were designed and used primarily for writing Sanskrit. Following the thirteenth century invasion of Bengal (and other parts of India) by Muslim Turks whose court language was Persian, many Arabic and Persian words were absorbed into the speech of the people of Bengal, and Bengal as a region developed further in commercial importance. The Middle Bengali period is dated between the fifteenth and the eighteenth centuries. The earliest examples of Middle Bengali literature are Sri Krishna Kirtan and Vaishnava religious love poems by Chandidas and Vidyapati. During the later middle period Mangal Kabya and Persian-influenced romances were written. Until the eighteenth century, there was no attempt to document Bangla grammar. The first Bangla dictionary Vocabolario em idioma Bengalla, e Portuguez dividido em duas partes, was written in Portuguese by the missionary Manoel da Assumpcam between 1734 and 1742.

10

With the advent of the British and the start of British Rule in India after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, a new era began which changed not only the political and educational system but also brought about a significant growth of literature in Bangla. The British established themselves first in Kolkata and then expanded their sphere of influence and power throughout the whole of the sub-continent during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

In 1778, a first grammar A Grammar of the Bengal Language was written by Nathaniel Brassey Halhed, a British philologist. The title of the book suggests that the name Bengali for the language was not yet entirely fixed. It was for the production of this book that the first printing press was developed for writing Bangla. The New Bengali period starts around this time.

History (language and literature)

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a large portion of India’s most celebrated works of poetry were created in Bangla during a literary renaissance led by figures such as Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1834–73) and Bankim Chandra Chatterji (1838–98), the founders of modern Bangla literature. Madhusudan was a great admirer and diligent student of European literature, from Dante, to Milton to Shakespeare and, in a great leap of faith, set out to create comparably great literature in Bangla. He was the first to write sonnets in Bangla and he also introduced blank verse. An endeavour of this kind at that time required, above all, faith in the potential of the Bangla language. Madhusudan’s masterpiece `mGnhq bQ khbj (Meghnadbadh Kabya) is not only the greatest epic that has ever been written in Bangla but is also world class literature. As Europeans, we tend to underestimate the influence individual writers and poets have on the development of a language. But there is no doubt that for Bangla it was people like Bankim, Madhusudan and soon after them Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) who not only gave the language status and credibility through their literature but had a tremendous and lasting effect on the language itself. Tagore was a poet, novelist, short-story writer, dramatist, essayist and educator as well as a musician and a painter. The sheer volume of his work remains an unprecedented achievement, and he continues to occupy an almost god-like status among Bengalis due to the profound understanding of human nature displayed in all his writings. Poetry and song have always played a central role in Bengali cultural life and Tagore provided the nation with countless haunting and expressive songs that spoke, and still speak, to people in a personal way. Tagore was the first non-European ever to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was largely responsible for Bangla literature gaining considerable international prestige and for Bangla being accredited with a unique standing among the languages of India. What is, among all these achievements, less well known about Tagore is his deep interest in and engagement with his language. In his book bhLlh BhXh pyrcw (1938) he combines systematic description with intuitive observation in a way that is more congenial to the language than a purely analytical approach.

11

1 Introduction

Standard Colloquial Bengali (calit bhasha) took over from sadhu bhasha (see pp. 15–18) as the main version of written as well as spoken Bangla during Tagore’s lifetime in the early years of the twentieth century. This move helped to standardise and unify the language. Tagore was such a giant figure in literary terms that the writers and poets who were his contemporaries or who came after him were inevitably influenced, inspired or, in some cases, overwhelmed by him. Some important writers and poets of the twentieth century are Jibanananda Das (1899–1954), Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899–1976), the national poet of Bangladesh, Buddhadeva Bose (1908–74), Syed Waliullah (1922–79), Shamsur Rahman (1929–2006), Sunil Gangopadhyay (born 1934), Syed Shamsul Haque (born 1935), Hasan Azizul Haq (born 1939) and Akhtaruzzaman Ilias (1943–97). The language of poetry has its own idiosyncrasies and is therefore often less suitable for demonstrating language structures. Here is a very famous poem by Jibanananda Das, written in 1934, which celebrates the beauty of Bengal and contains a typical mixture of calit and sadhu bhasha. The English translation is by Sukanta Chaudhuri: Jibanananda Das, bhLlhr mvK bhLlhr mvK ahym `qyKwhyC, uhi ahym péyUbYr r∑p

K£vyzfu xhi nh ahr : aíkhfr `zfg \fT dvmvfrr ghfC `cfw `qyK Chuhr mun bfRh phuhytr ynfc b"fs ahfC `Bhfrr `qhfwlphyK - chyryqfk `cfw `qyK p^fbr ÄVp zhm - bt - k£hThflr - yMzflr - aSfUr k"fr ahfC cvp ; PNYmnshr `Zhfp Sytbfn uhMhfqr Chwh pyRwhfC! mQvkr ydWh `Ufk nh zhyn `s kfb c£hq côphr khfC emni yMzl - bt - umhflr nYl Chwh bhLlhr apr∑p r∑p `qfKyCl : `bMvlho ekyqn ghWvfRr zfl `Blh ynfw ké”h #hqSYr `zjhJsäh xKn myrwh `gfC nqYr cRhw `shnhyl Qhfnr phfS asLKj aSáU bt `qfKyCl, Mhw, Sjhmhr nrm ghn SvfnyCl - ekyqn amrhw ygfw yCê K´nhr mfuh xKn `s `nfcyCl if~qîr sBhw bhLlhw nqY mhT B£htPvl GvWvfrr mfuh uhr `k£fqyCl phw/

12

I have seen the face of Bengal

The Bangla lexicon

I have seen the face of Bengal; so the beauty of the earth I seek no more; waking in the dark, I see Under the great umbrella-leaf of the fig tree The daybreak’s magpie-robin: all round, silent massed leaves Of jam and banyan, hijal, peepul and jackfruit: Their shadows fall on the thorn-bush, the clump of arrowroot. So Chand the Merchant long ago, from his honey-bee boat, Sailing past Champa, saw the same blue shadows float Of hijal, tamal, banyan – Bengal’s beauty beyond form. So Behula saw from her raft on the Gangura, when the light Of the moon’s twelfth dark phase died on the sandbank, countless peepuls And banyans, golden paddy; heard the shama’s soft song. When she danced like reft wagtail in Indra’s heavenly halls, Bengal’s fields, streams, flowers wept at her feet like ankle-bells. Translation: Sukanta Chaudhuri

1.5

The Bangla lexicon

Bangla has a vast vocabulary. The great majority of lexical items are derived more or less directly from Sanskrit. Linguists distinguish two different kinds of derivations. Sanskrit words which are used in Bangla in their pure form are called tatsama. About half of the Bangla lexicon consists of Sankrit tatsama words. A further quarter are words which come from Sanskrit but have undergone some changes or have been adapted to the phonological patterns of Bangla. These words are called tadbhava. These facts establish without doubt that the relationship between Bangla and Sanskrit is not one of cross-linguistic borrowing but one of direct descent. These figures do not, however, reflect actual language use. Many tatsama words are archaic and so formal that they are not suitable for communication. It is estimated that in actual use today the percentages for tatsama and tadbhava words are reversed. About 65 per cent of the active vocabulary are tadbhava and only 25 per cent tatsama words. The rest of the Bangla lexicon is made up of so-called deshi (indigenous) and bideshi (foreign) words. Neighbouring languages like Hindi and Assamese have contributed to the Bangla lexicon. Through centuries of

13

1 Introduction

contact with and/or invasions by Turks, Arabs, Persians, Afghans and Europeans Bangla has absorbed words from all of these languages and made them an integral part of the language as it stands today. They are no longer felt to be foreign in any way by the ordinary speaker. The lists below give an impression of where some everyday Bangla words come from:

deshi (indigenous) alu kala kuzi khuki khoka khõca

potato deaf twenty girl boy stab

khõj cal/caul cingri cula jhinuk jhol

thæng nhol pet boba math muzi

thigh dhol, drum belly mute field, open land puffed rice

OK demand

kahini story pfchondo like

caca phaltu

father’s brother useless

wisdom separate real area weight grave news empty

khæyal gorib jfbab jfma jinish tarikh dunia nfkol

consideration poor answer collect thing date world imitation

phokir boi bfdol baki mfshla shaheb hishab

poor person book exchange remainder spice sir calculation

sound guess mirror comfort slowly paper bad very

gfrom cfshma cakri cador jayga dfm deri dokan

hot glasses job blanket place breath late store

pfrda bfd bagan bacca mfja rasta roj shfsta

curtain bad garden child fun road everyday cheap

search rice grain shrimp oven, stove shell gravy

Hindi accha cahida Arabic akkel alada ashol elaka ojon kfbor khfbor khali Persian aoyaj andaj ayna aram aste kagoj kharap khub

14

Turkish

Sadhu bhasha

kãci

scissors

baburci

cook, chef

nani

korma

korma

baba

father

dada

cfkmfk

sparkle

begom

lady

cupboard iron shirt key window

tamak toyale perek phita baranda

tobacco towel nail ribbon verandah

balti behala botam shaban

bucket violin button soap

table chair station school rail train bus glass

bænk apish hotel kek injin biskut teliphon tibhi

bank office hotel cake engine biscuit telephone TV

motor mastar pænt shart kopi kap pulish naktar

motor master trousers shirt coffee cup police doctor

maternal grandmother paternal grandfather

Portuguese almari istri kamij cabi janala English tebil ceyar isteshon iskul rel tren bas gelash

Bangla has absorbed all these and many more foreign words easily into its vocabulary and has made them part of the language. They use the same classifiers and case endings as nouns derived from Sanskrit and ultimately enrich the language rather than endangering it in any way. It is a characteristic of living languages that they undergo changes and influence one another. History, geography, politics, social issues, culture as well as sound patterns and word types make a language. All these influences keep languages alive and give them their unique character.

1.6

Sadhu bhasha

Bangla counts as a diglossic language. This means that the language has a high level used in formal writing and a low level in ordinary spoken language. The gap between these two levels of Bangla was particularly visible and actively promoted in the nineteenth century when the so-called sadhu bhasha (shQv BhXh) = pure language came to be used for literary writing.

15

1 Introduction

Soon after the publication of Nathaniel Brassey Halhed’s first Bangla grammar (1778), this new style of literary writing emerged. Halhed had expressed the view that the Arabic and Persian vocabulary used in Bangla was having a detrimental effect on the language and that Bangla would be strengthened by a closer association with Sanskrit. The new literary style was taken up and developed by writers like Rammohun Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Bankim Chandra Chatterji, who felt that high literature needed a more elevated style of writing. The characteristics of the sadhu bhasha were a flowery style of writing, a highly Sanskritised vocabulary, fuller forms in pronouns and verb conjugation (see below) and a number of archaic postpositions. The style of writing was modelled on the Middle Bengali of the sixteenth century. At the beginning of the twentieth century the influence of sadhu bhasha started to wane. Writers felt that the gulf between the language they used in writing and their own spoken language was too big. They changed over to a simpler style of writing, the cylu BhXh calit bhasha colloquial language. The calit bhasha was first seriously taken up by Pramatha Chaudhuri at the suggestion of Rabindranath Tagore in around 1914–15. Tagore himself changed over to calit bhasha in the course of writing his short stories and novels. While calit bhasha was at first also a particular style of writing, it paved the way for a closer link between written and spoken language. The so-called Standard Colloquial Bengali (SCB), based on the educated speech of Kolkata, gradually emerged from it. Sadhu basha is not dealt with in this book but the differences in pronouns and in verb-formation are given below.

Sadhu bhasha pronouns

16

nominative

singular

1st ps 2nd ps familiar 2nd ps intimate 2nd ps polite 3rd ps inanimate near 3rd ps inanimate far 3rd ps inanimate neutral 3rd ps animate 3rd ps honorific

ahym, mvi uvym uvi ahpyn iMh \Mh uhMh `s yuyn

plural I you you you this that that he, she he, she

`mhrh `uhmrh `uhrh ahpnhrh iMhrh \Mhrh `sgvlh uhMhrh u£hMhrh

we you you you they they they they they

genitive

singular

1st ps 2nd ps familiar 2nd ps intimate 2nd ps polite 3rd ps near 3rd ps far 3rd ps neutral 3rd ps honorific

ahmhr `uhmhr `uhr ahpnhr iMhr \Mhr uhMhr u£hMhr

objective

singular

1st ps 2nd ps familiar 2nd ps intimate 2nd ps polite 3rd ps ord near 3rd ps ord far 3rd ps ord neutral 3rd ps honorific

ahmhfk `uhmhfk `uhfk ahpnhfk iMhfk \Mhfk uhMhfk u£hMhfk

locative

singular

1st ps

ahmhw, ahmhfu `uhmhw, `uhmhfu `uhfu ahpnhfu iMhfu \Mhfu uhMhfu u£hMhfu

2nd ps familiar 2nd ps intimate 2nd ps polite 3rd ps ord near 3rd ps ord far 3rd ps ord neutral 3rd ps honorific

plural my your your your his/her his/her his/her his/her

ahmhyqfgr `uhmhyqfgr `uhyqfgr ahpnhyqfgr iMhyqfgr \Mhyqfgr uhMhyqfgr u£hMhyqfgr

Sadhu bhasha

our your your your their their their their

plural me you you you him/her him/her him/her him/her

ahmhyqgfk `uhmhyqgfk `uhyqgfk ahpnhyqgfk iMhyqgfk \Mhyqgfk uhMhyqgfk u£hMhyqgfk

us you you you them them them them

in me in you in in in in in in

you you it/him/her it/him/her it/him/her him/her

Sadhu bhasha verb conjugation Here is a sample verb chart for the verb `lKh write tenses simple present present continuous present perfect

ahym ylyK ylyKfuyC ylyKwhyC

uvym ylfKh ylyKfuC ylyKwhC

uvi ylyKs ylyKfuyCs ylyKwhyCs

`s ylfK ylyKfufC ylyKwhfC

ahpyn, yuyn ylfKn ylyKfufCn ylyKwhfCn

17

1 Introduction

future tense simple past past continuous past perfect past habitual

ylyKb ylyKlhm ylyKfuyClhm ylyKwhyClhm ylyKuhm

ylyKfb ylyKfl ylyKfuyCfl ylyKwhyCfl ylyKfu

ylyKyb ylyKyl ylyKfuyCyl ylyKwhyCyl ylyKyus

ylyKfb ylyKl ylyKfuyCl ylyKwhyCl ylyKu

ylyKfbn ylyKfln ylyKfuyCfln ylyKwhyCfln ylyKfun

verbal noun (VN)

ba verbal noun

imperfective participle (IP)

perfective participle (PP)

conditional participle (CP)

ylKh

ylKbh

ylyKfu

ylyKwh

ylyKfl

and here are some lexical comparisons: sadhu

calit

pv« qhn krh uú cÇv c~qî cœ MLs

`Cfl `qowh grm `chK c£hq chkh M£hs

boy give hot eye moon wheel goose, swan

sadhu

calit

ahmhyqgfk qhn kyrwhfCn

ahmhfqr yqfwfCn

sadhu

calit

béÇ lowh qLSn ahgmn MÄ —yu bjyufrfk

ghC `nowh khmR ahsh Mhu yqfk ChRh

tree take bite arrival hand towards except, without

he gave us

To show what sadhu bhasha looks like in texts, here is the well-known first passage of St John’s Gospel:

ahyqfu bhkj yCfln, ebL bhkj ISáfrr khfC yCfln, ebL bhkj ISár yCfln/ yuyn ahyqfu ISáfrr khfC yCfln/ skli u£hMhr #hrh MiwhyCl, xhMh MiwhyCl, uhMhr ykCvi u£hMh bjyufrfk Mw nhi/ u£hMhr mfQj zYbn yCl, ebL `si zYbn mnvXjgfNr `zjhyu yCl/ ahr `si `zjhyu aíkhfrr mfQj qYyú yqfufC, ahr aíkhr uhMh gîMN kyrl nh/ ek zn mnvXj \pyñu Mifln, yuyn ISár Mifu MiwhyCfln, u£hMhr nhm `xhMn/ yuyn shfÇjr znj ahyswhyCfln, `xn `si `zjhyur ybXfw shÇj `qn, `xn skfl u£hMhr #hrh ybSáhs kfr/ yuyn `si `zjhyu yCfln nh, yk≤ ahysfln, `xn `si `zjhyur ybXfw shÇj `qn/ —kéyu `zjhyu yCfln, yxyn skl mnvXjfk qYyú `qn, yuyn zgfu ahysfuyCfln/ yuyn zgfu yCfln, ebL zgJ u£hMhfk ycynl nh/ yuyn ynz ayQkhfr ahysfln, ahr xhMhrh u£hMhr ynfzr, uhMhrh gîMN kyrl nh/ 18

Chapter 2

Script and sound

2.1

The Bangla Alphabet (bNòmhlh)

Bangla is written in the Eastern Nagari script which is related to but dis­ tinct from the Devanagari script used for Hindi, Nepali, Sanskrit and other Indian languages. It is written from left to right, does not distinguish lower and upper case letters, and is characterised by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters to link them together. The crucial difference between the Bangla script and the Roman system of writing is the way the letters are arranged with one another. While in languages like English we have consonants and vowels following one another as individual letters, the Bangla script is syllabic. This means that each consonant has a vowel attached to it and the two together form a syllabic unit. This also explains why Bangla vowels have two symbols each, a full vowel which forms its own syllable and a vowel sign which is attached to consonants. When no vowel is attached to a consonant, the first vowel of the alphabet, the inherent vowel, steps in. The Bangla script has eleven vowels, 39 consonants and a great number of conjunct letters. No transliteration is given in this grammar, but the symbols used in the chart which follows represent the traditional Sanskritic transliteration except that the inherent vowel is given as f, rather than a. The purpose of a transli­ teration is to represent the spellings of a language. In this and subsequent sections a phonetic transcript is used to show the sounds of Bangla. In order to make the difference between the two systems clear the chart below is reproduced (see p. 22) with both the transliteration and the phonetic transcript given. 19

2 Script and sound

Alphabetical order of letters The arrangement of letters in the Bangla alphabet is remarkably systematic. The vowels come before the consonants. The consonants are arranged as follows: (1) plosives (stops) in the order (i) unvoiced, unaspirated (ii) unvoiced, aspirated (iii) voiced, unaspirated (iv) voiced, aspirated; (2) nasals are added at the end of the row of the stops they go with; (3) semivowels, flaps, laterals, sibilants and aspirate.

a \, v e, f L k c t u, J p x S

f u e p k c t t p y w

a e oi o kh ch th th ph y s

ah, h |, V E, ∏ A K C T U P w X

i, y å, é o f con h £ g z d, R q b r s

i v o ~ g j n, r d b r s

c

I, Y

O, f con H ou gh jh nh, rh dh bh l h

G Z D, ƒ Q B l M

W õ N n m

u ñ q n m

9

0

and here are the numbers in Bangla 1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

6

6

7

7

8

8

9

0

The names of the letters and some additional symbols, useful for spelling words. vowels

20

a ah i I \ | å e E o O

a ah Mî… i qYGò I Mî… \ qYGò | å e E o O

f a hrfsho i dirgho i hrfsho u dirgho u ri e oi o ou

h y Y v V é f ∏ `h `H

ah-khr Mî… i-khr qYGò I-khr Mî… \-khr qYGò |-khr å-khr e-khr E-khr o-khr O-khr

a-kar hrfsho i-kar dirgho i-kar hrfsho u-kar dirgho u-kar ri-kar e-kar oi-kar o-kar ou-kar

consonants Most consonants are called by their sound with the inherent vowel follow­ ing (kf, khf, gf) but some have descriptive names to distinguish them from one another:

Spellings and sounds

k kf, K khf, g gf, G ghf W \£fwh lwo c chf, C chhf, z bgòYw z borgiyo jf, Z jhf õ i£fwh jyo t tf, T tf, d nf, R rf, D nhf, ƒ rhf N mVQònj N murdhonno qf u q™j u dfnto tf, J K’ J khoqno tf, U thf, q df, Q dhf n q™j n dfnto nf p pf, P phf, b bf, B bhf, m mf x a™Añ x fntfshtho jf w a™Añ w fntfshtho f r rf, l lf S uhlbj S talobbo shf, X mVQònj X murdhonno shf, s q™j s dfnto shf, M hf other symbols

L A £ æ 2.2

anv…r ybsgò c~qî-yb~qv Ms™

onushor bishfrgo cfndrobindu hfshfnto

î ò j

r-Plh `rP x-Plh

rfphfla reph jfphfla

Spellings and sounds

This chart gives both the standard transliteration (TL) and the sounds of the Bangla letters. A colon : indicates a long or closed pronunciation of vowels. f (an open o sound as in English hot) is given as the transliteration for the inherent vowel and is also one of the two sounds it produces. All sounds will be described on pp. 24–31.

21

22

k c t u, J p x S

k c=7 t t p j sh

k c t t p y w

f, o u, u: e, æ

f u e

sound

sound

TL

TL

consonants

a \, v e, f

vowels

K C T U P w X

kh ch th th ph y s

TL

ah, h |, V E, ∏

kh ch = 7 + h th th ph, f y sh

sound

a e oi

TL

g z d, R q b r s

a, a: u, u: oi

sound

g j n, r d b r s

TL g j n, r d b r sh, s

sound

i,y å, é o, f con h

G Z D, ƒ Q B l M

i v o

TL

gh jh nh, rh dh bh l h

TL

i, i: ri o

sound

gh jh nh, rh dh bh l h

W õ N n m

sound ng ñ n n m

TL u ñ q n m

ou

ou

O, f con H sound

i, i:

c

sound

I, Y

TL

2 Script and sound

2.3

Phonemes

Phonemes

The sounds of a language are classified not so much by the way they are pronounced by individual speakers but by their significance within the sound system of the language. Significant sounds are called phonemes. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound which makes a difference in mean­ ing. In English the two different pronunciations of voiced th 2 in that and unvoiced th 8 in think are mere alternatives to one another and do not contrast with one another. These variations in sounds are called allophones. The same distinction of voiced and unvoiced, however, makes a big difference, for instance with b and p (bit – pit), g and k (git – kit), d and t (din – tin) and so on. In order to identify the phonemes of a language we find pairs of words which are identical except for one sound to see whether that one sound makes a difference to the meaning of the word. This is called minimal pair analysis. Before we go into the details of individual sounds, here is an overview of how and where in the mouth the sounds of Bangla are produced. The positioning of consonants in the mouth also gives us a way to classify these sounds.

Bangla phonemes vowels front high high mid low mid low

mid

back

i i, I

u \, | ee

o a, o æ e, jh

fa a ah

stops (plosives) only – this is an extract from the following chart, arranged according to the Bangla alphabet unvoiced

velar palatal cerebral dental labial

unaspirated

aspirated

k c t t p

kh ch th th ph

k c t u p

voiced

K C T U P

unaspirated

aspirated

g j n d b

gh jh nh dh bh

g z d q b

G Z D Q B

23

2 Script and sound

consonants front of the mouth _____________ back of the mouth

plosives (stops) voiceless unaspirated aspirated voiced unaspirated aspirated nasals flaps lateral spirants

2.4

labial

dental

retroflex (cerebral)

palatal

velar

pp ph P

t u, J th U

tt th T

cc ch C

kk kh K

bb bh B mm

dq dh Q nn rr ll sh s

nd nh D nN rR

j z, x jh Z ñõ

gg gh G ng L W

sh X

sh S

post-velar

hM

Sounds and phonemes

This section is about the sounds and phonemes of Bangla in the following order: 1 2 3 4

single vowels (listed by their position in the mouth) diphthongs and glides nasals consonants (listed in the groups in which they appear in the alphabet)

For Bengali vowel sounds there is no one­to­one relationship between the sounds and the letters that produce them so we will leave that discussion for later and concentrate on the sounds for now. In all other sections the letters are given together with the sounds. (1)

single vowels

Note on pronunciation: Unlike English vowels, Bangla vowels are pure single sounds which can be open (short) as in pat, pet, pit, pot, put or closed (long). For the long, closed sounds it is more difficult to find English equivalents as English sounds tend to shift from one vowel to the other. For instance, the vowel sound in go shifts from e to o to u. Bangla sounds stay in one place. Examples are given below. 24

The phonetic transcript in this section represents the sound quality of Bangla vowels as follows:

[i] [e] [a] [f] [o] [u]

i e a

u

as as as as as as

in in in in in in

bin French chez samba pot French mot put

i: æ a:

as in seen as in bat as in French malade

u:

as in rude

Sounds and phonemes

Phonetic symbols are given in square brackets. Bangla has six single vowel phonemes: [i]

a high front vowel which can be either short as in bin yk≤ [kintu] or long as in seen yqn [di:n] [i] can form minimal pairs with [e] yk [ki:] – `k [ke] or [a] yqn [di:n] – qhn [dan] but the distinction between [i] and [i:] is purely distribu­ tional in that most occurrences are short but monosyllabic words take the long [i:] sound. [i] can appear at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of words:

initial iyu [iti] end [e]

medial ycyT [cithi] letter

final uvym [tumi] you

a mid­high front vowel which can be closed as in French chez

`k [ke] or open as in bat ek [æk] [e] can form minimal pairs with [a] `cfp [cepe] – chfp [cape] but the distinction between [e] and [æ] is distributional. This will be dis­ cussed later. [e] can appear in all positions. [æ] [e] [a]

initial

medial

ekth [ækta] ekyt [ekti]

`mlh [mæla] `cnh [cena]

final x

`mfZ [mejhe]

a low mid vowel which can be long as in French malade ahm [a:m] or short as in samba bhqhm [badam] [a] can form minimal pairs with [f] khl [kal] – kl [kfl]. The differ­ ence between long and short [a] is distributional. Monosyllabic words take long [a:] mhl [ma:l], two­syllable words take the short vowel mhlh [mala]. [a] can appear in all positions. 25

2 Script and sound

[f]

initial

medial

final

ahmhr [amar]

Bhl [bhalo]

mzh [mfja]

a mid­low mid­back open vowel as in pot. blh [bfla], mn [mfn], tk [tfk], this sound is represented by the inherent vowel in Bangla. It forms minimal pairs with [a] khl [kal] – kl [kfl] and with [o] mzh [mfja] – `mhzh [moja] and can occur in initial and medial position.

initial a¶p [flpo]

medial g¶p [gflpo]

final x

[o] a mid­high, closed, mid­back vowel as in French mot. Cyb [chobi], `mht [mot], mQv [modhu]. This sound can be produced by either the inherent vowel or by o [o]. It can form minimal pairs with [f] `bhn [bon] – bn [bfn] and [u] `ghR [gor] – gvR [gur]. Can occur in all positions.

initial ayu [oti] ozn [ojon] [u]

final

gu [gfto] ahflh [alo]

a high back vowel which can be pronounced either open as in put mvy∆ [mukti] or closed as in food mvK [mu:kh]. It can contrast with [o] uvlh [tula] – `uhlh [tola] and can appear in all postions. The distinction between open [u] and closed [u:] is not phonemic but distributional. This vowel can occur in all positions.

initial \nvn [unun] \ynS [unish] (2)

medial

kyb [kobi] `bhn [bon]

medial

kvkvr [kukur] SVnj shunno

final grß [goru] x

diphthongs and glides

Diphthongs are combinations which shift from one vowel sound to another. The minimal pair test is no longer required here as the individual vowel phonemes have already been established. The following diphthongs and vowel­glide combinations appear in Bangla. There are four distinct ways of writing these vowel combinations:

26

1 some have their own symbol: E [oi], O [ou] 2 full vowels follow the inherent vowel: bi [boi], b\ [bou], Mowh [hfoya]

3 a full vowel follows another vowel directly: ei [ei], `k\ [keu], qho [dao] 4 the glide w y is used to link two vowels: (more on w in syllable structure, p. 40)

Sounds and phonemes

We are disregarding here the fact that some of these combinations prod­ uce one syllable, others produce two. Syllable structure is discussed on p. 40.

diphthong i-i i-e i-a i-o i-u e-i e-e e-a e-o e-u æ-y a-i a-o a-u a-y f-y f-o o-i o-o o-u o-y u-i u-e u-a u-o (3)

script

yqi ynfw yœwh y—w i\frhp ei, `ni `mfw `Kwhl `qowh `k\ `nw xhi qho kh\fk Khw Mw Mo bi, letter E `Sho b\, letter O `Qhw qvi Qvfw cvwhy^S Svfwhr

sound dii niye kriya prio iurop ei, nei meye kheyal deoya keu ney jai dao kauke khay hfy hfo boi shoo bou dhoy dui dhuye cuwalllish shuwor

give-1-PR-S take-PP work dear Europe this, is absent girl care give-VN someone take-3-PR-S go-1-PR-S give-2F-PR-IMP someone-OBJ eat-3-PR-S be-3-PR-S be-2F-PR-IMP book lie down-2F-PR-IMP wife wash-3-PR-S two wash-PP forty-four pig

nasals

Nasalisation is a significant feature in Bangla. Although it is impossible to produce minimal pairs for each vowel separately, all vowels in Bangla can be nasalised and there are plenty of minimal pairs to be found. Nasalisation as a whole is therefore a phonemic factor. [a] is by far the most common vowel in Bangla to be nasalised.

27

2 Script and sound

Here are some examples for minimal pairs:

[bõti] [gã] [kãta] [bãdha] [ãta] [khãra] [kãda] [kãca]

b£yt gh£ k£hth b£hQh ah£th K£hRh k£hqh k£hch

curved knife village thorn bind fix, stitch sword weep unripe, green

btY gh khth bhQh ahth KhRh khqh khch

[boti] [ga] [kata] [badha] [ara] [khara] [kada] [kaca]

pill body to cut obstruction flour erect clay wash

and here are some nasalisations with each vowel:

j

i£qvr [jdur] rat, ys£yR [shjri] stairs, yp£pRh [pjpra] ant, yM£cRhfnh [hjcrano] drag

i

`p£ch [pxca] twist, `p£whz [piyaj], `u£uvl [titul] tamarind, `s£ufs£u [shxtshxt] damp ã P£hyk [phãki] deception, M£hth [hãta] walk, s£huhr [shãtar] swimming, q£hRhfnh [dãrano] stand m p£chyS [pmcashi] eighty-five, g£q [gmd] gum, s£ph [shmpa] dedication õ `C£hwh [chõya] touch, `K£hz [khõj] search, `Z£hk [jhõk] tendency, `Q£hwh [dhõya] smoke l Z£vyk [jhlki] risk, k£vkRh [klkra] curly, g£vRh [glra] powder (4)

consonants

Voice and aspiration are two distinctive features in Bangla consonants. In English the two go together, which means that unvoiced consonants like p, k, t are usually accompanied by aspiration, whereas voiced consonants like b, g, d are not. In Bangla we distinguish: 1 2 3 4

unvoiced, unaspirated unvoiced, aspirated voiced, unaspirated voiced, aspirated

The systematic layout of the alphabet reminds us of these distinctions. What follows are the consonants with their phonemic features. For each consonant the transliteration as well as the pronunciation is given.

28

The sounds are listed, with one or two exceptions, in the groups they form in the alphabet. The columns give (1) the phoneme, (2) a description of the sound, (3) the Bangla letter and (4) the transliteration. Occurrences of these sounds are given from p. 36 onwards.

velar plosives

Sounds and phonemes

These sounds are similar to English.

1 k kh g gh ng

2 unvoiced, unaspirated velar, k as in meek, no aspiration unvoiced, aspirated velar, aspirated k as in king voiced, unaspirated velar, g as in good, no aspiration voiced, aspirated velar, aspirated g: try: gfho velar nasals, ng as in singer or ngg as in finger

minimal pairs:

k

3

4 k

K g

kh g

G W, L

gh u

k - K : khyl kali ink – Khyl khali empty, kbr kfbor grave – Kbr khfbor news g - G : gh ga body – Gh gha wound, `ghRh gora root, base – `GhRh ghora horse

palatal plosives These sounds are further forward in the mouth than ch and j in English.

1 c ch j jh ñ

2 unvoiced, unaspirated, as in chap with little aspiration unvoiced, aspirated, as in chap with more aspiration voiced, unaspirated, as in jam voiced, aspirated, aspirated j: try johol palatal nasal, nasal n

3

c

4 c

C

ch

z, x Z õ

j jh ñ

minimal pairs: c - C : chph capa press – Chph chapa print, cvyr curi stealing – Cvyr churi knife z - Z : zhl jal net – Zhl jhal spicy, zrh jfra pickle – Zrh jhfra shed

retroflex plosives These sounds are not very different from English t and d but are produced further back in the mouth. The tongue is curled back and the underside of the tongue touches the hard palate. This should produce a slightly hollow or echoey sound.

29

2 Script and sound

1 t th n r nh rh

2 unvoiced, unaspirated retroflex unvoiced, aspirated retroflex voiced, unaspirated retroflex retroflex flap voiced, aspirated retroflex, try: dohol aspirated, retroflex trilled flap

3

t T d R D ƒ

4 t th n r nh rh

minimal pairs: t and T: ytk tik tick – yTk thik right, correct, pht pat jute – phT path lesson d and D : dhkh naka call – Dhkh nhaka cover, dhlh nala wickertray – Dhlh nhala pour R and r : pRh pfra fall – prh pfra wear, kRh kfra harsh – krh kfra do

dental plosives These are soft sounds, produced with the tongue at the back of the teeth, much like Italian dental sounds.

1 t th d dh n

2 unvoiced, unaspirated dental unvoiced, aspirated dental voiced, unaspirated dental voiced, aspirated dental dental nasal n

3

u, J U q Q n, N

4 t th d dh n

minimal pairs: u - U : uhmh tama copper – Uhmh thama stop, uhlh tala lock – Uhlh thala plate q - Q : qhn dan gift – Qhn dhan paddy, qSòn dfrshon seeing – QXòN dhfrshon rape

bilabial plosives These are similar to English sounds.

1 p ph

30

b bh m

2 unvoiced, unaspirated bilabial unvoiced, aspirated bilabial, as in fun or German pfiff voiced, unaspirated bilabial voiced, aspirated bilabial bilabial nasal

3 p P

4 p ph

b B m

b bh m

minimal pairs: p - P : phth plank – Phth burst, `prhfnh cross – `Prhfnh cause to return b - B : bhr bar time – Bhr bhar weight, bhu bat rheumatism – Bhu bhat rice

Vowels

semivowel, flap, lateral, sibilants, aspirate

1 2 y semivowel y or w as in lawyer or lower r dental flap r l dental lateral l, as in luck, at the front of the mouth sh sibilant sh, as in shine h aspirate, h as in hot

3

4 y w r r l l S, X, x w, s, s h M

minimal pairs: r and l : khr whose – khl time, rhgh get angry – lhgh attach

2.5

Vowels

Each vowel in Bangla, except for the inherent vowel a f (see p. 36) has two symbols, a full vowel which stands on its own at the beginning of words and syllables, e.g. ahm am mango, Igl igol eagle, \kvn ukun louse, eth eta this and a vowel sign which is attached to consonants within a syllable: km kfm, mh ma mother, yk ki what, nYl ni:l blue, mvK mu:kh face, mVl mu:l root, `mG megh cloud. Vowel signs are attached to consonants in varying positions: after, before, underneath or around the consonants. The resulting consonant–vowel combination forms a syllabic unit. This means that even though the combina­ tion within a syllable can be vowel sign plus consonant, e.g. y i + m m = ym, the consonant is always pronounced first: mi. Here is an overview, this time in the order of the alphabet. k (k) is the consonant given in the demonstration. The last column gives the trans­ literation of the vowels, not the pronunciation. The differences between spelling and pronunciation are our topic here. The transliteration is given in the chart only. The phonetic transcript is given throughout.

31

2 Script and sound

1 Vowel positions full vowel vowel sign

pronounced

position

demo

translit

no vowel sign is written after the consonant before the consonant after the consonant underneath the consonant underneath the consonant underneath the consonant before the consonant before the consonant around the consonant around the consonant

k-

k

kh yk kY kv

ka ki kc ku

kV

ke

ké

kv

`k ∏k `kh `kH

ke koi ko kou

a

– (inherent)

f, o

ah i I \

h y v

a i, i: i, i: u, u:

|

V

u, u:

å

é

ri

e E o O

` ∏ ` conh ` con H

Y

e, æ oi o ou

There are some mismatches between the written symbols and the sounds of vowels. Both ah a and o o have a one­to­one relationship between sound and letter and need no further comment here. The inherent vowel is discussed on p. 36ff.

2 E and O Two of the symbols E and O actually represent diphthongs, not single vowels. Both of these are historically derived from single vowels: E from i (yqn di:n day – ∏qynk doinik daily, iyuMhs itihash history – EyuMhysk oitihashik historical) and O from \ (sv~qr shundor beautiful – `sH~qxò soundorjo beauty, BVfghl bhugol geography – `BHfghylk bhougolik geographical) but have taken on an exis­ tence of their own.

E is pronounced oi and appears in words like ∏uyr toiri ready, ∏qynk doinik daily, ∏kyPwu koiphiyot explanation, ∏synk shoinik soldier, Ekj oikko concord, EyuMhysk oitihashik historical, ∏Qxò dhoirjo patience.

32

O is pronounced ou and appears in `p£HCh põucha arrive, `qHR dour run, `nHkh nouka boat, `mHmhyC moumachi bee, `sH~qxò soundorjo beauty, `rHqî roudro sunshine, `BHfghylk bhougolik geographical, `pHfn poune three quarters.

Vowels

3å The symbol å is pronounced as a consonant–vowel combination ri, not as a single vowel. This letter belongs to the Sanskrit inventory of the Bangla alphabet. It is listed with the vowels because it has two symbols like the other vowels but its pronunciation is always ri. This means that its pronunciation is the same as that of yr and rY. It is useful to know that spellings with å are fixed. Foreign words such as yœfkt kriket cricket, yKîãthn khrishtan Christian, ifly⁄tîk ilektrik electric are never spelt with å. There are only three common words with å as their first letter: åuv ritu season, åN rin debt and åyX rishi saint, but of course there are plenty of occurrences mid­word where é is attached to consonants. Here are some of the more common words with å in them. The transcript of å is given as ri in this list only for ease of pronunciation.

képh kripa mercy, kéyX krishi agriculture, kéXk krishok farmer, —kéyu prokriti nature, sLãkéu shongskrit Sanskrit, képN kripon miserly, kéu“ kritoggo gratitude, kéy«m kritrim artificial, ké” krishno Krishna, géM griho house, home, géyMnY grihini housewife, uéú tripto satisfied, uéuYw tritiyo third, qéSj drissho sight, qéy§ drishti view, qé§h™ drishtanto example, aqéSj fdrissho invisible, qéƒ drirho durable, qéú dripto proud, vain, péUk prithok separate, péyUbY prithibi world, pé©Th prishta page, béÇ brikkho tree, béº briddho old, bé≠ britto circle, ahbéy≠ abritti recital, béy§ brishti rain, béMãpyubhr brihoshpotibar Thursday, béMJ brihot big, méu mrito dead, méuvj mrittu death, méqv mridu soft, SéóKl sringkhol chain, fetters, SéóKlh sringkhola discipline, SéÃhr sringgar eroticism, ãméyu sriti memory. Neither å nor E or O is ever nasalised.

4 i, I, \, | Short i i (Mî… i) and long i I (qYGò I), short u \ (Mî… \) and long u | (qYGò |) are the traditional names for these vowels and the transliteration symbols are i = i, I = c, \ = u, | = e. These distinctions have not survived in the pronunciation of these letters.

i I \ |

can can can can

be be be be

pronounced pronounced pronounced pronounced

long long long long

yqn di:n nYl ni:l mvK mu:kh qVr du:r

or or or or

short short short short

ykCv kichu qYGò dirgho mvy∆ mukti mVlj mullo 33

2 Script and sound

i and \ are much more frequent than their ‘long’ counterparts in writing but the differences in spelling remain and determine the meanings of words. Here are some minimal pairs:

i and I :

ybnh bina without bhys bashi left-over yqn di:n day ynyu niti always

– – – –

bYNh bina musical instrument, vina bhsY bashi inhabitant qYn di:n poor nYyu niti rule, principle

\ and | :

qvr du:r bad kvl ku:l family svu shu:t son pvu pu:t son

– – – –

qVr du:r distance kVl ku:l riverbank sVu shu:t carpenter pVu pu:t holy

5e We have the opposite situation with e – one symbol for two sounds: e and æ. As we have seen in the phoneme section, these two sounds do not stand in phonemic contrast to one another but are determined by their environment, so having one letter for both of them should not cause any problems. Predicting the pronunciation is a little trickier. Here is what we can say with certainty: (i)

In verbs with e in which vowel mutation does not result in a differ­ ence in spelling:

`qKh - `qyK, `Plh - `Pyl, `Klh - `Kyl, `Tkh - `Tyk the low stem forms are pronounced æ: dækha see, ahym `qyK dekhi, uvym `qK dækho, `s `qfK dækhe phæla throw, ahym `Pyl pheli, uvym `Pl phælo, `s `Pfl phæle khæla play, ahym `Kyl kheli, uvym `Kl khælo, `s `Kfl khæle thæka touch, ahym `Tyk theki, uvym `Tk thæko, `s `Tfk thæke thæla pull, ahym `Tyl theli, uvym `Tl thælo, `s `Tfl thæke

`qKh `Plh `Klh `Tkh `Tlh

Other verbs whose verbal nouns look identical in writing, such as

`lKh , `SKh , `knh , `cnh have their vowel mutation between e and i , so the verbal nouns and other low stem forms are pronounced `lKh lekha read, `SKh shekha learn, `knh kena buy, `cnh cena know. 34

(ii) Only e appears in unstressed syllables or at the end of words with more than one syllable:

`Cfl chele boy, `mfZ mejhe floor, yzfr jire cummin, yMfsb hisheb account, ufb tfbe but

Vowels

(iii) Any i i or \ u either in the syllable before or after e results in an e pro­ nunciation. This has to do with vowel harmony and will be discussed in more detail on p. 54ff.

Thus we have `qyr deri late, `u£uvl titul tamarind, ek æk one and ekth ækta one but ekyt ekti one and ektv ektu a little emn æmon such but emyn emni just like that `umn tæmon such but `umyn temoni just like that eKn ækhon now but eKyn ekhoni right now ekcy^S ækcollish forty-one, ekhê ækanno, fifty-one ekXyÑ ækshotti sixty-one, ekh≠r ækattor seventy-one ekhyS ækashi eighty-one, ekhnûbi ækanobboi ninety-one but ekvS ekush twenty-one and eky«S ektrish thirty-one Another complication exists in the fact that the sound æ can also be pro­ duced in three other ways: by a jophola on its own: bjÄ bæsto, by a jophola with following a-kar: bjhphr bæpar and, after “ by a-kar on its own: “hn gæn. The jophola will be dealt with on p. 52, but here, in addition to the ones mentioned above, are some common words with e and their respective pronunciations: pronounced æ:

ekh æka alone, ekqm ækdom totally, efkbhfr ækebare totally, eklh ækla alone, `xmn jæmon how, `kmn kæmon how, `kn kæno why, `knnh kænona because, eu æto so much, `xn jæno so that, `blh bæla hour, `mlh mæla plenty, `zTh jætha uncle, eghr ægaro eleven, `bRh bæra fence, eRhfnh ærano avoid, `bRhfnh bærano go out, `gl gælo past, `nLth nængta naked pronounced e:

`k ke who, `s she he, she, it `kbl kebol only, ekhyQk ekadhik a few, eth eta this, ebL ebfng and, eKhfn ekhane here, `Cfl chele boy, `bkhr bekar unemployed, `qR der one and a half, `nuh neta leader, ekuh ekota unity, elhkh elaka area, `Ç«, `Ku khetro, khet field, `zlh jela district, `tr ter feeling, `Prh phera return, `uz tej glow, `ul tel oil, `qS desh country, `pt pet stomach, `pfrk perek nail, `cMhrh cehara face, `pSh pesha profession, `rSm reshom silk, `lp lep quilt, `srh shera best, `sbh sheba care, `SX shesh end, `cfw ceye than.

35

2 Script and sound

6 Occurrence of vowels

a ah i I \ | å e E o O

initial

medial

final

a™r fntor inside ahm am mango iyÃu inggit sign ISár isshor god \nvn unun oven |rß uru thigh åuv ritu season emn æmon such EyMk oihik worldly ozn ojon weight Oycuj oucitto decorum

acl fcfl unmoving bhqhm badam nut ydm ni:m egg nYl ni:l blue cvlh cula oven mVlj mullo value béy§ brishti rain `slhi shelai sewing ∏uyr toiri ready `Cht choto small `pHfn poune three quarters

ku kfto how much mhlh mala necklace chyb cabi key nqY nodi river bhlv balu sand —sV prosu producing Qhué dhatri given `mfZ mejhe floor

2.6

—

`nHfkh nouko boat —

The inherent vowel

The inherent vowel poses two separate puzzles to the foreign learner: first, that of its presence or absence, and second, its pronunciation. There are few hard­and­fast rules for either but there are some patterns which can help us to develop some intuition. The transcription given in this section is phonetic, which means it gives the pronunciation, not the spelling of the Bangla words. Translations are not given.

(1) Presence or absence of the inherent vowel (a) We can generally assume that the inherent vowel is pronounced between consonants that have no other vowel attached to them: grm = g+r+m = gfrom, `kbl = k+e+b+l = kebol, blh = b+l+ah = bola, etc. There are, however, some words where two consonants stand next to one another without forming a conjunct and without the inherent vowel between them, e.g. chkyr cakri, ahzfk ajke, shmfn shamne, chpkhn capkan, ahtkhfnh atkano, lhgsi lagsoi, and in conjugated verb forms krb korbo, bsfln boshlen, etc. These words contain distinct and separate morphological units which resist the forming of conjuncts.

36

(b) We have three sure indicators that the inherent vowel is not pronounced:

1 L anv…r onushor never has a vowel after it: brL bfrong, svurhL shutorang, ykLbh kingba, mYmhLsh mimangsha, sLbhq shfngbad 2 J : K’ u khfqno tf which appears at the end of words and syllables and stops the inherent vowel from being pronounced: pŸchJ pfshcat, aUòhJ frthat, MThJ hfthat, \Jsb utshob 3 æ Ms™ hasanta. This symbol is optionally attached underneath con­ sonants where the inherent vowel might otherwise be pronounced. It is not frequently used: Msæyc– hoshcinho, \qæBîh™ udbhranto, `Skæsæypwhr shekspiyar = Shakespeare

The inherent vowel

(c) The inherent vowel is normally not pronounced at the end of words after single consonants. Here are some examples of one­, two­ and three­syllable words:

dhk nak, nK nfkh, xvg jug, `mG megh, rL rfng, khc kac, mhC mach, khz kaj, mhZ majh, `mht mot, mhT math, `qR der, Bhu bhat, pU pfth, Chq chad, qvQ dudh, yqn din, `Zhp jhop, lhP laph, Kvb khub, lhB labh, `—m prem, Gr ghfr, lhl lal, qS dfsh, `SX shesh, mhs mash, `ghlhp golap, ybRhl biral, `p£whz peyaj, a™r fntor, kvRhl kural, ybSîhm bisram, kvkvr kukur, Chgl chagol, anvBb onubhfb, —yufrhQ protirodh, Qnjbhq dhfnnobad, mÃlbhr mfnggolbar, etc. The inherent vowel is pronounced: (d) when a word ends in a conjunct: pxò™ porjonto, kmò kfrmo, …pä shfpno, Sh™ shanto, r∆ rfkto, g¶p gflpo, ph« patro, kôp kfmpo, yr∆ rikto The only regular exceptions to this are foreign words like ewhrfphtò eyarport, phkò park, kjhf~thnæfm~t kantonment, yrfphtò riport, pjh~t pænt lhnæc lanch. (e) after a final M :

`qM deho, `säM , sneho, ysLM shingho, sf~qM shfndeho, —qhM prodaho, sM shfho, qM dfho (f) after ƒ (rh):

ghƒ garho qéƒ drirho mVƒ murho `—Hƒ prourho but ahXhƒ asharh (g) after w preceded by i, u or e:

y—w priyo, zhuYw jatiyo, —fwhznYw proyojoniyo, ybfQw bidheyo, ahfgäw agneyo (h) when the final consonant is preceded by a combination with å v (ri)

béX bvisho, még mvigo Géu ghvito, méu mvito

37

2 Script and sound

(i)

when the final consonant is preceded by L or A

qvAK dukho, ysLM shingho, mhLs mangsho (j)

in noun­ or verb­derived adjectives or adverbs ending in u

ylyKu likhito, ahMu ahfto, ybbhyMu bibahito, ynyŸcu niscito, pyuu pftito, zYybu jibito, ycy™u cintito, ahqéu adrito, s®bu sfmbhfbfto, nu nfto, ybfSXu bisheshfto, yñu sthito (k) in the following very common adjectives, quantifiers, conjunctions and question words (this list is not exhaustive):

`Cht choto, bR bfro, Bhl bhalo, gu gfto, ku kfto, eu æto, uu tfto, `xn jæno, aUc fthoco, `kn kæno both mu and khl have double interpretations:

mu mfto is a postposition meaning like mu mft is a noun meaning opinion khl kalo is an adjective meaning black khl kal is a noun meaning time, season (l)

in comparative and superlative adjective forms

y—wum priyotfmo, qîßuur drutotfro, sMzur shfhojjotfro, gvrßur gurutfro (m) in the following verb forms (this applies to all verbs) 1st person future tense:

e.g. xhb jabo, `qb debo, krb korbo, ylKb likhbo, Uhkb thakbo, etc. 2nd person (fam) simple present, present continuous, present perfect:

e.g. kr kfro, `lK lekho, `Pl phælo, Uhk thako, krC korcho, kfrC korecho, `KlC khelcho, `KflC khelecho, xhÉC jaccho, yg`wC giyecho, `gC gecho, etc. 3rd person (ord) simple past, past continuous, past perfect, past habitual:

38

e.g. yCl chilo, `gl gælo, yql dilo, KhyÉCl khacchilo, nhmyCl namchilo, kfryCl korechilo, BhlfbfsyCl bhalobeshechilo, blu bolto, Bhbu bhabto

The inherent vowel

(2) Pronunciation The pronunciation of the inherent vowel fluctuates between open f and closed o.1 Here are some of the regular patterns: (a) In words of two syllables with two inherent vowels the first inherent vowel is pronounced f, the second o.

Kbr grm a™r Bbn gu …gò uKn Qmk srl

khfbor gfrom fntor bhfbon gfto shfrgo tfkhon dhfmok shfrol

news hot inside residence last heaven then rebuff honest

SMr skl klm mu nrk nrm zÃl qKl q’

shfhor shfkol kflom mfto nfrok nfrom jfnggol dfkhol dfqno

town all pen like hell soft jungle skill, knowledge rod, pole

The inherent vowel is pronounced as closed o: (b) in all the above instances (d to m) when the inherent vowel is the final sound in a word. (c) when the following syllable contains an i or a u:

kyb kobi, Cyb chobi, —Bv probhu, By∆ bhokti, gyl goli, QnY dhoni, srß shoru, mQv modhu, bív bondhu, kyTn kothin, Synbhr shonibar, rybbhr robibar This also affects the following prefixes:

—yu- proti-, ayu- oti-, anv - onu-, ayB- obhi-, pyr- poriNote however that the negative prefixes a- and an- are pronounced f, irrespective of what follows them: aynwm f-niyom, aynyŸcu f-niscito, aynÉCh fn-iccha, anvpxv∆ fn-upojukto, anvpyñu fn-uposthit (d) when preceded by a conjunct with r r

—- pro, pyrSî∞m porisrom, Mî∞… hrossho, ahgî∞M agroho, agîgyu fgrogoti, mìNh mfntrona 1 Bengali scholars are still debating whether the closed pronunciation of the inherent vowel is in fact identical to that of o o or whether the sound falls somewhere between f and o. If it turns out that there are three distinct sounds we will need another symbol ô for the closed pronunciation of the inherent vowel.

39

2 Script and sound

(e) when followed by Ç

lÇ lokkho, lÇj lokkho, myÇkh mokkhika, bÇ bokkho, qÇ dokkho, pfÇ pokkhe (f) when followed by a conjunct with j jophola

bnjh bonna, suj shotto, abSj fbossho, rMsj rfhossho, Ssj shossho, rmj rommo We see from these examples that the pronunciation of the inherent vowel depends on the environment it occurs in. The distinction between f and o (as in o and o-kar), however, is phonemic:

mzh nlh zár ql qS ct 2.7

fun tubular bone fever group ten quickness

`mhzh `nhlh `zhr `qhl `qhX `cht

sock tongue strength, power swing fault stroke, blow

Syllable structure

Note that the word aÇr is and should be used to denote syllable rather than letter. Since Bangla is a syllabic language, the syllable should be seen as the base unit in words. A vowel can form a syllable on its own but every consonant has to be accompanied by a vowel except at the end of words where the inherent vowel is usually not pronounced. Single syllables can have the following structures:

v = vowel, c = consonant, y = w (semivowel, glide)

40

v vc vy cv cvc cvy ccv cccv ccvc

ii oT oth ahw ay bh ba khn kan chw cay Bîß bhru ã«Y stri —hN praq

For foreign words cvcc is also possible as in ewhr`phtò with no following inherent vowel.

Syllable structure

In words which end in a conjunct the inherent vowel is pronounced at the end:

k§, —h™, a™, —hú, aLS, \Js, anj, \Jpê, S∆, bí, q’, k÷ Linking syllables: Conjuncts in the middle of words are a convenient way of linking one syllable to the next.

r∆ rfk-to, Sh™ shan-to, ymy§ mish-ti, zÃl jfn-gol, Th’h thaq-na A single consonant in the middle of a word counts as the start of a new syllable, e.g.

g-rm gf-rom, Uhmh tha-ma, `b-yS be-shi, ah-gvn a-gun, mhUh ma-tha When two vowels follow one another directly there are two options. 1 The second vowel will constitute a new syllable and be written as a full vowel, e.g. qh-o da-o, `k-\ ke-u, qv-i du-i, yn-\ ni-u What about words like Mo or bi? They remind us that a consonant with no visible vowel sign attached to it automatically takes the inherent vowel. These words therefore have two syllables and are pronounced Mo hf-o and bi bo-i. 2 The symbol w y which is derived from x and called a™Añ w ontostho f is used between vowels as a glide or semivowel. Sound combinations with this symbol were included in the diphthong section earlier, as there is no difference in pronunciation between, for instance, yqo di-o and yqfwh di-yo, the future imperative form of `qowh give, which can be written either way. The vowel following the glide is always a vowel sign. We can have either: (a) vowel sign, glide, vowel sign: yqfw di-ye, Mfw ho-ye, Svfw shu-ye, `Kfw khe-ye or (b) full vowel, glide, vowel sign: ahfwh a-yo, efwh e-yo, `qowh de-o-ya, Khifw kha-i-ye The last two are three­syllable words.

41

2 Script and sound

w has two different pronunciations, based on ease of pronunciation. In all the following examples it is pronounced like the English y in layer:

yqfw di-ye, ySwhl shi-yal, yqfwh di-yo, `mfw me-ye, `Kwhl khe-yal, `xfwh je-yo, bjhwhm bæ-yam, ñhwY stha-yi, ghfw ga-ye, mhwh ma-ya, ahwu a-yf-to, ahwv a-yu, ahfwhzn a-yo-jon Mfw ho-ye, Qvfw dhu-ye Between o and a, u and a, u and o it is pronounced like the English w in lower:

Khowh kha-o-ya (khaowa), `qowh de-o-ya (deowa), zvwh ju-ya (juwa), In a word like Svfwhr the pronunciation of w is practically non­existent: shu-yor (shuor)

w also occurs at the end of words following a vowel but without another vowel following. In these cases it forms a diphthong with the previous vowel and is pronounced more like e:

\phw upay = upae, `nw næy = næe, Mw hfy = hoe, `Shw shoy = shoe w never appears at the beginning of a word. Bangla words of more than four or five syllables are likely to be com­ pounded of smaller units and contain pre­ or suffixes or reduplications. Here are some examples of longer words:

pvóKhnvpvóK pung-kha-nu-pung-kho minutely pvnrß°Yybu pu-no-ruj-ji-bi-to revived yñyuñhpkuh sthi-ti-stha-pf-ko-ta elasticity apyrbuònYwuh f-po-ri-bor-to-ni-yo-ta constancy anyQkhrccòh fn-o-dhi-kar-cfr-ca unlawful interference \≠r-Opyn`bSbhq ut-tor-ou-po-ni-be-sho-bad post-colonialism 2.8

Consonants – use and occurrence

Many Bangla consonants can occur at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of words, but some are restricted in their use. A consonant in ‘final’ position means that it has no inherent vowel pronounced after it. The use of most consonants is straightforward and each letter has one sound. The exceptions to this are explained in the notes below. The consonants are given in alphabetical order. 42

initial

medial

final

k K

khz, klh, ykCv yKl, Kbr, Khbhr

ahkhS, phkh, \ykl

dhk, \Jsvk, ycbvk

g G W, L (1) c C z Z õ (2) t T d R D ƒ (3) N (4) u J (5) U

ghC, glh, gvrß Gr, Gvm, GvyR, `GhRh

eKn, `lKh, ShKh ngr, ahgvn, bhghn ahGhu, qYGò, bjhGhu ahWvr, `BfW, ryWn ahchr, ybchr, pyrcw pC~q, ypCfn, bCr mzvr, ozn, Mhzhr `bhZh, mhyZ, afZhr

asvK, nK, `chK qhg, Bhg, `bg, xvg `mG, bhG, afmhG rL, bjhL k£hc, nhc, chmc mhC, ghC, khC khz, `mzhz, `rhz mhZ, abvZ Ght, it, cht khT, mhT, phT khdò ZR, `qR, KR

Chq, ahfmhq, yzq khQ, ynfXQ, qvQ ghn, yqn, mn yCp, `Zhp, kvp brP, lhP

—

chl, `chK, ycyT Cyb, ChRh, `Cfl zl, zhMhz, zym

`Zhp, Z£vyk, ZR

occurs only in conjuncts

Uyl, Uhmh, Uvuyn

ahth, kwth, `Cht ahTh, kyTn, \Thn Bh’hr, K’, ahRhi, nhyR, gRh afDl ghƒ, mVƒ QhrNh, arNj, `—rNh Khuh, mu, auvl \Jsb, \Jpy≠ kUh, pyUk, —Um

q Q n p P

qi, qhm, yqn QnY, Qhn, Qvyl nhm, nVpvr ypT, phrh, pvuvl Pl, `Pr, `Plh

ahqh, nqY, chqr y#Qh, —Qhn, ghQh ahnh, khnh, \nvn ahph, nvpvr, kphl uPhJ, sPl

b B m x (6) w (7)

bhu, bCr, ybz Bhg, BVu, Bvl, yBy≠ mhl, `mG, mvK `x, `xhg, xmk

ahbhr, ybfbk, zbhb dhb, Kvb, aBhb gBYr, ayBmhn, asBj `lhB, lhB, `sHrB ahfmhq, ynfmX, ahmhr qhm, grm, `—m axUh, shMxj, anvxhwY

r l

rßyc, rs, rYyu, `rhg lhgh, `lKh, ylyp

`cfw, ytwh, `qowh crm, pvrßX, qhrßN mhlh, `gfl, zvlvm

\phw, `nw, Khw amr, khr, SMr, Gr kl, qlYl, lhl

S (8) X (9) s (10) M

Skvn, Syn, Sûq, SYu Xht, `Xhl, X£hR sYmh, shqh, `shnh MThJ, Mzm, Mhu

ahSh, `phShk, `mSh `phXh, ynfXQ asvK, mhsY, ahsh `cMhrh, `qM, \pMhr

ahkhS, ybS, MuhS mhnvX, pvrvX, ybX bws, shMs, bhuhs

tvl, thn, ytwh Tkh, yTkhnh, `T£ht dhl, dhk, ydm

—

Dhkh, Dhlh, yDl

— —

yun, uvym, uKn

—

—

Consonants – use and occurrence

—

ahXhƒ khrN, —hN, qhrßN Bhu, rhu, uPhu MThJ, BybXjJ, aUòhJ pU, rU,

—

1 W: This letter is called \£fwh lwo and is pronounced ng as in singer when it is followed by a consonant. Between vowels its pronunciation can be ng or ngg as in finger. Pronunciation varies from area to area. It has an allophone L anv…r onushor which is used at the end of syllables only.

43

2 Script and sound

L cannot precede a vowel. Neither of the two letters ever occurs at the beginning of a word. Common words with W and L are: W: bhWhyl bangali Bengali, ahWvl angul finger, ahWvr angur grape, ySWhRh shingara pasty, ydyW ningi boat, BhWh bhanga broken, ryWn rongin coloured, `GWhyn ghengani whimper or bhWhyl banggali Bengali, ahWvl anggul finger, ahWvr anggur grape, ySWhRh shinggara pasty, ydyW ninggi boat, BhWh bhangga broken, ryWn ronggin coloured, `GWhyn ghenggani whimper L : bhLlh bangla Bangla, sLshr shfngshar world, ebL ebfng and, brL bfrong rather, svurhL shutorang therefore, aLS fngsho part, mhLs mangsho meat, ysLM shingho lion, ahLyt angti ring, ycLyR cingri prawn 2 õ: This letter is called i£fwh jyo and occurs only in conjuncts. Its descrip­ tion is given as a nasalised nasal and in some ways in can be considered as an allophone of the chondrobindu £. We see this in Bangla numbers. All the numbers five have a chondrobindu except the ones which have n (pfnr) or a conjunct with õ (pÅhS). Conjuncts with õ are given on p. 48. 3 ƒ rh: this letter is extremely rare. Worth remembering are —ghƒ profound, ghƒ deep-coloured, qéƒ firm, mvƒ foolish, `—Hƒ middle-aged. All of these have the inherent vowel pronounced at the end. The only exception to this is ahXhƒ asharh third Bengali month. 4 N murdhonno n (mVQònj n): the pronunciation of this letter is the same as that of n n. N is used in Sanskrit words only.

N is used directly after r, Ç or X, but any intervening letters turn N into n. This explains N in QhrNh idea and `—rNh inspiration but rcnh composition and —hUònh prayer. N comes after ò reph in Sanskrit words: kNò ear, bNò letter, cVNò powder, pVyNòmh full moon, kYNò scattered, …Nò gold. N forms conjuncts with t, T, d: G∂th hour, Th’h cold, —kh’ huge, k∂tk thorn, k÷h throat, q’ staff, g’ cheek, g’k rhinoceros, b∂tn distribution. In foreign words n rather than N is used with t and d: pjh~t trousers, `Pî~d friend, efz~t agent.

N comes after the prefixes pyr-, — and ynr-: pyrNw marriage, pyrNu ripe, pyrbMN transport, —Nhm deference, —mhN proof, —Nw love, —NwN arrangement, —yNwm regulation, ynNòw discernment. 44

N never appears as the first letter of a word.

after r:

\qhMrN example, SîbN hearing, gîMN acceptance, bhrN resistance, qhrßN very, arNj wood, forest, urßN, young, fresh, mrN death, ãmrN memory, zhgrN wakefulness, géyMNY housewife, MyrN deer, —hN life, «hN rescue, ynmìN invitation, xìNh torture, ybbrN description, bjhkrN grammar, \ÉchrN pronunciation, khrN reason after X: qVXN pollution, BhXN speech, BYXN extremely, `phXN upbringing, cVXN sucking, ybfSXN adjective, BVXN ornament, ybfS†XN analysis after Ç: ÇN moment, lÇN sign, mark, lÇNYw noticeable, rÇN protection, ÇYN thin

Consonants – use and occurrence

5 J khfqno t (K’ u): is pronounced the same as u and is a variation of u. J is only used at the end of words or syllables when no inherent vowel is pronounced. As soon as a word ending in J takes on a case ending, J reverts to u. For example:

BybXjJ future – ByXjfur pŸchJ west – pŸchfu

ybqvjJ electricity – ybqvjfur shÇhJ interview – shÇhfu

Some more common words with J:

aUòhJ namely, zgJ world, ycJkhr shouting, xhbJ until, mJsj fish, SrJ early autumn with \J : \Jsb ceremony, \Jsgò dedication, \Jpy≠ origin, \Jpê produced, \Jphqn creation, \JshM enthusiasm, \Jsvk eager with uJ : uJÇNhJ at once, uJpr afterwards, uJsfµo in spite of that, uhJpxò significance There are, however, quite a few words, notably \ycu ought and uPhu difference, which do not take J in final position. 6 x a™Añ x fntfshtho jf: This letter sounds exactly like z j but its use is quite different. It occurs in final position only in conjuncts (shMhxj help, ∏Qxò patience). Both the following letter w and the jophola j are derived from this letter but for learners it is easier to treat these three separately. In all relative pronouns and conjunctions x is the first letter:

`x what, xh what, xhr whose, xKn when, `xmn as, xyq if, xu how much Other common words are: xÕ care, xì instrument, tool xhowh go, xvy∆ reason, xvg era, age, xvº war, `xhg link, union, `xhgj fit, suitable 7 w a™Añ w fntfshtho f: This is a glide or semivowel and is used to link vowels. Its use is given on p. 41 under syllable structure.

45

2 Script and sound

8–10 S uhlbj S talobbo shf, x mVQònj X murdhonno shf, s q™j s dfnto shf: All these three sibilants are pronounced sh as in shine when they occur alone, and spellings need to be learnt. The pronunciation of s changes to s as in sun in conjuncts (see p. 50). s is the most common of the three and X is rare at the beginning of words. Here are some common words.

S: `qS country, KvyS happy, Shy™ peace, SrYr body, Sûq word, ahSh hope, `byS much, pSv animal, qS ten X: pvrßX man, mhnvX person ybX poison, ybfSX special, BhXh language, `SX end, `qhX fault, ynfXQ forbidden s: sb everything, mhs month, súhM week, ahsh come, shrh all, ahsl real, sv~qr beautiful, skhl morning Despite the identical pronunciation of these letters, they constitute distinct features of the language. Here are some minimal pairs:

s - S: sb everything – Sb dead body, ahsh come – ahSh hope, shp snake – Shp curse S - X: ybS twenty – ybX poison, kSh whip, lash – kXh tight s - X: Bhsh float – BhXh language, `ms canteen – `mX sheep, mhs month – mhX kind of lentil, chs you want – chX cultivation

2.9

Conjuncts

When two or more consonants combine without a vowel between them they form a consonant cluster which in writing is represented by a conjunct letter xv∆hÇr. Altogether there are about two hundred and fifty of these. Some of them are immediately recognisable. For instance:

Œ = k + k, ê = n + n, ^ = l + l, ú = p + u; but there are quite a few conjuncts which look considerably different from their individual components.

46

The use of these conjuncts is currently under debate and some writers and publishers (including the 2003 edition of the Samsad Dictionary) have changed to more recognisable representations of consonant clusters; for instance the combination for k + u (∆) is now given as ⁄u, the combina­ tion for W + g (Ã) as óg. These combinations may soon become the norm but for learners of Bangla it remains important to recognise the traditional (and more elegant) conjuncts.

There are some consistent patterns:

Conjuncts

When r r occurs as the first letter of a consonant cluster, it is written as ò (reph) above the letter it precedes:

kò = r + k, Kò = r + K, gò = r + g and so on When r occurs as the second letter of a consonant cluster, it is written as î (rophola) underneath the letter it follows, but there are some special symbols:

qî = q + r, gî = g + r, — = p + r, bî = b + r but œ = k + r, « = u + r When x follows another consonant it is written as j (jophola) after that consonant:

kj = k + x, Kj = K + x, gj = g + x and so on. A separate section on the jophola is given on p. 52. Conjuncting does not occur automatically. When dealing with morpho­ logically distinct units such as prefixes or verb endings, the consonants remain separate, e.g. qr-khr, qr-KhÄ, tvk-frh, Mhs-fu, bl-lhm should not be written as *qkòhr, etc. A comprehensive list of Bangla conjuncts is given in bhLlh bhnhfnr ynwm by Mahabubul Haq and in William Radice’s Teach Yourself Bengali (p. 282ff), so there is no need to replicate it here. Apart from consonant clusters there are also some separate symbols for consonant + u combinations. These and a considered selection of conjuncts are listed below, with examples. I have also included three letter conjuncts in this list. Only a limited number of conjuncts occur at the beginning of words. conjunct components

pronunciation initial

medial or final

xv∆hÇr, r∆, Snh∆, uj∆ Svœbhr, ahœmN, cœ, uœ Svk†h, ayk†§ lÇ, aÇr, afpÇh, prYÇh lÇÖY, pÇÖ bh⁄ü, m⁄ü

with k

∆

k +u

kt

—

œ

k+r

kr

k† Ç

k+l k+X

ÇÖ ⁄ü

k+X+m k+s

kl initial kh medial kkh kkh ksh

œm, œhy™, yœwh, `œhQ k†h™, yk†§, k†Yb, `k†S ÇN, Çyu, Çmh, Çvqî, `Ç«

— —

47

2 Script and sound

conjunct components with g

gÜ gî with W

¬ Ã with c

Éc ÉC

pronunciation initial

medial or final

g+Q g+r

gdh gr

gîhm, gîhs, gîY©m

mvgÜ, ysägÜ, qgÜ ahgîM, \gî

W+k W+g

ng nk ngg

— —

a¬, l¬h, S¬r, Mv¬hr sfÃ, \lÃ, ryÃn

c+c c+C

tsh tssh

— —

bhÉch, \ÉchrN, iÉCh, kÉCp, ybyÉCê

—

all present and past continuous verb forms of verbs whose stems end in a vowel yqyÉC, xhyÉClhm, KhÉC, phyÉCfl, MfÉC, QvyÉCl, `bhZhfÉCn, GvmhyÉCfln etc. with z

°

z+z

jj

—

°á zá “

z+z+b z + b bophola z+õ

jj

—

õ+c õ+z

záhlhfnh, zár, zálzál “hn, “hpk

l°h, \°Yybu, u°hu \°ál, smv°ál —záln, zhzáljmhn yb“hn, kéu“, x“

nc nj

— —

aÅl, bÅnh bj´n, `gy´, s´w

t+t d+d

tt nn

— —

ThÑh, CÑgîhm ahöh, bö, \öwn

N+t N+T N+D

qt qth qn

— — —

G∂th, k∂tk k÷, lv÷n py’u, Th’h, q’

≠ µ ¥

u+u u+u+b u + b bophola

tt tt tt

— — —

uÖ «

u + m mophola tt tr u+r

\≠r, yBy≠, s≠r sfµo, uµ, uhyµk c¥r, qVr¥, qhyw¥, …¥ — ahuÖh, ahuÖYw «ßyu, «hs, y«S, y«Bvz mh«, pv«, Ch«

Ø º

q+q q+Q

dd ddh

— —

\Øhm, \yØpnh ybrßfº, bvyº, Svº, xvº

# (1)

q + b bophola

initial d medial dd

y#uYw, #~#, #hrh, #Yp

yby#§, a#w, \#hwY

with õ

Å ´ with t

Ñ ö with N

∂t ÷ ’ with u

with q

48

initial g medial gg

conjunct components

pronunciation initial

medial or final

Conjuncts

in compound words where q and b are next to one another the pronunciation of b is preserved (2)

# (2) À with n

q+b q+B

db dbh

— —

\y#gä, \#uòn aÀvu, sÀhb, u®b a™r, auj™, an™, pxò™ mìY, ynmìN, uì, xì

™

n+u

—

ì

n+u+r

—

√ ~q ~qî í ê

n+U n+q n+q+r n+Q n+n

with p

nn

— — — — —

p√h, ph√, gî√ ah~qhz, ahn~q, m~q i~qîh, rbY~qînhU aí, bív, bí rhêh, syêQhn, yCê, yBê

nd ndr

ú

p+u

pt

—

ù —

p+p p+r

pp pr

—

p†

p+l

pl

p†hbn

—hú, lvú, súhM, uéyú Khùh, gù a—≥u, a—fwhzn, qY— ybp†b, ahèlvu

ûq bÜ ûb

b+q b+Q b+b

bd bdh bb

— — —

Sûq, aûq lvbÜ, ÇvbÜ ahûbh, cyûbS

with m ôp ôb (1) ôb (2) ® ôm

m +p m + b bophola m+b m+B m+m

mp mm mb mbh mm

— — — — —

kôp, qôpyu smáfí, sfmáhQn aôbr, kôbl, cvôbn s®b, ahr®, g®Yr sômhn, ahômh

—

azòn, Qmò, pxò™, gbò

with b

with r kò, Kò etc r + any other consonant with l

—Bv, —Um, y—w

l+p l+l

lp ll

— —

g¶p, yS¶pY, k¶pnh p^Ygîhm, \f^K, \^hs

Ÿc Sá

S+c S + b bophola

—

SáSvr, Sáhs, `Sáu

ahŸcxò, ynŸcw, pyŸcm ybSá, ISár, ahSáÄ

Sî

S+r

shc initial sh medial ssh sr

`Sî©T, Sîhº, SîhbN, Sîvyu

ybSîY, ahSîw, aSîv

¶p ^ with S

49

2 Script and sound

conjunct components with X

pronunciation initial

medial or final

ahyb©khr, pyr©khr, Sv©k ymy§, `c§h, béy§ `Sî©T, anv©Thn, Gyn©T \”, ké”, syM”v

©k

X+k

shk

—

§ ©T ”

X +t X+T X+N

sht shth shn

— — —

ãk

s+k

sk

ãkvl, ãkí

ãt

This combination is used for foreign words only. st s+t `ãtSn, ãtvydfwh

with s

Bhãkr, nmãkhr, pvrãkhr

Ä ñ

s+u s+U

st sth

Än, ÄbÜ, Äy®u, Är ñvl, ñhn, yñu

sä ã« ãp ãP …

s+n s+u+r s+p s+P s+b

sähn, `säM ã«Y ãp§, ãp~qn ãPhrN, ãPYu …hmY, …Ykhr, …hBhybk

sî

s+r

sn str sp sph initial sh medial ssh sr

mhãthr, `Mhfãtl, `rãtvfr~t nhÄh, rhÄh, MÄ bjbñh, abñh, ahñh, mvKñ `zjhJsäh ymyã«, Shã« ynãp~q, béMãpyu yb`ãPhrN up…Y

`sîhu, sîbN

yMLsî, sLsîb

M+n M+m M+x

nh mm jj

— — —

yc–, a–, mQjh– bîÆ, bîÆN sMj

with M

– Æ Mj

consonant plus u combinations (note that in this book the special symbols for gu ç, shu ¿ and hu ÿ are not used)

50

g+\ u+r+\ q+r+\ n+u+\ r+\ r+| S+\ s+u+\ M+\

gu tru dru ntu ru ru shu stu hu and here is a combination with å: ri or hri M∑ M+å

ç or gv «ß qîß ≤ rß r∑ ¿ or Sv ≥ ÿ or Mv

çrߥ, çrß, çN «ßyt qîßu

—

rßyt, rßmhl r∑p, r∑ph ¿œbhr ≥vp ÿkvm, ÿzvg, ÿbÿ

ahçn S«ß ybqîvp yk≤ `mrßq’ ar∑p p¿, p¿òkh, mh¿l —≥u bÿ

M∑qw pron ridoy or hridoy

Here are two groups of letters which go together:

Conjuncts

X mVQònj X is traditionally a retroflex letter and combines with retroflex plosives t, T and d. N also belongs to the retroflex group. These letters have a natural affinity with one another and appear together. Conjuncts of this group: ¶t qt, ÷ qt, ’ qn, § st, ©T st, ” sq

s (q™j s) is traditionally a dental sound and combines with dental plosives u and U. Its pronunciation changes from sh to s in these combinations. n (q™j n) also belongs to this group and combines with u, U, q, Q. Conjuncts of this group: ™ nt, √ nth, ~q nd, í ndh, Ä st, ñ sth, ã« str, sä sn, sî sr For learners of Bangla it is useful to learn the conjuncts in context. Here is a list of some common words. Some more examples for jophola, bophola and mophola are given on pp. 52 and 56.

rophola

—hN life, gîhm village, —hUònh prayer, —yu each, —fujk each, pyb« sacred, ybSî∞hm rest, Bqî gentle, `sî∞hu current, ahgî∞M interest, —Um first, `tî∞n train, œm sequence, order, yœwh work, `—m love, SîhbN Bengali month, ph« vessel, Ch« student, cyr« character, —mhN proof, pyrSî∞m hard work, nmî∞ soft, Mî∞… short î

reph

ò

Qmò religion, bNò letter, sVxò sun, qYGò long, pVNò full, pqòh curtain, kmò work, pVbò east, qvbòl weak, bXòh rain, ahŸcxò amazing, pxò™ until, pyrbuòn change, mmò heart, ynBòr dependence, ukò argument, ccòh practise, …gò heaven, aUòhJ namely

jophola

j

znj for, shMhxj help, síjh evening, bjbMhr behaviour, bjhphr matter, M£jh yes, ybqjh learning, rMsj mystery, iujhyq etcetera, mVlj value, SVnj zero, bnjh flood

bophola

á

Qáyn sound, #~# dispute, #jUò ambiguity, y#uYw second, ybSáhs belief, záhlh ignite, gvrߥ importance, …hmY husband, zár fever, #hrh through, #Yp island, …pä dream, …r voice, …gò heaven, …Bhb character, …hBhybk natural, sh™ánh comfort, …Ykhr admission, …hq taste, …hQYn independent, …wL self, …hUòpr selfish

mophola Ö

ahuÖh soul, ahuÖYw relative, ãméyu memory, SÖShn crematorium

51

2 Script and sound

k + u = ∆ kt k + r = œ kr k + X = Ç kkh

r∆ blood, mvy∆ freedom, bjy∆ person, xvy∆ logic Svœbhr Friday, ahœmN attack, ybyœ sale Çyu harm, Çmuh power, Çmh forgiveness, aÇr letter, ÇN moment, rÇh protection, prYÇh exam, afpÇh wait, lÇ aim, ySÇh learning g + W = à ngg sfà with aà limb mÃl good c + C = ÉC cch iÉCh wish uvÉC small ahÉCh OK u + r = « tr mh« only ph« vessel Ch« student u + u = ≠ tt \≠r north s≠r seventy ahpy≠ objection n + u = ™ nt a™r heart pxò™ until yc™h thought n + u + \ = ≤ ntu yk≤ but z≤ animal s≤§ satisfied m + B = ® mbh ahr® start s®b possible g®Yr deep X + t = § sht `c§h attempt k§ effort n§ spoilt s + u = Ä st rhÄh road bjÄ busy ahfÄ slowly s + U = ñ sth ahñh trust ñhn place bjbñh arrangement 2.10

Jophola

The phonetic transcript used in this section shows the pronunciation. The role of the jophola falls somewhere in between the second component of a conjunct and a vowel sign. It has three main uses: 1 in the middle or at the end of words it doubles a consonant:

znj rMsj iujhyq shMhxj abSj rhzj bhkj Mujh

jfnno rfhossho ittadi shahajjo fbfssho rajjo bakko hotta

for mystery etcetera help of course kingdom sentence killing

ybqjh khbj mVlj suj ySXj bnjh Bhgj —fujk

bidda kabbo mullo shftto shissho bonna bhaggo prottek

science poetry value true disciple flood fate each

2 In the first syllable of words it can stand on its own as a vowel and is pronounced æ except when the following syllable has an i or u in it which changes the æ to e:

52

bjbñh bjbsh bjbMhr bjÄ bjy∆

bæbostha bæbsha bæbohar bæsto bekti

arrangement business behaviour busy person

bjUh bjuYu bjUò uj∆ bj´n

bætha betito bærtho tækto bænjon

pain excluding futile abandoned consonant

3 It precedes a­kar h in the first syllable of words to produce an æ sound:

bjhphr ujhg p£jhc Qjhn Cjhblh

bæpar tæg pãec dhæn chæbla

matter sacrifice twist meditation frivolous

M£jh bjhkrN bjhkvl Kjhyu Sjhm

hãe bækoron bækul khæti shæm

Other symbols

yes grammar worried fame dark-green

The pronunciation of (2) and (3) are the same – the spellings need to be learnt. Many English words with a short a in them are written in Bangla with jh:

bjhLk bank, P†jht flat, Mjh~d-bl handball, cjhyôpwhn champion, mjhghyzn magazine, gîjh~d-`Mhftl grand hotel Apart from these, the jophola is used alternatively with its source x in the formation of abstract nouns without any impact on the pronunciation:

and in

…hñj shastho qhyrqîj daridro síjh shondha

health poverty evening

moitro friendship ∏m«j boishishto characteristic ∏byS§j

Very occasionally the jophola occurs with other vowels with no effect on the pronunciation of the words:

shuto sewn, woven cuti detachment, dislocation svju cvjyu `zjhJsäh jotsna moonlight ybcvjyu bicuti deviation, estrangement duti radiation, glow `qjhunh dotona implication, significance qvjyu

2.11

Other symbols

This section brings together the remaining symbols, which have not yet been explained. They are given in alphabetical order. The first three symbols (1) to (3) do not count as separate letters in the alphabet, but in dictionary entries they occur, in this order, between the vowels and the consonants (see also pp. 60–61). 1 L anv…r onushor The sound and occurrence of L is given on p. 44. It comes in the alpha­ bet straight after the vowels, before nasalised items and before k k. L is

53

also coveniently used for ng and nk sounds in English words when they are written in Bangla:

2 Script and sound

nhysòL narsing nursing, `tîynL trening training, dîiL nrfing drawing, PhLSn phangshfn function and so on. 2 A ybsgò bishfrgo This occurs in Sanskrit words, usually in the middle after prefixes such as ynA without, a™A within, qvA bad, pvnA again, mnA mind or at the end after uA to. In recent spelling reforms the use of the bishorgo has been drastically reduced. We now find a™u fntoto at least, —Qhnu prodhanoto mainly, ybfSXu bisheshoto especially, shQhrNu shadharonoto usually, mnĵ monostftto psychology without the bishorgo. A bishorgo after a con­ sonant has no effect on the pronunciation. After a vowel the bishorgo produces a slight hesitation before or emphasis on the following con­ sonant. The only occurrence in non­Sanskritic words is in exclamations such as bhA bah wow, yCA chih ugh, oA oh oh, ahA ah ah where the bishorgo produces an h sound. Common words with A:

auApr ftopor henceforth, a™Apvr fntopur zenana, a™Añ fntostho within, qvAK dukho sadness, qvASYl dushil wicked, qvAñ dustho needy, ynASáhs nisshash breath, ynAfSX nishesh leaving no remainder, ynASûq nishfbdo silent, mnAk§ monokfsto mortification, mnAñ monostho resolved, intended 3

£ c~qî-yb~qv cfndrobindu This is the sign for the nasal which is placed on the consonant preced­ ing the nasalised vowel. Nasalisation is explained on p. 27 but here are a few more comments. Nasalisation is less prominent in Bangladesh and some areas of West Bengal than it is in Kolkata. This explains relatively new word creations like enhr enar for e£r ir and \nhr unar for o£r õr. Here are some of the most common nasalised words in Bangla. Pro­ nunciations are not given.

54

• M£jh hx yes • p£hc pãc five and all the numbers with five except those with n or Å in them. • all honorific pronouns except the nominative singular forms yuyn, iyn and \yn he, she

• common verbs: a£hkh draw, k£hqh weep, k£hph shiver, `K£hzh search, `c£chfnh shout, `C£Rh tear, `C£hwh touch, Z£hkh shake, q£hRhfnh stand, `p£chfnh twist, `p£HCh arrive, b£hch survive, b£hchfnh save, b£hQh bind, s£huhr khth swim, M£hth walk, M£hphfnh gasp • common adjectives: k£hch raw, K£hyt pure, `K£hRh lame, crippled, ynK£vu perfect, P£hkh empty, s£jhu`s£fu wet • common nouns: a£hK sugarcane, ah£c surmise, guess, i£qrv rat, k£hth thorn, k£hyc scissors, k£hThl jackfruit, c£hq moon, Z£vyk risk, `u£uvl tamarind, q£hu tooth, Q£hQh riddle, p£hzr rib, yp£pRh ant, `p£fp papaya, P£hk gap, P£hq trap, b£hyS flute, ys£yR stairs, M£hs duck

Other symbols

4 æ Ms™ hfshfnto This symbol, hasanta in Sanskrit, hoshonto or Msæ-yc– hfsh-cinho in Bangla, has no place in the alphabet but it is not exactly a punctuation mark either. It serves to block the pronunciation of the inherent vowel where it might otherwise have been pronounced. It is placed underneath the consonant. It is not very frequently used for Bangla words as people are expected to know where the inherent vowel is dropped, but it is often useful for foreign words such as nnæãtp non stop, abæfsSn obsession, or for consonant clusters which do not occur in Bangla: ydsætîjhkæSn distraction. 5

á bophola and Ö mophola We have seen the uses of î rophola and j jophola. There are two other ­ophola attachments, bophola á which comes from b and mophola Ö which derives from m . Both these symbols need extra caution as they are often silent. Some examples are given in the conjunct chart on p. 48. The spellings of words with bophola or mophola in them represent the Sanskrit and, to a large extent, the Hindi pronunciations while the sounds of Bangla have moved on. Here are two examples: The word mahatma means big soul which in Bangla pronunciation is mfha big atta soul. The word welcome in Hindi is swagat, the Bangla word is shagotom.

Both the m from atta and the w/b from sagat have been dropped in the pronunciation but they are still there in the spelling of the words. The use of the mophola is not very extensive in common Bangla words. The bophola is more common and often appears at the beginning of words. This means that an awareness of its presence is essential when using a dictionary. Both the bophola and the mophola have the effect of doubling

55

2 Script and sound

a consonant in the middle of words, though not at the beginning. Historically the bophola is derived from two distinct Sanskrit letters, b and v. That explains why in some cases the bophola is pronounced as b b. There are also some words where m appears as the second element in a conjunct and is pronounced as m. Examples with phonetic transcript are given below. (a) common words with silent bophola

zálh jola burn, záhlh jala light, \°ál ujjol bright, #~# dfndo conflict, #hrh dara through, #Yp di:p island, y#uYw dityio second, QáLs dhfngsho destruction, Qáyn dhoni sound, sh™ánh shantona comfort, ybSáhs bisshash belief, ynASáhS nisshash breath, ISár isshor God, ybSá bissho world (here is the doubling effect!), SáSvr shoshur father-in-law, …ÉC shfccho clear, …pä shfpno dream, …Bhb shfbhab characteristic, …hBhybk shabhabik natural, smáfí sfmmondhe about, …wL shfyong self, …r shfr voice, …gò shfrgo heaven, …yÄ shosti comfort, …hgum shagftom welcome, …hq shad taste, …hQYn shadhin independent, …hmY shami husband, …hñj shastho health, …hUò shartho selfishness, …Ykhr shikar acknowledgement, `…ÉCh sheccha own wish with u t and ≠ tt (these are usually abstract nouns – there are many more like this)

ayÄ¥ fstitto existence, gvrߥ gurutto importance, uµ tftto theory, qVr¥ durotto distance, qhyw¥ dayitto responsibility, bív¥ bondhutto friendship, ybfSX¥ bisheshotto characteristic, sfµo shftteo in spite of, ñhyw¥ sthayitto permanence (b) bophola pronounced as b (where the keyboard permits, these can be written with b as the full letter)

aôbr ombor sky, aôbl fmbol acid, \y#gä udbigno anxious, kôbl kfmbol blanket, cvôbk cumbok magnet, nôbr nfmbor number, lôbh lfmba long (c) common words with silent mophola

ahuÖh atta soul, ahuÖYw attiyo relative, gîY©m grissho summer, CqÖfbS choddobesh disguise, pqÖ pfddo lotus, ybãmw bisshfy amazement, sÖrN shfron memory, ãméyu sriti memory, SÖhSn shashon crematorium (d) common words with mophola pronounced as m 56

\nÖ≠ unmftto crazy, znÖ jfnmo birth, sômhn sfmman respect, sfômln sfmmelon gathering

2.12

Punctuation

Punctuation

Punctuation marks in Bangla are called xyu-yc– or ybrhm-yc–. The following punctuation marks occur in Bangla: Bangla sentences end with a q£hyR (/) dãri rather than a full stop. In poetry we often also find a double q£hyR (qv-q£hyR //) for a more significant end point. Question marks and exclamation marks are used as in English. Quotation marks can be left out and direct speech is often incorporated in narrative text without any punctuation at all or only separated with a comma:

Mwfuh `kmn ahC —Sä krfb perhaps she will ask how are you Bhl ahyC bfl ahr kUh Mwyn/ After saying I am well, nothing more was said. phfSr ghCthr yqfk uhykfw khqôbrY blfln, e ghCth efkbhfr Pvfl Bfr ahfC/ Kadambari looked at the nearby tree and said, this tree is in full flower. The use of commas and semicolons in Bangla, as in English, has become a matter of individual judgement and the desire for clarity rather than of fixed rules. Commas are commonly used (a) as breathing spaces in long sentences

`si `x ekth ycyT yqfwyCfln ahmhfk, mmuhfzr Mhu yqfw lvykfw phyTfwyCfln, mfn ahfC? Do you remember that he wrote me a letter and sent it secretly with Momtaz? (b) to separate parallel structures

Gr mvfC pyr©khr kfryC, khpR QvfwyC, bhzhr kfr rhêh kfryC, sb ∏uyr kfryC/ I cleaned the house, washed the clothes, did the shopping and the cooking and got everything ready. (c) to separate lists

ku azsî —hN, ku phyK, —zhpyu, `phkh, pSv, srYsép/ So much abundant life, so many birds, butterflies, insects, animals, reptiles. (d) to separate repetitions

ahym yk≤ xhb nh, xhb nh, xhb nh/ But I will not, not, not go.

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2 Script and sound

(e) to separate syntactically independent elements at the beginning of sentences

(i) names:

aynuh, uvym ektv ch `qfb? Onita, will you give (me) some tea?

(ii) yes or no:

M£jh, ahym zhyn/ Yes, I know.

nh, uh kKno Mfb nh/ No, that will never happen. (iii) sentence adverbs: —Umu, uvym ei khzth krfb/ First, you will do this work.

`xmn, uhr SrYr Khrhp Mfu phfr/ For instance, he may be ill. (iv) imperatives:

Uhm, zhl ahr thfnh nh/ Stop, don’t pull the net any more.

(f) to separate clauses

ek iLfrz xyq phw yunS thkh, zgqYS phfb qvS/ If an Englishman gets 300 Taka then Jagadish will get 200.

`s chkyr krfC bft, yk≤ mhifn phw nh/ He is doing the job, but he is not getting paid.

ekzfnr ghfw khflh `kht, ufb ynfc Qvyu/ One man was wearing a black coat, but a loincloth underneath. Semicolons are used between independent sentences which are, however, so closely related to one another that a dãri would be inappropriate.

yk≤ `s-ycyT ahmhr `lKh Mwyn; smw Mfw ofTyn `SX pxò™/ But I didn’t manage to write that letter; in the end I just didn’t have time. Hyphens tend to be used rather idiosyncratically. They can help to make the sentence structure clear, for instance with verbal adjectives preceding a noun:

kphfl lhl-ytp-prh `mfwyt lit: on the forehead red-dot-wearing girl the girl who was wearing a red dot on her forehead

MThJ-BhRh-krh ei bhyRyt 58

lit: suddenly-rent-do this house this house, that has been rented on the spur of the moment

Occasionally we find combinations like:

Punctuation

`x-`k\ anyone, ahr-`k\ someone else, `x-sb all that, nh-Mfl if not, `khUho-nh-`khUho somewhere or other Hyphens can connect reduplicated items:

M£htfu-M£htfu phfw bjUh Qfr `gl/ ahfÄ-ahfÄ kUh bflh/ khpR-`chpR gvyCfw nho/

The feet were sore from walking. Speak slowly! Tidy up the clothes!

Hyphens can link similar items in lists. Here is a sentence which reads like a shopping­list:2

esb `qhkhfn Kbfrr khgz, khgz-klm, rßyt-qvQ-ydm, ybãykt-ckflt, qv-ek rkfmr sbyz, tvUbîhS-tvUfpãt, lhit-bh¶b; Th’h pnYw, phn-ysghfrt, `Phn khdò iujhyq —yuyqfnr —fwhznYw ybyc« yzynsp« Uhfk/ All these shops sell newspapers, paper and pens, bread, milk, eggs, biscuits and chocolate, a few kinds of vegetables, toothbrushes and toothpaste, light-bulbs; they have cold drinks, pan3 and cigarettes, phone cards and a variety of other everyday necessities. Apostrophes (|Qáòkmh) Apostrophes usually indicate that something has been left out. Common examples for this are mh"r for mhfwr (genitive of mh mother), "pr for \pr above, C"th for Cwth six, k"th for kwth how many, qv" for qvi two, ek S" for ek Su one hundred, "75 for 1975 1975 and so on. We also find some authors indicating what they consider omissions in verb forms, particularly in the perfective participle:

ahmrh khzth `SX k"fr efsyC/ lit: we, having done the work, have come We have finished the work.

`s ei kUh b"fl ygfwfC/ lit: he, having said this, left He said this and left. The purpose of this is to show that the old forms of these participles used to be kyrwh and bylwh, respectively, and to ensure the high­vowel

2 Ghulam Murshid, khlhphynr MhuChyn, ybflfu bhWhylr iyuMhs, p. 240 3 Betel leaves

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2 Script and sound

pronunciation of these forms as their spellings are identical to the simple present verb forms:

kfr kfre 3rd person simple present he/she does versus kfr kore perfective participle having done From a syntactic point of view there is rarely any danger of confusion between these forms, and the use of the apostrophe for the perfective participles is gradually declining. Full stop (ekyb~qv ) The full stop is essentially a foreign element in Bangla and is used for abbreviations only. In older books the use of A (bishorgo) can be found instead. Some abbreviations are done with L (onushvor).

ym. = Mister, yl. = Limited, yp. em. = postmaster, nL = number, uhL = uhyrK date, yz. ys. es. i. = GSCE, em. e. = MA, es. yb. rMmhn S. B. Rahman, d. svkvmhr `sn = Dr Sukumar Sen 2.13

Sounds and spellings

Bangla pronunciation is predictable from spelling to a much greater extent than in many other languages. Each consonant has its designed pronun­ ciation which never varies. Going from sound to spelling is a little trickier, so here are a few things to keep in mind when using a dictionary. There are certain areas of uncertainty and of discrepancy between sound and spelling and it is good to be aware of them. 1 some are related to inaccurate hearing: hearing hearing hearing hearing

the the the the

difference difference difference difference

between between between between

aspirated and non­aspirated sounds dental and palatal sounds r and R closed o and open f

2 some are related to the order of letters in the dictionary (a) words starting with nasalised (chondrobindu) sounds come before unnasalised words, e.g.

Ksh . . . Khi . . . K£hch . . . K£hyt . . . K£hyR . . . Khk (b) conjunct letters come after consonant­vowel combinations, e.g. 60

bsu . . . bs™ . . . bsh . . . bsv . . . byÄ

but watch out for alternative spellings:

qrKhÄ . . . qrzh . . . qryz . . . qyrqî . . . qyzò . . . qSòn

Sounds and spellings

(c) Ç consists of k + X and comes in the dictionary between k and K . “ consists of z + õ and comes after the z + vowel combinations and before zá (d) N comes after the palatal plosives (t, T, d, D), n after the dental plosives (u, U, q, Q) (e) L comes straight after the full vowels (sowhl, sLkt), W, ¬ and à come (in this order) between G and c 3 most are related to unpredictable spellings: (a) i and I can be pronounced either short or long. \ and | can be pronounced short or long. Spellings have to be learnt. i is much more common than I, \ much more common than |. (b) s, S and X sound the same. This is a matter of memorising (or hav­ ing a knowledge of Sanskrit). X is rare at the beginning of words, except for numbers relating to six (`Xhflh, Xht) (c) an æ sound can be written in four ways: e (`qK), j (bjÄ), jh (bjhphr) or, rarely, h (“hn) (d) a ri sound can be written in three ways: å (béy§), yr (y«S) or

rY (ã«Y) (e) z and x sound the same. All grammatical words (relative pronouns, conjunctions, adverbs) are spelt with x: xh, `x, xKn, `xmn, xyq, also

xvy∆ (f) a jj sound can be spelt ° (l°h) or xj (shMhxj) or Mj (sMj) (g) n and N sound the same. Some guidelines for the use of N are given in Ch. 2.8.4, p. 40. (h) W, L and à can sound the same. Spellings need to be learnt. L is never used when a vowel follows. (i) Silent or doubling letters like bophola, mophola, jophola and bishorgo, particularly with the first letter of a word, can cause great problems if they slip your mind. Spellings need to be memorised.

bophola: mophola: jophola: bishorgo:

…pä, …gò, …hmY, …hq, …hQYn, …hBhybk, …Ykhr, sh™ánh, záhlh ãmrN, ãméyu, ahuÖh, pqÖ bjUh, bjhphr, bjy∆, anj, bnjh qvAK, ynASáhs

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Chapter 3

Morphological features

3.1

Duplication

Bangla has a preference for pairings and doublings. We find this in compound verbs Bvfl xhowh forget, in adverbs ahfÄ ahfÄ slowly, uhRhuhyR quickly, in onomatopoeia yKlyKl giggling, K£h K£h desolate and in the reduplication of verb forms Mhsfu Mhsfu laughing, `p£HfC `p£HfC arriving. And we find it in a great number of noun-pairs. The following is an extract from a more comprehensive collection given in Ch. 35. Onomatopoeia are dealt with separately in Ch. 36. 1 . . . etcetera The first word, either a noun or an adjective, is echoed by a meaningless rhyming word with a different initial consonant.

a¬-t¬ maths, etc. ahuÖYw-thuÖYw relatives ahlhp-shlhp familiarity

béy§-yty§ rain and suchlike ahrhm-thrhm creature comforts \Jsb-tvJsb event

2 synonyms and near-synonyms Two nouns, verbs or adjectives with the same or similar meanings are paired up with an accumulative effect:

Chip£hS stuff and nonsense, `ChtKhfth insignificant, zYbz≤ animals, thkh-pwsh money, ThÑh-uhmhSh mockery 3 accumulative Two meaningful lexical items are combined to create an accumulative meaning. 62

ahlhp-pyrcw familiarity, Khowh-qhowh meal, `Cflfmfw children, “hnyb“hn arts and science, `Klh-Qvlh sports

4 echo words a-i pattern

Duplication

The first component has a distinct meaning and is followed by an echo word in i

ukòhuykò uhRhuhyR uhlhuhyl qRhqyR qlhqyl qhphqhyp

debate hurry clapping ropes partisanship bragging

> > > > > >

ukò uhRh uhl qyR ql qhp

argument rush musical beat rope group pride, vanity

5 opposite meanings opposite terms combine to give a comprehensive meaning

ahflh-ah£Qhr light and darkness, ahflh-Chwh light and shadow, ahSh-ynrhSh hope and despair, ahsl-nkl true and false, ahsh xhowh, xhowh-ahsh coming and going, iur-Bqî high and low 6 reduplication: doubled adjectives, nominative and locative nouns with a variety of effects such as approximation almost (zár zár feverish), intensity very (khfC khfC very close), gradual build-up (yufl yufl bit by bit), multiplicity (shyr shyr in rows), pervasiveness (xvfg xvfg through the ages)

a¶p a¶p a small amount, ahfÄ ahfÄ slowly, ekh ekh lonely, ektv ektv a little bit, kUhw kUhw by the way, k£hthw k£hthw on the dot, punctually 7 doubling of indefinite pronouns and adverbs These will be discussed in Ch. 14.2.6.

`k `k who (plural), yk yk what (plural), kKno kKno from time to time, `k\ `k\ somebody or other, ykCv ykCv a little bit, `khno `khno any, some or other 8 doubling of finite and non-finite verb forms These will be discussed in Ch. 21 and 23.

mrfu mrfu b£hch

lit:

yPfr yPfri \yn bfln lit: `qKfu `qKfu Mfu Mfu Ml nh/

lit:

survive on the point of dying have a lucky escape he is saying again and again seeing seeing immediately becoming becoming did not happen a near miss

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3 Morphological features

3.2

xhw xhw abñh

lit:

uKn síjh Mb Mb

lit:

go go state on its last leg then evening I will go I will go then it was almost evening

Vowel harmony and vowel mutation

Vowel harmony is the principle of inertia applied to language in general and to the pronunciation of sounds in particular. It means that vowels in adjacent syllables have a tendency to move closer together so that less effort is needed to produce the sounds. A phonetic transcript is used in this section. The process of vowel sounds moving closer together takes place slowly and is not entirely predictable, but we can see its effect in word pairs where the following shifts take or have taken place: 1 a preceding i pulls up a following a to e:

ymUjh mittha → ymfUj mitthe, iÉCh iccha → ifÉC icche, yMshb hishab → yMfsb hisheb, yblhu bilat → ybflu bilet, ybqhw bidae → ybfqw bidey, yz“hs jiggash → yzf“s jiggesh 2 a preceding high vowel pulls a up to o:

Gvmhfnh ghumano → Gvmfnh ghumono yzrhfnh jirano → yzrfnh jirono zvuh juta → zvfuh juto, bvRh bura → bvfRh buro, r∑ph rupa → r∑fph rupo 3 a following high vowel pulls æ up to e:

ek æk but ekyt ekti and ektv ektu `KlhfKyl khælakheli, `G£XhfG£yX ghxshaghishi 4 a following i pulls e up to i:

`lKh lekha but ylyK likhi, `cnh cena but ycyn cini, `mShymyS meshamishi 5 a following high vowel shifts the pronunciation of the inherent vowel up from f to o:

64

Qrh dhfra but Qyr dhori, mrh mfra but mrß moru kfb kfbe but kyb kobi and kbvur kobutor ufb tfbe but ubv tobu p£wuhy^S pmytallish but pw£y«S põytrish blhbyl bflaboli

6 a following i pulls o up to u:

`bhZh bojha but bvyZ bujhi, `KhlhKvyl kholakhuli On the basis of these forms it is not surprising that sadhu bhasha verb forms like ygwhyC giyachi with their jumps from high to low vowels have settled into a medial form ygfwyC giyechi or `gyC gechi.

Vowel harmony and vowel mutation

7 a following a pulls a high vowel down. The first form of each pair is an older version.

ySKh shikha → `SKh shekha learn, Kvqh khuda → `Khqh khoda God, Bvlh bhula → `Bhlh bhola forget, Svnh shuna → `Shnh shona hear, `Klh khela → `Klh khæla play, `qKh dekha → `qKh dækha see, ypwhz piyaj → `pwhz peyaj onion, ybRhl biral → `bRhl beral cat, ySwhl shiyal → `Swhl sheyal fox Vowel mutation runs like a thread through much of the Bangla lexicon. It means that morphologically related words show a systematic change between adjacent vowels or vowels and diphthongs, as follows. This applies to the entire verbal system but also to a considerable number of nouns and adjectives.

u – ou

mvK mu:kh mouth – `mHyKk moukhik verbal, oral mVl mu:l root – `mHylk moulik fundamental, basic sv~qr sundor beautiful – `sH~qxò soundorsho beauty BVu bhu:t ghost – `BHyuk bhoutik ghostly BVym bhumi land – `BHymk bhoumik landlord uvl tu:l balance – `uHl toul weight gvrß guru master – `gHrb gourob glory, dignity

o–u

`xhg jog link – xv∆ jukto linked `ShX shosh dryness – Sv©k shushko dry `qhX dosh fault – qvXh dusha accuse `qhl dol swing – qvlvyn duluni rocking `KhS khosh delightful – KvyS khushi happy `rhQ rodh obstruction – rߺ ruddho shut, closed

f–a

sMhw shfhae helper – shMhxj shahajjo help …Bhb shfbhab nature – …hBhybk shabhabik natural —Um prfthom first – —hUymk prathomik primary rL rfng colour – rhWhfnh rangano dye, colour uhp [tap] heat – uú [tfpto] hot

a–e

ahfs ashe he comes – efs eshe having come mhZ majh middle – `mfZh mehjo second-born thk tak baldness – `tfkh teko bald

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3 Morphological features

i–e

yqyS dishi – `qyS deshi local, yglh gila – `glh gela swallow ynyXº nishiddho – ynfXQ nishedh – forbidden

i – oi

yqn di:n day – ∏qynk doinik daily, yskuh shikota sand, gravel – ∏sku soikot sandy beach, gulf ygyr [giri] mountain – ∏gyrk goirik dyed with red ochre from the mountain

e/æ – oi

`snh sena soldier – ∏synk soinik soldier `cunh cetona consciousness – ∏cunj coitonno consciousness bjhkrN bækoron grammar – ∏bwhkrN boiyakoron grammatical

Some more examples like this can be found in the sections on verbal patterns (p. 73) and adjective derivation (p. 77).

Consonant assimilation In the area of sound assimilation we can also find consonants merging, moving closer together or doubling, particulary in spoken language. Some of these are well-established, others undoubtedly border on slang:

ybpq bipod danger + znk jfnok adj ending → ybp°nk bipfjjfnok dangerous

kvJ kut bad + ysu sit white → kvyÉCu kucchit ugly Qmò dhormo < Qôm dhfmmo religion bR bfro < bö bfnno big ykCv kichu < ykÉCv kicchu something sbhi shfbai < sûbhi shfbbai everybody sbòfnfS shfrboneshe < sûbfnfS shfbboneshe k£hqnh kãdna < khêh kanna weeping xuyqn jftodi:n < xyØn jfddi:n how long, also xuqVr jftodur < xØVr jfddur how far

khgzp« kagojpftro < khgzp≠r kagojpfttor papers g¶p gflpo < gèp gfppo story …gò shfrgo < sfggh shfggo heaven krC korcho < kÉc kfcco do-2-PR-C 3.3

66

Prefixes and suffixes

Prefixes are regularly occurring attachments (bound morphemes) at the start of words which have a semantic impact on the words they precede. They can change the meaning of a word altogether (typical – a-typical,

changed – unchanged, advantage – disadvantage), they can intensify the meaning (confident – overconfident, tend – attend) or they can change the word class (tangle – entangle, bitter – embitter, rail – derail) and so on. Suffixes do the same at the end of words but they are more systematically employed to change word classes: help – helpful, comfort – comfortable, talk – talkative, educate – education, commit – commitment. More on suffixes can be found in the following two sections.

Prefixes and suffixes

Prefixes Bangla has a great number of prefixes. With many of them their semantic impact is quite varied, but an awareness of them can be of considerable help in trying to work out the meaning of new words. Here is a list from Tagore which shows the variability of Bangla prefixes. He accompanied this list with the statement: ‘There is a race between a rule and its exceptions.’1 with the adjective gu gone

prefix prefix prefix prefix prefix prefix prefix prefix prefix

ayQ anvapabahqvrynrybsL-

ayQgu anvgu apgu abgu ahgu qvgòu yngòu ybgu sLgu

mastered, acquired obedient withdrawn informed, aware just arrived miserable ejected past, dead proper, just

and another example from the Sanskrit stem M∑ = MrN krh take away

prefix prefix prefix prefix prefix prefix prefix prefix

an- + ah- anhMhr apapMhr ahahMhr smsLMhr ybybMhr pyrpyrMhr \p\pMhr \J\ºhr

starvation theft food, meal killing, slaughter dalliance abandonment present rescue, deliverance

1 Rabindranath Tagore, bhLlhBhXh pyrcw (p. 66)

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3 Morphological features

Prefixes are traditionally separated into three groups: Sanskrit prefixes, Bangla prefixes and foreign prefixes. This is not immediately helpful to the foreign learner but there is a marked difference in their use. Sanskrit prefixes can occur in clusters whereas Bangla and foreign prefixes occur one at a time. for instance:

an-\p-xv∆ unsuitable, an-ayQ-khr unauthorised, an-ab-khS lack of leisure, an-ayB-“uh inexperience

Before we move to the complexities of Sanskrit word-formation, here are some Farsi and Arabic prefixes:

Farsi `b negating un-

`bahin `bahqb `bimhn `bozr `bksvr `bkhwqh `bkhr `bKhp `bfKwhl `bfghC `bchrh `bchl `bzhu `bfzhR `byTk `buymz `bur `buhr `bqm `bqrkhr `bnhym `bsvr

unlawful unmannerly, impudent perfidious, unfaithful admitting no excuse free from guilt awkward out of work unfitting, inappropriate inattentive untidy, disorderly helpless, wretched misbehaving, dissolute degenerated caste uneven (numbers) erroneous, incorrect uncivil, arrogant indisposed radio (wireless!) breathless unnecessary anonymous guiltless, innocent

qr indicating sub-. This semantic feature is not very visible in the examples.

qrKhÄ application qrkhr need, qrp≠n sublease, qrbhr court nh negating 68

nhchr helpless, nhrhz unwilling, nhbhlk under-age, nhfKhS displeased, nhlhfwk unfit

bq meaning bad

bqfmzhz bad temper, bqfKwhl evil intentions, bqnhm bad reputation, bqmhS wicked, evil Arabic

gryTkhnh grrhyz gryml grMhyzr gyMòu

Prefixes and suffixes

gr negating unwrong address unwilling, reluctant disagreement, disharmony absent condemned, detestable

ahm meaning common

ahmqrbhr place for public audience, ahmfmh∆hr attorney, ahmqhyn import Sanskrit and Bangla prefixes Traditionally, Sanskrit prefixes are permissable only on pure Sanskrit roots. As the living language develops and changes, however, purity is not its main concern and Sanskrit prefixes are, in fact, attached to non-roots as well as to Bangla words. I have therefore, in the list below, given examples of reasonably common words with both Sanskrit and Bangla prefixes together. There is a fair bit of overlap between the two. The indications of semantic impact in this section are taken mainly from the Samsad dictionary and are often inadequate.

a, an, anh (Bangla) negating (there are a great number of these)

akUj unspeakable, akhrN unnecessary, akhl inauspicious time, agnj countless, acl stationary, afcun unconscious, afcnh unknown, azhnh unknown, aqVr not far, anÇr illiterate, anyQkhr absence of claim, an™ endless, anhqr neglect, slight, anhbéy§ drought, anhwhs easiness, aynbhxò inevitable, aynwm disorder, aynyŸcu uncertain, anvpyñu absent, anjhw wrongdoing, apyrycu unfamiliar, apyrNu immature, apyrbyuòu unchanged, a—fwhzn unnecessary, a—≥u unprepared, aBhb lack, amr immortal, asJ dishonest, as®b impossible, ashmj inequality, asvybQh disadvantage, ayñr restless ayu (Sanskrit) meaning: too

ayuœm transgression, ayuchlhk extra clever, ayubhR overgrowth, ayubéy§ excessive rain, ayumhn vanity, ayuyr∆ excessive, ayuSw excessive, aujhchr oppression, aujhQvynk up-to-date

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3 Morphological features

ayQ (Sanskrit) meaning: over

ayQkhLS most, ayQkhr right, claim, ayQfÇp rebuke, ayQnhwk chief, leader, ayQbXò leap-year, ayQbhsY native, ayQfbSn meeting, ayQ©Thn living, dwelling, existence, aQjhpk professor anv (Sanskrit) semantic impact: after, expansion

anvkrN imitation, anvœm sequence, anvgîM preference, partiality, anv“h order, command, anvuhp repentance, anvqhr narrow-minded, anvpyñu absent, anvbhq translation, anvBb perception, feeling, anvmyu permission, anvfmhqn consent, anvfxhg censure, reproof, anvrhg devotion, love, anvfrhQ request, anvylyp copy, anvsíhn research, anvsrN pursuit, imitation ap (Sanskrit) meaning mis-, off, away

apkmò misdeed, apkhr harm, injury, apcw waste, loss, apchr corruption, ap—fwhg misappropriation, apbjw misuse, wastage, apBîLS corrupt language, apmhn insult, apxS ill repute, apMrN theft, misappropriation but apr∑p incomparably beautiful ab (Sanskrit) implies down, inferior

abkhS leisure, abÇw decadence, ruin, abgvN absence of virtue, abGhu fatal blow, abfÉCq separation, detachment, abuhr incarnation, avatar, abqhn achievement, abnu downfallen, depressed, abfbhQ special knowledge, abfrhQ obstruction, hindrance, ablôb support, prop, absr leisure, respite, abshn termination, abñh situation, abfMlh neglect ayB (Sanskrit) implies excess

ayB“uh experience, ayBQhn dictionary, ayB—hw desire, intention, ayBBb disgrace, ayBmhn hurt pride, vanity, ayBmvK approach, direction, ayBfxhg complaint, ayBShp curse, ayBshr secret tryst ah can be a Sanskrit or a Bangla prefix which implies: non-, starting from

ahlhp introduction, ahMhr food, ahbhr again, ahchr pickle, ahcrN behaviour, ahgmn arrival, ahghmY next, ahœmN attack, ahgî∞M interest, ahGht blow, shock, ahkhS sky, ahylÃn embrace, ahfmhq amusement, ahs∆ attracted, ahpy≠ objection, ahfbqn prayer, ahBhX preface, ahbéy≠ recital ahn (Bangla) negating 70

ahnmfn absentminded, ahnhyR inexpert, ahnchn anxious, restless, ahnkh unfamiliar

\J, \q (Sanskrit) implies: above, excessive, beyond, contrary

\JshM encouragement, \f≠znh excitement, \Jpê grown, produced, \Jpy≠ origin, \qhMrN example, \Øhm incontrollable, \Àb origin, \fØSj purpose, \Àhbk inventor, \f#g worry, concern, \fqjhg effort, \Échrn pronunciation

Prefixes and suffixes

\p (Sanskrit) implies: over, under, sub-

\pnhm nickname, \pgî∞M satellite, \pBhXh dialect, \pyñu in place, present, \pfzlh district, \psgò symptom, prefix, \pShKh sub-branch, \pshgr bay, gulf, \pchxò vice-chancellor or good \pfqS advice, \pkhr favour, \pxv∆ suitable, \pSm relief, \pmh likeness, similarity

q, qvr (Sanskrit) meaning bad Note that this prefix is quite distinct from the noun qVr distance (with a qYGò |).

qvyŸc™h worry, qvqòSh adversity, misery, qvBòhgj bad luck, qvfxòhg hard times, qvnòhm bad reputation, qvGòtnh accident, qvnòYyu corruption yn, ynr

yn can be either a Sanskrit or a Bangla prefix, usually with a negating effect

ynyŸcu certain, ynrÇr illiterate, ynK£u v perfect, ynrUò nonsense, ynrhSî∞w homeless, ynylòú aloof, ynrhSh despondency, ynfqòhX innocent, ynQòhrN decision, ynrhpq safety, ynBòw fearless, ynAsLSw sure, ynqSòn example, ynSuò unconditional, ynBòr dependence, ynmòm hardhearted, cruel, ynfXQ forbidden, ynrhymX vegetarian, ynrßphw destitute, helpless, ynzòn lonely, solitary, ynNòw discernment Both these prefixes qv and yn are also found with A (bishorgo) qvA and ynA. The bishorgo is still in place in words like qvAK regret and ynASáhs breath.

prh (Sanskrit) meaning other

prhzw defeat, prhMu defeated, prhQYn subject, dependent, prhmSò advice, counsel, prhœm strength, power, prhbuò exchange, return pyr (Sanskrit) implies: thoroughness, excessiveness, opposition

pyrmhp measurement, pyrmhN amount, pyrfbS environment, pyrMhs joke, ridicule, pyrSî∞m hard work, pyrfShQ revenge, pyrphln administration, pyrbMN transport, pyr©khr clean, pyrbuòn change — (Sanskrit) meaning: abundance, excess, intensity, inception

—Bhb influence, —khS revelation, —SLsh praise, —fbhQ consolation, —yœwh procedure, —kéyu nature, —cl current, —gyu progress, —k¶p hypothesis, —khr kind, sort, —Nw love, —uhrNh fraud, deception

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3 Morphological features

—yu (Sanskrit) meaning: against, every, substituting

—yurÇh defence, —yufrhQ prevention, —yufbyS neighbour, —yuyœwh reaction, —yuyqn daily, —yufShQ retaliation, —yubhq protest, —yumh icon, image, —yu©Th foundation, establishment, —yuynyQ deputy, —yu#~# rivalry, —yufxhyguh competition

yb can be either a Sanskrit or a Bangla prefix with the effect of: anti, opposite, mis- or intensifier

ybnhS destruction, ybk¶p alternative, ybyœwh chemical reaction, ybyÇú scattered, ybchr judgement, ybukò debate, ybpÇ opponent, ybprYu opposite, ybpq danger, ybyBê various, ybKjhu famous, ybBîh™ confused, ybzw victory, ybPl fruitless, ybkéu perverted, corrupted, ybkhS display, ybcylu agitated, ybyc« various s, sL, sm can be either a Sanskrit or a Bangla prefix meaning together, with

sLfÇp abbreviation, sLKjh number, sÃYu music, sLgîhm struggle, sL“h consciousness, sLbhq news, sLxm temperance, sLfxhg junction, sLlhp dialogue, sLSw doubt, suspicion, sLfShQn correction, sLsq parliament, sLshr world, sLãkhr purification, sLãkéu Sanskrit, sLñh organisation, smul plain, level, sômhn respect, smUòn support, smhflhcnh review, sôpy≠ property, sôpVNò complete, s®b possible, sômhn respect, syTk exact, sfcun sentient sv meaning good, can be either a Sanskrit or a Bangla prefix

svfxhg opportunity, svybQh advantage, svbvyº good sense, svlB cheap, svybchr good judgement, svgí aroma, svSYl well-behaved, svãp§ explicit, svñ well, healthy, svPl good result, svynwm good management, svsmw favourable time

Suffixes It is not easy to separate suffixes from postpositions, adjectival attachments or from independent nouns. Suffixes which change nouns into adjectives or adjectives into nouns are given in the following two sections. Here, then, are just a few suffixes which have not been listed elsewhere in the book. noun suffixes

owhlh is a noun ending indicating a particular job, task or designation:

72

bhyRowhlh landlord, yrkShowhlh rickshaw driver, `bybowhlh babytaxi-driver, `Pyrowhlh ferry-owner, Pvlowhlh flower-seller, mslhowhlh seller of spices, thkhowhlh jokingly: rich man

This suffix is very productive and can be added to just about anything in order to characterise particular people.

Verbal patterns

k ok or ik for people:

chlk driver, `sbk carer, `lKk writer, ySÇk teacher, aQjhpk professor, ybchrk judge, nhwk actor, kéXk farmer, xhzk priest, sôphqk editor, —chrk preacher, mhylk owner, shLbhyqk journalist, ahyQkhyrk officer, sMhwk assistant, rÇk protector, \Jphqk creator i or I people and professions. The spelling of these words fluctuates between i and I.

yS¶pY artist, ymyã« carpenter, bhbvycò cook, qyzò tailor, mhyl gardener, mhyZ boatman nouns and adjectives:

khr abstract nouns and adjectives:

ayQkhr right, claim, qrkhr need, pvrãkhr prize, ahyb©khr invention, alLkhr ornament, \pkhr favour, —khr type, kind, aMLkhr pride, aíkhr darkness, cmJkhr excellent, pyr©khr clean, ycJkhr shout, nmãkhr greeting, ynybòkhr unperturbed adjectives:

znk generating:

ybp°nk dangerous, Çwznk erosive, ahfmhqznk delightful, ahn~qznk delightful, qvAKznk distressing, `bqnhznk painful kr assigning a quality:

…hñjkr healthy, Çyukr harmful, Çmhpr forgiving, k§kr troublesome MYn meaning without:

mhwhMYn devoid of compassion, ahShMYn without hope, ÇmhMYn unforgiving, kmòMYn without work, unemployed, uvlnhMYn incomparable, —hNMYn lifeless 3.4

Verbal patterns

Bangla has the following types of verbs:

(1) Simple verbs All verbs with a monosyllabic stem and a verbal noun ending in a are counted as simple verbs.

krh do, Mowh be, Uhkh stay, `qowh give, xhowh go, ahsh come, `Shnh hear, clh move, `lKh write, blh speak are examples of simple verbs.

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3 Morphological features

(2) Extended verbs Extended verbs have a two-syllable stem ending in a and a verbal noun ending in `nh no. Many extended verbs are derived from nouns or adjectives. Here are just a few. Extended verbs are discussed in Ch. 16.

Gvmhfnh khmRhfnh CRhfnh uhkhfnh q£hRhfnh `qHRhfnh shmlhfnh uhRhfnh

sleep bite scatter, sprinkle look at, gaze stand run manage chase away

> > > > > > > >

Gvm khmR CR uhk q£hR `qHR shmhl uhRh

sleep bite bunch, cluster target, aim standing run, spurt act of restraining hurry

(3) Causative verbs Causative verbs are derived from simple verbs. They follow the same pattern as extended verbs, i.e. they have an additional syllable and the verbal noun ends in `nh no. They change the meaning of the simple verb from do to cause to do, as in

`SKh learn – `bhZh understand – zhnh know –

`SKhfnh cause to learn = teach `bhZhfnh cause to understand = explain zhnhfnh cause to know = inform

Morphologically, causative verbs are a subgroup of extended verbs. Causative verbs are dealt with in Ch. 17.

(4) Conjunct verbs Common simple verbs like krh do, khth cut, mhrh hit, Khowh consume, `qowh give, `nowh take, combine with nouns and adjectives to form new meanings. These verbs are called conjunct verbs. Conjunct verbs expand the range of verbal expression in Bangla considerably and are useful for new word creations, particularly with foreign words:

i-`ml krh to e-mail yrfkhdò krh to record enzw krh to enjoy 74

Conjunct verbs are discussed in Ch. 18.

Verbal patterns

(5) Verb sets Apart from the systematic extension from simple to causative verbs, we find groups of verbs which are morphologically linked.

gRh glh zálh nRh pRh mrh srh

build melt burn move fall die move

ghRh ghlh záhlh nhRh phRh mhrh shrh

gRhfnh glhfnh zálhfnh nRhfnh pRhfnh —

srhfnh

—

ghlhfnh záhlhfnh nhRhfnh phRhfnh mhrhfnh shrhfnh

The actual uses of some of these verbs are very specific.

gRh - ghRh - gRhfnh gRh transitive verb: build, establish ynfzr Mhfu gRh sLshr the family that I have built up myself ghRh transitive verb, only special uses: K£vyt ghRh drive a pole into the ground and M£htv ghRh kneel down uvym M£htv `gfR bs/ Kneel down. gRhfnh roll, pour ektv zl gyRfw qho/ Pour some water. o phynfu gyRfw s£huhr khtl/ He was rolling about in the water. glh - ghlh - glhfnh - ghlhfnh glh intransitive verb melt: ybnfw gfl xhowh glhw in a voice melted in deference ghlh transitive verb, only specific uses: `PhRh ghlh squeeze a pimple Bhfur `Pn ghlh take the scum off the rice glhfnh causative of glh: ahym `mhm gylfw yqyÉC/ I am melting the wax. ghlhfnh is used only in the sense of ghlhghyl abuse zálh - záhlh - zálhfnh - záhlhfnh zálh intransitive verb be kindled: \nvfn ahgvn zálfC/ The fire is burning in the oven. záhlh and záhlhfnh are used alternatively to one another: ahym bhyu záhyl and ahym bhyu záhlhi/ I light the lamp. zálhfnh is not in common use.

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3 Morphological features

nRh - nhRh - nRhfnh - nhRhfnh nRh intransitive verb stir, move: `Cflyt nRfC nh `kn? Why is the boy not moving? nhRh is an active verb move, shift, influence ektv eyqk-oyqk Mfl klkhyTyt nhRfu phrfb/ With some manoeuvering she might be able to pull some strings.

uhi ei bjhphrth ahr nhRhchRh nh krhi Bhl/ So it is better not to stir this matter any further.

ybXwyt ahmhfqr Kvb nhRh yqfÉC/ The subject concerns us deeply.

nRhfnh is not in common use. nhRhfnh is the causative of nhRh urkhyrth nhRhfu Mfb/ The curry needs to be stirred. `lhkyt ahflhcnhth nhRhfÉC bft. The man is certainly stirring up the discussion.

pRh - phRh - pRhfnh - phRhfnh pRh intransitive verb fall: uvym pRfb nh `uh? You won’t fall, will you? phRh is commonly used with ydm phRh lay an egg and ghl phRh shout abuse, M£hk phRh shout at uhfqr bív M£hk `pfR bfl \Tl Their friend suddenly shouted . . . mvrygth kwth ydm `pfRfC? How many eggs has the chicken laid? pRhfnh causative of pRh cause to fall: `s ahmhfk pyRfwfC/ He made me fall. phRhfnh is commonly used with Gvm sleep: `s bhÉchfk Gvm phRhfÉC/ She is making the baby go to sleep. mrh - mhrh - mhrhfnh

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mrh intransitive verb die: ahmrh sbhi mrb/ We will all die. mhrh transitive verb hit: ahym uhfk mhyryn/ I didn’t hit him. with `Plh kill uhfk `mfr `Plfb nh/ Don’t kill him! verbal adjective compound: mhrh xhowh and mhrh pRh die qvzfn mhrh `gfC/ Both of them have died. conjunct verbs such as Cvt mhrh run off, dvb mhrh dive, Bhu mhrh gobble, chl mhrh show off mhrhfnh is only used in swear words.

srh - shrh - srhfnh - shrhfnh srh intransitive verb move over, move out of the way: uvym ektv srfu phr? Can you move over a bit? srhfnh causative of srh: `cwhrgvflh syrfw `qb/ I will move the chairs. shrh transitive verb finish, hide uhRhuhyR Khowh `sfr ynl/ He finished his meal quickly. shrhfnh causative of shrh: cure, repair uhr bhbh ytyB shrhw/ His father repairs televisions. yk≤ SrYrth `uh shrhfnh qrkhr/ But the body needs to be healed.

Adjective derivations

(5) Verbs derived from onomatopoeia In many cases only the perfective participle of these verbs is in regular use. Here are just a few:

tltlhfnh stagger, waver, ZkZkhfnh sparkle, glisten, Ztpthfnh flap, Zlmlhfnh sparkle, glitter, uRbRhfnh hurry excessively, ynSypShfnh itching to do something, yptypthfnh twitch, flicker yPsyPshfnh whisper, Mkckhfnh be nonplussed, be taken aback, MnMnhfnh walk fast

3.5

Adjective derivations

When adjectives are derived from nouns or verbs they usually have distinctive endings. Here are some English examples:

-y: cloud – cloudy, thirst – thirsty, taste – tasty, itch – itchy -ive: expense – expensive, manipulate – manipulative, attract – attractive -ing: charm – charming, spark – sparkling, excite – exciting A list of derived adjectives is given on pp. 78–81 to show the patterns in Bangla. Here is an example of how many ways an adjective can be formed from the same noun:

Sîºh respect: SîºhSYl, Sîºhlv, Sîºhyôbu, Sîºhbhn all: faithful, respectful, Sîfºw reverend, venerable

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3 Morphological features

ik adjectives derived from nouns, often with vowel change: i < E, \ < O, a < ah

∏qynk mhysk ah™yrk mhnysk Opnjhysk noun EyuMhysk ahÅylk ShrYyrk …hBhybk shúhyMk —hkéyuk `lHykk

from from from from from from from from from from from from

daily monthly heart-felt, cordial mental novelist historical, historian regional physical ordinary, natural weekly natural human, earthly

day month heart, inside mind novel history area body characteristic week nature person

yqn mhs a™r mn \pnjhs iyuMhs aÅl SrYr …Bhb súhM —kéyu `lhk

si, mw adjectives attribute a particular characteristic

zlmw zvusi `tksi lhgsi rMsjmw `säMmw Chwhmw

waterlogged advantageous durable fitting, appropriate humorous loving, tender shady

qwhmw iyÃumw ãméyumw kmòmw mhwhmw iyÃumw pbòumw

kind, compassionate full of hints full of memories work-related sympathetic suggestive hilly

from a ah noun to e e adjective: they look like perfective participles from nouns

ekfGfw `kfl `sfkfl phRhfg£fw bhrfmfs `rhzfgfr sbòfnfS nhtvfk

boring blackish old-fashioned rural perpetual earning ruinous theatrical

from from from from from from from from

ek Gh khl `s khl phRhg£h bhrmhs `rhzghr sbònhS nhtk

one beat (on a drum) black that time countryside twelve months income ruin drama

o adjectives with vowel change a – e, o – u. Tagore notes that some of these adjectives have a pejorative flavour.

`mfZh `kfzh afkfzh 78

middle from active, efficient from disabled, unservicable from

mhZ khz khz

middle work work

`Bfuh `kfTh `g£fwh `C£fqh (kUh) `q£fuh (Mhys) `Gfmh (SrYr)

rice-eating wooden rural, uneducated meaningless (talk) toothy (smile) sweaty (body)

from from from from from from

Bhu khT g£h C£hq q£hu Ghm

rice wood village shape, form tooth sweat

Adjective derivations

i adjectives

Bhyr mhnY qhym \pkhrY qrkhrY anvbuòY anvxhwY aprhQY

heavy respected expensive helpful necessary obedient following guilty

from from from from from from from from

Bhr mhn qhm \pkhr qrkhr anvbuòn anvxhu (adj) aprhQ

weight honour price favour need pursuit subsidiary, subordinate crime, offence

ito, to (and variations) adjectives – some of these are old passive participle forms

ahny~qu zYybu ynwymu ySyÇu ycy™u ynyqò§ \pxv∆ pyrycu ybbhyMu cylu \∆ `qhyXu

delighted alive regular educated worried fixed suitable familiar married current, colloquial uttered defective, faulty

from from from from from from from from from from from from

ahn~q zYbn ynwm ySÇh yc™h ynfqòS `xhg pyrcw ybbhM cln \y∆ `qhX

joy life rule education thought, worry indication, appointment connection acquaintance marriage motion fashion, style utterance defect, fault

-nto from nouns and verbs – some of these are adverbs

aPvr™ \T™ \R™ k†h™ Çh™ cl™

unending, endless rising, growing flying, fluttering tired desisted, stopped moving, going

from from from from from from

Pvrhfnh oTh \Rh k†m ÇN clh

finish, run out rise, get up fly weariness, fatigue moment move, go 79

3 Morphological features

Yw iyo, eyo, NYw niyo These forms suggest a potential. Compare aprhyzu undefeated, aprhfzw unconquerable

ajkXòNYw zlYw mhnnYw \ÉchrNYw sLsqYw zhuYw ahqrnYw ahSîwnYw —fwhznYw aBhbnYw

from from from from from from from from from from

ahkxòN zl mhn \ÉchrN sLsq zhyu ahqr ahSîw —fwhzn Bhb

attraction water honour, respect pronunciation parliament race, nation caress, cordiality shelter need thought

forgiving painstaking tolerant affectionate respectful

from from from from from

Çmh Sîm sMn `säM Sîºh

forgiveness labour patience, endurance love, affection respect

magnanimous respectful precious visible wise, intelligent shaky leisurely decaying, waning progressive, continuous abandoned

from from from from from from from from from from

M∑qw Sîºh mVlj qéSj bvyº kôp œm Çw Gth vb ujhg

heart respect value sight, spectacle wisdom tremor order, series waste, loss happen, occur desertion, abandoning

from from from from from from from from

yz“hsh qwh Sîºh u~qîh ypphsh …hq `zhr z£hk

question mercy respect drowsiness thirst taste strength, force pomp, éclat

attractive waterlogged respected utterable parliamentary national worthy of affection worthy of being adopted necessary unthinkable

SYl adds a quality

ÇmhSYl Sî∞mSYl sMnSYl `säMSYl SîºhSYl bhn, mhn, mhN

M∑qwbhn Sîºhbhn mVljbhn qéSjmhn bvyºmhn kôpmhn œmmhN ÇYwmhN Gtmhn ujzjmhn

u \, lu lv, lo `lh adjectives

80

yz“hsv qwhlv Sîºhlv u~qîhlv ypphsv …hqv `zhrhflh z£hkhflh

questioning kind, charitable respectful drowsy thirsty tasty, delicious forceful pompous, showy

uk \k adjectives

lhzvk iÉCvk `ptvk \Jsvk

shy desiring, willing greedy eager, enthusiastic

from from from from

l°h iÉCh `pt \JshM

embarrassment wish, will stomach enthusiasm

good, beneficial uncomfortable difficult, hard good, beneficial beneficial to health selfish

from from from from from from

kljhN a…yñ k§ yMu …hñj …hUò

benefit, welfare discomfort trouble, difficulty benefit, well-being health self-interest

Adjective derivations

kr, pr

kljhNkr a…yÄkr k§kr yMukr …hñjkr …hUòpr

gu obtained, held

ayQgu anvgu zYbngu bjhkrNgu u≠águ a™gòu yUoyrgu

attained, obtained obedient related to life grammatical well-grounded, sound enclosed in theoretical

informed, aware basic, fundamental customary, practical related to language etymological, derivative inherent, inveterate this suggests that gu is productive

abgu mVlgu bjbMhrgu BhXhgu bvjJpy≠gu m°hgu

MYn is a suffix meaning without, devoid of and can be added to a great many abstract nouns. Here are just a few.

ahShMYn ÇmuhMYn ÇmhMYn “hnMYn QnMYn QmòMYn nYyuMYn BybXJMYn

hopeless powerless unforgiving clueless poor blasphemous unscrupulous without prospects

And here is a sentence from Praphullo Ray to show their use:

`nh mjhns ljh~d yTkhnhMYn mhnvfXr yTkhnh, `xKhfn Qmò, bNò plkMYn SvQv plkMYn uhykfw yCl/ no man’s land address-MYn person-GEN address where-REL religion race unblinking only unblinking look-PP [was]-H No man’s land is the address of people without an address, where religion and race are just looking on indifferently.

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3 Morphological features

3.6

Noun derivations

Just as adjectives can be derived from nouns, so nouns can be derived from adjectives. Sometimes we find three-step derivations from concrete noun to adjective to abstract noun: zt knot, zytl complex, zytluh complexity. The following is an impression of noun derivations in Bangla.2 ta nouns from adjectives

aS†Yl \Éc ek kyTn `khml Çm gBYr cÅl zytl url qÇ ynrhpq bhÄb bjÄ ySyUl `Sî©T sJ srl shQv svñ …hQYn

obscene high one difficult soft able deep moving complex liquid expert safe real busy loose best honest honest pious healthy independent

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