Central Bengali[1] or RÄášhÄĢ/RÄá¸hÄĢ Bengali (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist., bn) is a group of dialects of the Bengali language, spoken in the West-Central part of Bengal, in and around the Bhagirathi River basin of Nadia district[2] and other districts of the Presidency division in West Bengal, as well as the undivided Kushtia district region of western Bangladesh. Associated with the upper Delta and eastern Rarh region of Bengal, it forms the basis of the standard variety of Bengali.[3][4][5][6][7]
Geographical boundaries[edit | edit source]
This dialect is prevalent in Central Bengal specifically in the West Bengal districts of Kolkata, Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly, Ghatal and Tamluk in Midnapore, Murshidabad and Purba Bardhaman. It is also spoken natively in the Chuadanga, Kushtia and Meherpur districts of Bangladesh, which were a part of the Nadia district prior to the 1947 Partition of India. Along with Eastern Bengali dialects, Modern Standard Bengali has been formed on the basis of this dialect.
Features[edit | edit source]
Phonology[edit | edit source]
- Extensive use of Obhishruti (āĻ āĻāĻŋāĻļā§āĻ°ā§āĻ¤āĻŋ, /obĘąisrutĖĒi/, umlaut). E.g. Beng. Koriya (āĻāĻ°āĻŋāĻ¯āĻŧāĻž, /koria/, meaning - having done) > Beng. Koira (āĻāĻāĻ°âā§āĻ¯āĻž, /koirya/) > Beng. Kore (āĻāĻ°ā§, /kore/).[8]
- The change of āĻ to āĻ, when āĻ is the first sound of a word where the āĻ is followed by āĻ(āĻŋ), āĻ(ā§), āĻā§āĻˇ or āĻ¯. E.g. Ati (written āĻ āĻ¤āĻŋ, means 'excess') is pronounced as Oti (āĻāĻ¤āĻŋ, /otĖĒi/).
- Use of vowel harmony. E.g. Bilati (āĻŦāĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻ¤āĻŋ, /bilatĖĒi/, meaning - foreign) became Biliti (āĻŦāĻŋāĻ˛āĻŋāĻ¤āĻŋ, /bilitĖĒi/).[9]
- Most of the time, if the first sound of a word is 'n', it becomes 'l' and if it is 'l', it becomes 'n'. E.g. newa (āĻ¨ā§āĻāĻ¯āĻŧāĻž, /nÄwa/) became lewa (āĻ˛ā§āĻāĻ¯āĻŧāĻž, /lÄwa/) and lebu (āĻ˛ā§āĻŦā§, /lÄbu/, meaning - lemon) became nebu (āĻ¨ā§āĻŦā§, /nÄbu/).[10]
- The Aspirated 'chh' at the after of a word is pronounced like not aspirated 'ch'. E.g Giyechhi (āĻāĻŋāĻ¯āĻŧā§āĻāĻŋ, /giyÄchhi/, meaning - have gone) became gechi (āĻā§āĻāĻŋ, /gÄchi/).
Morphology[edit | edit source]
- The common standard Bengali plural affix 'gulô' (āĻā§āĻ˛ā§) is pronounced 'gunô' (āĻā§āĻ¨ā§) in the dialect, whereas it becomes 'gulÄ' or 'gulÄn' in eastern Bengali dialects.
- The past first person affix (i)lÄm in standard dialect becomes (i)lum, or (i)nu. E.g the word in standard dialect 'kôr(i)lÄm' (āĻāĻ°'āĻ˛āĻžāĻŽ) became kôr(i)lum (āĻāĻ°'āĻ˛ā§āĻŽ) or kôr(i)nu (āĻāĻ°'āĻ¨ā§).
- The 'go' suffix which is added to the singular genetive to form the genetive plural is also found in Rarhi dialect speaking areas but it is commonly used in Vanga dialects. E.g ÄmÄ-gô (our), tômÄ-gô (your).[9]
Obhishruti and Opinihiti[edit | edit source]
Ãbhishruti (āĻ āĻāĻŋāĻļā§āĻ°ā§āĻ¤āĻŋ, /obĘąisrutĖĒi/) and Ãpinihiti (āĻ āĻĒāĻŋāĻ¨āĻŋāĻšāĻŋāĻ¤āĻŋ, /opinihitĖĒi/, epenthesis) are two phonological phenomena that occur in spoken Bengali dialects. Opinihiti refers to the phonological process in which a i or u is pronounced before it occurs in the word. Obhishruti is the sound change in which this shifted i or u becomes removed and changes the preceding vowel. Observe the example above : Koriya (āĻāĻ°āĻŋāĻ¯āĻŧāĻž, /koria/) > Koirya (āĻāĻāĻ°âā§āĻ¯āĻž, /koira/) > Kore (āĻāĻ°ā§, /kore/). First Opinihiti changes Koriya to Koirya (notice how the I changes position.), then Obhishruti changes Koirya (āĻāĻāĻ°âā§āĻ¯āĻž) to Kore (āĻāĻ°ā§).[11]
References[edit | edit source]
- â India, Linguistic Survey of (1903). Linguistic Survey of India. Office of the superintendent of government printing, India. pp. 17â19.
- â Chakrabarti, Kunal; Chakrabarti, Shubhra (2013). Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810880245. Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
- â Karan, Sudhir Kumar (2004). Thus Flows The Ganges. Mittal Publications. ISBN 9788170999232. Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
- â Calcutta, Philological Society of (1966). Bulletin of the Philological Society of Calcutta. Department of Comparative Philology, University of Calcutta. Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- â Bandyopadhyay, Anita (2001). "Problems of Phonetic Transcription in Bengali". Praci-Bhasha-Vijnan Indian Journal of Linguistics. 20: 79. OCLC 2256120. Archived from the original on 2021-06-10. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
by the word standard Bengali pronunciation we normally understand the Bengali language as is spoken in Calcutta and round about the places on the banks of the river Bhagirathi.
- â Bangladesh Quarterly. Department of Films & Publications, Government of Bangladesh. 2002. p. 6. Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
- â Calcutta, Philological Society of (1966). Bulletin. Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- â Folk-lore. Indian Publications. 1975. Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- â 9.0 9.1 SK Chatterji, The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language, Calcutta University, Calcutta, 1926
- â Shaw, Dr. Rameswar (21 February 1984). āĻ¸āĻžāĻ§āĻžāĻ°āĻŖ āĻāĻžāĻˇāĻžāĻŦāĻŋāĻā§āĻāĻžāĻ¨ āĻ āĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ˛āĻž āĻāĻžāĻˇāĻž (in Bengali). Kolkata: Pustak Bipani. p. 625. ISBN 81-85471-12-6. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- â Sunitikumar Chattopadhyay (1939) āĻāĻžāĻˇāĻž-āĻĒā§āĻ°āĻāĻžāĻļ āĻŦāĻžāĻā§āĻāĻžāĻ˛āĻž āĻŦā§āĻ¯āĻžāĻāĻ°āĻŖ, Calcutta University