lingvo.wikisort.org - Language

Eastern Bengali[1] is a nonstandard dialect cluster of Bengali spoken in most of Bangladesh and Tripura, thus covering majority of the land of Bengal and surrounding areas.

Eastern Bengali
Vaṅga
Native to	Bangladesh India
Region	Bangladesh Barisal Division, Chittagong Division, Dhaka Division, Khulna Division, Sylhet Division India Tripura, Barak Valley
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Eastern Zone Bengali-Assamese Bengali Eastern Bengali
Writing system	Bengali alphabet Latin-Roman (Banglish) Sylhet Nagari (historical) Perso-Arabic (historical) Portuguese (historical)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	vang1242  Vanga

Names

It is also known as Baṅgālī (Bengali: বঙ্গালী, romanized: bôṅgalī),[2] Pūrvavaṅgīẏa (Bengali: পূর্ববঙ্গীয়, romanized: pūrbôbôṅgīẏô),[3] Prācya (Bengali: প্রাচ্য, romanized: prachyô),[4] Vaṅga (Bengali: বঙ্গ, romanized: bôṅgô),[5] or Vaṅgīẏa (Bengali: বঙ্গীয়, romanized: bôṅgīẏô). Chatterji often cited a more generalised variant of Eastern Bengali which he dubbed Typical East Bengali for the sake of broader comparison with other varieties of Bengali.[6] Eastern Bengali is often colloquially referred to by the exonym Bangal Bhasha (Bengali: বাঙাল ভাষা, romanized: bangal bhasha) in West Bengal due to its association with Bangals. It may also be referred to by names such as Khaisi-Gesi Bangla (Bengali: খাইছি-গেছি বাংলা, romanized: khaisi-gesi baṅla, lit. 'I've eaten-I've gone Bengali'), emphasising the divergence of Eastern Bengali varieties from the standard language in terms of grammar by use of the example phrases "I have eaten" (খেয়েছি kheẏechhi in Standard Bengali but খাইছি khaisi in Typical East Bengali) and "I have gone" (গিয়েছি giẏechhi in Standard Bengali but গেছি gesi in Typical East Bengali). A similar name, Khaitesi-Zaitesi Bangla (Bengali: খাইতেছি-যাইতেছি বাংলা, romanized: khaitesi-zaitesi baṅla, lit. 'I'm eating-I'm going Bengali'), instead juxtaposes the examples of "I am eating" (খাচ্ছি khacchhi in Standard Bengali but খাইতেছি khaitesi in Typical East Bengali) and "I am going" (যাচ্ছি jacchhi in Standard Bengali but যাইতেছি zaitesi in Typical East Bengali).

Geographical distribution

Suniti Kumar Chatterji, describing the cluster as "Vaṅga Dialects", further divided it into two groups of two: "Western and Southwestern Vaṅga" and "Eastern and Southeastern Vaṅga". Eastern Vaṅga is spoken across the modern Bangladeshi division of Sylhet and the Greater Comilla region of Chittagong along with the Barak Valley Division of Assam and the state of Tripura in India. Southeastern Vaṅga is spoken in the remaining area of the Chittagong division, corresponding to the former colonial territories of Noakhali District and Chittagong District, and historically extended further into Sittwe.[7] Western Vaṅga is spoken across the Bangladeshi divisions of Mymensingh, Dhaka, and Barisal. Southwestern Vaṅga is spoken across the Khulna Division, where Eastern Bengali transitions into Central Standard Bengali.[8]

Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah divided all Bengali dialects into two groups: Prācya (Bengali: প্রাচ্য, romanized: prachyô, lit. 'eastern') and Pāścātya (Bengali: পাশ্চাত্য, romanized: pashchatyô, lit. 'western').[9] Within his Prācya grouping, he created the divisions of "Southeastern" and "Extreme Eastern", which approximately correspond to Chatterji's "Western and Southwestern Vaṅga" and "Eastern and Southeastern Vaṅga", respectively. The Southeastern group is spoken across the modern Bangladeshi divisions of Mymensingh, Dhaka, Barisal, and Khulna, as well as the Greater Noakhali region of the Chittagong division and eastern parts of the 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.[10] The Extreme Eastern group is spoken across the Bangladeshi divisions Sylhet and Chittagong, including Greater Comilla and excluding Greater Noakhali, as well as the Barak Valley division of Assam.[11]

Gopal Haldar, in his study of Eastern Bengali, divided all East Bengali dialects into four groups. Group I or "Central East Bengali" spans the modern Bangladeshi divisions of Mymensingh, Dhaka, Faridpur, and Barisal, as well as the district of Chandpur in Chittagong Division.[12] The de facto Standard East Bengali spoken around the Bikrampur region is a member of this group, comparable to Chatterji's "Typical East Bengali".[13] Group II or "Central North East Bengali" is spoken in eastern areas of the Mymensingh and Dhaka divisions, the western half of the Sylhet Division, as well as the Brahmanbaria District of the Chittagong Division.[14] Group III or "North East Bengali" is spoken in the eastern half of the Sylhet Division as well as the bordering Barak Valley division of Assam, India.[15] Group IV or "South East Bengali" is spoken in the Chittagong Division, notably excluding the Greater Comilla region.[16] The Comilla District and Tripura state of India, the Bengalis in the latter chiefly being migrants from the former, sit at the confluence of all the major groupings and thus the speech of this region shares features with all the major groups classified by Haldar.[17] Transitionary East Bengali is spoken in the Khulna division as well as Western Greater Faridpur i.e. Rajbari District, which shares features with both Standard Bengali and Eastern Bengali dialects.[18]

Phonology

Eastern Bengali is characterised by a considerably smaller phoneme inventory when compared with Standard Bengali.

Metathesis

Eastern Bengali notably preserves metathesis (Bengali: অপিনিহিতি, romanized: ôpinihiti) from an earlier stage of Bengali.[19] Thus, the equivalent of Sādhu Bhāṣā করিয়া (ISO-15919: kariẏā) 'having done' in Typical East Bengali is [koi̯ɾä], having gone through the medial phase of *[kɔi̯ɾiä]; by comparison, the Standard Bengali equivalent is [kore], as the standard language has undergone the additional phonological processes of syncope and umlaut, unlike most Eastern Bengali dialects.[20] Similar occurrences of metathesis occur in the case of consonant conjuncts containing ‍্য jôphôla, due to the fact that it had, in earlier Bengali, also represented the addition of the semivowel [i̯] at the end of a conjunct containing it in addition to its current standard usage of simply geminating the previous consonant in the conjunct.[21] সত্য (ISO-15919: satya, 'truth'), for example, pronounced [ʃɔt̪ːi̯ɔ] in earlier Bengali, is pronounced [ʃoi̯t̪ːo] in Eastern Bengali and [ʃot̪ːo] in Standard Bengali. Metathesis also occurs in the case of consonant conjuncts which were once pronounced with [i̯] as a component even if they do not contain ‍্য jôphôla itself, such as ক্ষ (ISO-15919: kṣa), whose value in earlier Bengali was [kːʰi̯].[22] Hence রাক্ষস (ISO-15919: rākṣasa, 'rakshasa'), with the earlier Bengali pronunciation of [räkːʰi̯ɔʃ], is pronounced [räi̯kːʰɔʃ] or [räi̯kːɔ́ʃ] in Eastern Bengali and [räkːʰoʃ] in Standard Bengali. Such is also the case for the conjunct জ্ঞ (ISO-15919: jña), which had the value of [gːĩ̯] in earlier Bengali.[23] Hence, আজ্ঞা (ISO-15919: ājñā, 'order'), with the earlier Bengali pronunciation of [ägːĩ̯ä], has the Typical East Bengali pronunciation of [äi̯gːä] and the Standard Bengali [ägːä̃]. There is also a tendency to hypercorrect, leading to the frequent diphthongisation of vowels with [i̯] if they precede any consonant cluster, even when there is no etymological basis to do so. For example, ব্রাহ্ম (ISO-15919: brāhma, 'Brahmo') has the Standard Bengali pronunciation of [bɾämɦo], or, more commonly, [bɾämːo], but may be pronounced [bɾäi̯mːo] in Eastern Bengali as if it were spelt ব্রাম্য (ISO-15919: brāmya).[24][25]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	(e)		(o)
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		ä

• The vowels [e] and [o] in the standard language are frequently raised to [ɛ] and [u], respectively.[26][27][28] For example, দেশ (ISO-15919: dēśa) 'country' and দোষ (ISO-15919: dōṣa) 'blame' are respectively pronounced [d̪eʃ] and [d̪oʃ] in Standard Bengali and [d̪ɛʃ] and [d̪uʃ] in Typical East Bengali. The vowel [e] is still often retained as an allophone of [ɛ] that occurs when in the presence of a close vowel such as [i] or [u].[29]
• Although Standard Bengali features distinct nasalised forms of each of its vowels, nasalisation is absent in most dialects of Eastern Bengali with the notable exception of Southeastern Vaṅga.[30]

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palato-alveolar	Retroflex	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m		n			ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t̪	t			k
	voiced	b	d̪	d			ɡ
Affricate	voiceless			t͡s	(t͡ʃ)
	voiced			(d͡z)	(d͡ʒ)
Fricative	voiceless	ɸ		s	ʃ		x	(h)
	voiced	(β)		z				ɦ
Approximant		(w)		l	(j)
Rhotic				ɾ		(ɽ)

• Like Standard Bengali, Eastern Bengali lacks true retroflexes.[31][32] However it further fronts the apical postalveolar plosives of the standard language to apico-alveolar.
• Most Eastern Bengali dialects have a tendency to voice the intervocalic unvoiced apical postalveolar stops of Standard Bengali. For example, মাটি (ISO-15919: māṭi, 'soil') is pronounced [mät̠i] in Standard Bengali but [mädi] in Eastern Bengali.[33] However, this does not occur in geminates,[34] so টাট্টি (ISO-15919: ṭāṭṭi, 'latrine') remains relatively unchanged across varieties, being [t̠ät̠ːi] in Standard Bengali and [tätːi] in Eastern Bengali.
• The voiced retroflex flap of Standard Bengali is usually merged with [ɾ] in Eastern Bengali, such that the two phonemes become indistinguishable and allophonic to most speakers.[35]
• Dialects of Eastern Bengali tend to spirantise the Standard Bengali palato-alveolar affricates [t͡ʃ], [t͡ʃʰ], and [d͡ʒ ~ d͡ʒʱ] into [t͡s], [s], and [z], respectively.[36] For example, চোর (ISO-15919: cōra, 'thief'), ছয় (ISO-15919: chaẏa, 'six'), and জাড় (ISO-15919: jāṛa, 'cold') are respectively pronounced [t͡ʃoɾ], [t͡ʃʰɔe̯], and [d͡ʒäɽ] in Standard Bengali but [t͡suɾ], [sɔe̯], and [zäɾ] in Typical East Bengali. [t͡s] in tends to merge with [s] as the areas of Eastern and Southeastern Vaṅga are approached, such that চা (ISO-15919: cā, 'tea'), pronounced [tʃä] in Standard Bengali, is pronounced [tsä] in farther western varieties and [sä] in farther eastern varieties of Eastern Bengali.[37] [d͡z] is an allophone of [z] that more frequently occurs in Southwestern Vaṅga. [t͡ʃ] and [d͡ʒ] occur respectively as allophones of [t͡s ~ s] and [z] in geminates and consonant clusters,[38] e.g. বাচ্চা (ISO-15919: bāccā, 'child') /bät͡sːä ~ bäsːä/ [bäi̯t͡ʃːä], ইঞ্চি (ISO-15919: iñci, 'inch') /int͡si ~ insi/ [int͡ʃi], ইজ্জৎ (ISO-15919: ijjat, 'honour') /izːɔt̪/ [id͡ʒːɔt̪].
• The voiceless labial and velar plosives are often spirantised, such that [p] often becomes [ɸ] and [k] often becomes [x] or [ɦ], the latter transformation chiefly occurring intervocalically.[39][40] Hence পাকা (ISO-15919: pākā, 'ripe'), pronounced [päkä] in Standard Bengali, may variably be pronounced [päɦä], [ɸäɦä], or [ɸäxä] in Eastern Bengali dialects.[41] [k] is often deleted entirely instead of simply being spirantised, especially when in proximity of [i]. For example, বিকাল (ISO-15919: bikāla, 'afternoon'), pronounced [bikäl] in Standard Bengali, is frequently pronounced [biäl] in Eastern Bengali.[42]
• When followed by a rounded vowel, [ɸ] and [ɦ] are treated as allophones in most dialects of Eastern Bengali. For example, কাঁকই (ISO-15919: kām̐kai, 'comb') [käɦɔi̯] may often be pronounced [käɸɔi̯] and ফকীর (ISO-15919: phakīra, 'beggar') [ɸɔɦiɾ] may often be pronounced [ɦɔɦiɾ].[43] This merger is expanded upon in the Noakhali dialect, where all word-initial [ɸ] (and, by extension, [p]) are pronounced [ɦ], e.g. পাগল (ISO-15919: pāgala) 'madman' [pägɔl] → [ɸägɔl] → [ɦägɔl],[44] and by some speakers of the Mymensingh and Comilla dialects, who pronounce all [ɸ] as [ɦ], e.g. ঢুপি (ISO-15919: ḍhupi) [d̠ʱupi] → [dúɸi] → [dúɦi] 'dove'.
• Standard [ʃ] has a tendency to debuccalise to [ɦ] in word-initial position, e.g. শালা (ISO-15919: śālā) [ʃälä] → [ɦälä] 'brother-in-law', be deleted entirely in word-medial position, e.g. উশাস (ISO-15919: uśāsa) [uʃäʃ] → [uäʃ] 'breath', and be either retained or deleted in word-final position, e.g. মানুষ (ISO-15919: mānuṣa) [mänuʃ] → [mänuʃ ~ mänu] 'people'.[45]

Tone

The aspiration and breathy voice present in Standard Bengali is notably mostly if not entirely absent in Eastern Bengali. The West Bengali linguists Chatterji and Sen described the deaspirated voiced consonants present in Eastern Bengali as being implosive consonants,[46] such that the Standard Bengali phonemes /bʱ/, /d̪ʱ/, /ɖʱ/, /dʒʱ/, and /ɡʱ/ would respectively correspond to /ɓ/, /ɗ̪/, /ᶑ/, /ɗʒ/, and /ɠ/ in Eastern Bengali. However, Animesh K. Pal, a native speaker of Eastern Bengali from Narayanganj, disputed this claim, instead describing the deaspiration as leading to the development of tones.[47][48]

Word	ISO 15919	Standard Bengali IPA	Eastern Bengali IPA	Tone	Meaning
গাঁও	gām̐ō	[gä̃o̯]	[gäo̯]	level	village
ঘাও	ghāō	[gʱäo̯]	[gä́o̯]	high	wound
গড়	gaṛa	[gɔɽ]	[gɔɾ]	level	ditch
ঘর	ghara	[gʱɔɾ]	[gɔ́ɾ]	high	room
গোড়া	gōṛā	[goɽä]	[guɾä]	level	ditch
ঘোড়া	ghōṛā	[gʱoɽä]	[gúɾä]	high	horse
জ্বর	jvara	[d͡ʒɔɾ]	[zɔɾ]	level	fever
ঝড়	jhaṛa	[d͡ʒʱɔɽ]	[zɔ́ɾ]	high	storm
জাল	jāla	[d͡ʒäl]	[zäl]	level	net
ঝাল	jhāla	[d͡ʒʱäl]	[zä́l]	high	hot
জামা	jāmā	[d͡ʒäma]	[zäma]	level	shirt
ঝামা	jhāmā	[d͡ʒʱäma]	[zä́ma]	high	vitrified brick
জীর	jīra	[d͡ʒiɾ]	[ziɾ]	level	earthworm
ঝির	jhira	[d͡ʒʱiɾ]	[zíɾ]	high	of maidservant
ডাক	ḍāka	[d̠äk]	[däk]	level	do call
ঢাক	ḍhāka	[d̠ʱäk]	[dä́k]	high	dhak
ডাকা	ḍākā	[d̠äkä]	[däɦä]	level	to call
ঢাকা	ḍhākā	[d̠ʱäkä]	[dä́ɦä]	high	Dhaka
ডোল	ḍōla	[d̠ol]	[dul]	level	container of paddy
ঢোল	ḍhōla	[d̠ʱol]	[dúl]	high	dhol
ডিম, ডিমা	ḍima, ḍimā	[d̠im], [d̠imä]	[dim], [dimä]	level	egg
ঢিমা	ḍhimā	[d̠ʱimä]	[dímä]	high	slow
ডোলা	ḍōlā	[d̠olä]	[dulä]	level	container of fish made from bamboo shavings
ঢোলা	ḍhōlā	[d̠ʱolä]	[dúlä]	high	bending from side to side
দর	dara	[d̪ɔɾ]	[d̪ɔɾ]	level	price
ধর	dhara	[d̪ʱɔɾ]	[d̪ɔ́ɾ]	high	do catch
দান	dāna	[d̪än]	[d̪än]	level	donation
ধান	dhāna	[d̪ʱän]	[d̪ä́n]	high	paddy
দোয়া	dōẏā	[d̪oä]	[d̪uä]	level	to milk
ধোয়া	dhōẏā	[d̪ʱoä]	[d̪úä]	high	to wash
দুল	dula	[d̪ul]	[d̪ul]	level	a kind of earring
ধুলা	dhula	[d̪ʱulä]	[d̪úlä]	high	dust
বাত	bāta	[bät̪]	[bät̪]	level	rheumatism
ভাত	bhāta	[bʱät̪]	[bä́t̪]	high	boiled rice
বালা	bālā	[bälä]	[bälä]	level	bangle
ভালা	bhālā	[bʱälä]	[bä́lä]	high	good
বাপ	bāpa	[bäp]	[bäp ~ bäɸ]	level	father
ভাপ	bhāpa	[bʱäp]	[bä́p ~ bä́ɸ]	high	steam

These tones are not limited to voiced aspirates, but are also present as compensation for the aspiration of consonants that were voiceless aspirates in Standard Bengali. Tone continues to exist in words even if they are not part of a near-identical pair that requires it for the sake of contrast.

Word	ISO 15919	Standard Bengali IPA	Eastern Bengali IPA	Tone	Meaning
বাচা মাছ	bācā mācha	[bät͡ʃä mät͡ʃʰ]	[bät͡sä mäs ~ bäsä mäs]	level	Eutropiichthys vacha
বাছা মাছ	bāchā mācha	[bät͡ʃʰä mät͡ʃʰ]	[bäsä́ mäs]	high	selected fish
চাও	cāō	[t͡ʃäo̯]	[t͡säo̯ ~ säo̯]	level	you want
ছাও	chāō	[t͡ʃʰäo̯]	[sä́o̯]	high	young ones of the animals
কাঁচের	kām̐cēra	[kä̃t͡ʃeɾ]	[kät͡sɛɾ ~ käsɛɾ]	level	of glass
কাছের	kāchēra	[kät͡ʃʰeɾ]	[käsɛ́ɾ]	high	of near
চিঁড়া	cim̐ṛā	[t͡ʃĩɽä]	[t͡siɾä ~ siɾä]	level	chira
ছিঁড়া	chim̐ṛā	[t͡ʃʰĩɽä]	[síɾä]	high	torn
কুটা	kuṭā	[kut̠ä]	[kudä]	level	to cut in pieces
কোঠা	kōṭhā	[kot̠ʰä]	[kudä́]	high	room
কাঁটা	kām̐ṭā	[kä̃t̠ä]	[kädä]	level	thorn
কাঠা	kāṭhā	[kät̠ʰä]	[kädä́]	high	katha
উডা	uḍā	[udä]	[udä]	level	front step
উঠা	uṭhā	[ut̠ʰä]	[udä́]	high	do lift up

Furthermore, the [ɦ] of Standard Bengali is most often deleted in Eastern Bengali dialects. This h-dropping has also been said to result in tone.

Word	ISO 15919	Standard Bengali IPA	Eastern Bengali IPA	Tone	Meaning
আতা	ātā	[ät̪ä]	[ät̪ä]	level	sugar apple
হাতা	hātā	[ɦät̪ä]	[ä́t̪ä]	high	sleeve, ladle
আছে	āchē	[ät͡ʃʰe]	[äsɛ́]	level	is
হাঁচে	hām̐cē	[ɦä̃t͡ʃe]	[ä́t͡sɛ ~ ä́sɛ]	high	sneezes
আঠা	āṭhā	[ät̠ʰä]	[ädä́]	level	glue
হাঁটা	hām̐ṭā	[ɦä̃t̠ä]	[ä́dä]	high	to walk
আড়াই	āṛāi	[äɽäi̯]	[äɾäi̯]	level	two and a half
হারাই	hārāi	[ɦäɾäi̯]	[ä́ɾäi̯]	high	I lose

Comparison

Dialect	A man had two sons.	IPA
Sādhu Bhāṣā	কোন এক ব্যক্তির দুটি পুত্ত্র ছিল kono êk bektir duṭi putrô chhilô	[kono æk bekt̪iɾ d̪uʈi put̪ɾo t͡ʃʰilo]
Southwestern Vaṅga
Bagerhat	অ্যাক্ জোন মান্শির দুই ছওাল ছিলো êk zon manshir dui sôwal silo	[ɛk zon mänʃiɾ d̪ui̯ sɔäl silo]
Jessore	এক জোনের দুট ছল ছিল êk zoner duṭô sôl silô	[ɛk zonɛɾ d̪uto sɔl silo]
Western Vaṅga
Manikganj	য়্য়্য়ক জনের্ দুইডী ছাওয়াল্ আছিলো êk zôner duid̹i sawal asilo	[ɛk zɔnɛɾ d̪ui̯di säo̯äl äsilo]
Mymensingh	এক জনের দুই পুৎ আছিল্ êk zôner dui ṗut asil	[ɛk zɔnɛɾ d̪ui̯ put̪ äsil], [ɛk zɔnɛɾ d̪ui̯ ɸut̪ äsil]
Barisal	এক জন মান্ষের দুগ্‌গা পোলা আছিল êk zôn mansher dugga pola asilô	[ɛk zɔn mänʃɛɾ d̪ugːä polä äsilo], [ɛk zɔn mänʃɛɾ d̪ugːä ɸolä äsilo]
Sandwip	এক শক্‌সের দুই বেটা আছিল êk shôksher dui bêṭa asilô	[ɛk ʃɔkʃɛɾ d̪ui̯ bɛtä äsilo]
Eastern Vaṅga
Sylhet	কোন মানুষর দুই পুয়া আছিল্ küno manushôr dui ṗua asil	[kuno mänuʃɔɾ d̪ui̯ ɸuä äsil]
Cachar	একজন মানুষর দুগুয়া পুয়া আছিল êkzôn manushôr dugua ṗua asil	[e̞xzɔn mänuʃɔɾ d̪ugu̯ä ɸuä äsil]
Comilla	এক বেডার দুই পুৎ আচিল্ êk bêd̹ar dui ṗut asil	[ɛk bɛdäɾ d̪ui̯ ɸut̯ äsil]
Southeastern Vaṅga
Chittagong	উগ্গা মাইন্‌শর দুয়া ফোয়া আছিল্ ugga mainshor dua füa asil	[ugga mäi̯nʃɔɾ d̪uä ɸuä äsil]
Hatiya	একজন মাইন্‌সের দুগা হোলা আছিল্ êkzôn mainsher duga hola asil	[ɛkzɔn mäi̯nʃɛɾ d̪ugä ɦolä äsil]
Chhagalnaiya	একজনের দুই হোলা আছিল্ êkzôner dui hola asil	[ɛkzɔnɛɾ d̪ui̯ ɦolä äsil]
Lakshmipur	একজনের দুই হুত্ আছিল্ êkzôner dui hut asil	[ɛkzɔnɛɾ d̪ui̯ ɦut̪ äsil]

References

Bibliography

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