Eastern Bengali or Vaṅga ( bn, বঙ্গ, bôṅgô)is a
nonstandard dialect cluster
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
of
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
spoken in most of
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
and
Tripura
Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...
, thus covering majority of the land of
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
and surrounding areas.
Names
It is also known as Baṅgālī ( bn, বঙ্গালী, bôṅgalī), Pūrvavaṅgīẏa ( bn, পূর্ববঙ্গীয়, pūrbôbôṅgīẏô), Prācya ( bn, প্রাচ্য, prachyô), Vaṅga ( bn, বঙ্গ, bôṅgô), or Vaṅgīẏa ( bn, বঙ্গীয়, 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. Eastern Bengali is often colloquially referred to by the
exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
Bangal Bhasha ( bn, বাঙাল ভাষা, bangal bhasha) in
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
due to its association with
Bangals
Bangal is a term used to refer to the people of East Bengal (usually from the areas of Mymensingh, Dhaka, Barisal and Comilla), now in Bangladesh (as opposed to the Ghotis of West Bengal). The term is used to describe Bengalis from the east, ...
. It may also be referred to by names such as Khaisi-Gesi Bangla ( bn, খাইছি-গেছি বাংলা, lit=I've eaten-I've gone Bengali, khaisi-gesi baṅla), emphasising the contrast between Eastern Bengali varieties and the standard language in terms of grammar by use of the example phrases "I have eaten" ( ''kheẏechhi'' in Standard Bengali but ''khaisi'' in Typical East Bengali) and "I have gone" ( ''giẏechhi'' in Standard Bengali but ''gesi'' in Typical East Bengali). A similar name, Khaitesi-Zaitesi Bangla ( bn, খাইতেছি-যাইতেছি বাংলা, lit=I'm eating-I'm going Bengali, khaitesi-zaitesi baṅla), instead juxtaposes the examples of "I am eating" ( ''khacchhi'' in Standard Bengali but ''khaitesi'' in Typical East Bengali) and "I am going" ( ''jacchhi'' in Standard Bengali but ''zaitesi'' in Typical East Bengali).
Geographical distribution
Suniti Kumar Chatterji
Bhashacharya Acharya Suniti Kumar Chatterjee (26 November 1890 – 29 May 1977) was an Indian linguist, educationist and litterateur. He was a recipient of the second-highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Vibhushan.
Life Childhood
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
Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay.
Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...
division of
Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...
and the
Greater Comilla region of
Chittagong
Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
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
Noakhali ( bn, নোয়াখালী, , New canal), historically known as Bhulua ( bn, ভুলুয়া), is a district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in the Chittagong Division. It was established as district in 1821, and offici ...
and
Chittagong District
Chittagong District, renamed the Chattogram District, is a district located in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chattogram Division. The port city of Chattogram, which is the second largest city in Bangladesh, is ...
, and historically extended further into
Sittwe. Western Vaṅga is spoken across the Bangladeshi divisions of
Mymensingh
Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north ...
,
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
, and
Barisal
Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal Dist ...
. Southwestern Vaṅga is spoken across the
Khulna Division, where Eastern Bengali transitions into
Central Standard Bengali.
Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah divided all Bengali dialects into two groups: Prācya ( bn, প্রাচ্য, prachyô, lit=eastern) and Pāścātya ( bn, পাশ্চাত্য, lit=western, pashchatyô). 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
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness
Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than all ...
region of the Chittagong division and eastern parts of the
24 Parganas
24 Parganas district (''cabbiś pargaṇā jēlā'') is a former district of the Indian state of West Bengal. The district was split into two districts — North 24 Parganas district and South 24 Parganas district, with effect from 1 March 1 ...
district in West Bengal. 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.
Gopal Haldar
Gopal may refer to:
* Gopal (caste), a social community of Odisha in India
* Gopal (Krishna), the infant/child form of Lord Krishna
* Gopal Bansa, ancient Kingdom in Nepal
* The Gopalas, an early Gaudiya Vaishnava institution
* Gandhian Organisati ...
, 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. The de facto Standard East Bengali spoken around the
Bikrampur region is a member of this group, comparable to Chatterji's "Typical East Bengali". 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
Brahmanbaria ( bn, ব্রাহ্মণবাড়িয়া, translit=Brahmôṇbaṛiya) is a district in eastern Bangladesh located in the Chittagong Division. Geographically, it is mostly farmland and is topographically part of the Ga ...
of the Chittagong Division. 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. Group IV or "South East Bengali" is spoken in the Chittagong Division, notably excluding the Greater Comilla region. The
Comilla District
Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, is a district of Bangladesh located about 100 kilometres south east of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to t ...
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. Transitionary East Bengali is spoken in the Khulna division as well as Western Greater Faridpur i.e.
Rajbari District
Rajbari ( bn, রাজবাড়ী) is a district in central Bangladesh, located in the Dhaka Division. It is a part of the Greater Faridpur subregion of Bengal due to the historical, linguistic and cultural identities of its inhabitants.
His ...
, which shares features with both Standard Bengali and Eastern Bengali dialects.
Phonology
Eastern Bengali is characterised by a considerably smaller phoneme inventory when compared with
Standard Bengali.
Metathesis
Eastern Bengali notably preserves
metathesis ( bn, অপিনিহিতি, ôpinihiti) from an earlier stage of Bengali. Thus, the equivalent of
Sādhu Bhāṣā
Sadhu bhasha ( bn, সাধু ভাষা, Sādhu bhāṣā, Chaste language) was a historical literary register of the Bengali language most prominently used in the 19th to 20th centuries during the Bengali Renaissance. Sadhu-bhasha was us ...
(
ISO-15919: ''kariẏā'') 'having done' in Typical East Bengali is
oi̯ɾä having gone through the medial phase of *
ɔi̯ɾiä by comparison, the Standard Bengali equivalent is
ore
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April 2 ...
as the standard language has undergone the additional phonological processes of
syncope and
umlaut, unlike most Eastern Bengali dialects. 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
In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel, glide or semiconsonant is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as the nucleus of a syllable. Examples of semivowels in English are the ...
̯at the end of a conjunct containing it in addition to its current standard usage of simply
geminating the previous consonant in the conjunct. (
ISO-15919: ''satya'', 'truth'), for example, pronounced
ɔt̪ːi̯ɔin earlier Bengali, is pronounced
oi̯t̪ːoin Eastern Bengali and
ot̪ːoin Standard Bengali. Metathesis also occurs in the case of consonant conjuncts which were once pronounced with
̯as a component even if they do not contain ্য ''jôphôla'' itself, such as ক্ষ (
ISO-15919: ''kṣa''), whose value in earlier Bengali was
ːʰi̯ Hence (
ISO-15919: ''rākṣasa'', '
rakshasa
Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma whe ...
'), with the earlier Bengali pronunciation of
äkːʰi̯ɔʃ is pronounced
äi̯kːʰɔʃor
äi̯kːɔ́ʃin Eastern Bengali and
äkːʰoʃin Standard Bengali. Such is also the case for the conjunct জ্ঞ (
ISO-15919: ''jña''), which had the value of
ːĩ̯in earlier Bengali. Hence, (
ISO-15919: ''ājñā'', 'order'), with the earlier Bengali pronunciation of
gːĩ̯ä has the Typical East Bengali pronunciation of
i̯gːäand the Standard Bengali
gːä̃ There is also a tendency to
hypercorrect
In sociolinguistics, hypercorrection is non-standard use of language that results from the over-application of a perceived rule of language-usage prescription. A speaker or writer who produces a hypercorrection generally believes through a mis ...
, leading to the frequent
diphthongisation
In historical linguistics, vowel breaking, vowel fracture, or diphthongization is the sound change of a monophthong into a diphthong or triphthong.
Types
Vowel breaking may be unconditioned or conditioned. It may be triggered by the presence of ...
of vowels with
̯if they precede any
consonant cluster
In linguistics, a consonant cluster, consonant sequence or consonant compound, is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word ''splits''. In the education fie ...
, even when there is no etymological basis to do so. For example, (
ISO-15919: ''brāhma'', '
Brahmo') has the Standard Bengali pronunciation of
ɾämɦo or, more commonly,
ɾämːo but may be pronounced
ɾäi̯mːoin Eastern Bengali as if it were spelt (
ISO-15919: ''brāmya'').
*The vowels
and
in the standard language are frequently raised to
and
respectively. For example, (
ISO-15919: ''dēśa'') 'country' and (
ISO-15919: ''dōṣa'') 'blame' are respectively pronounced
̪eʃand
̪oʃin Standard Bengali and
̪ɛʃand
̪uʃin Typical East Bengali. The vowel
is still often retained as an
allophone
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in ''s ...
of
that occurs when in the presence of a
close vowel
A close vowel, also known as a high vowel (in U.S. terminology), is any in a class of vowel sounds used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of th ...
such as
or
* Although Standard Bengali features distinct
nasalised
In phonetics, nasalization (or nasalisation) is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by the mouth. An archetypal nasal sound is .
In the Internationa ...
forms of each of its vowels, nasalisation is absent in most dialects of Eastern Bengali with the notable exception of Southeastern Vaṅga.
*Like Standard Bengali, Eastern Bengali lacks true
retroflexes. However it further fronts the
apical postalveolar
Postalveolar or post-alveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the ''back'' of the alveolar ridge. Articulation is farther back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but no ...
plosives of the standard language to
apico-alveolar
An apical consonant is a phone (speech sound) produced by obstructing the air passage with the tip of the tongue (apex) in conjunction with upper articulators from lips to postalveolar, and possibly prepalatal. It contrasts with laminal conso ...
.
*Most Eastern Bengali dialects have a tendency to voice the intervocalic unvoiced apical postalveolar stops of Standard Bengali. For example, (
ISO-15919: ''māṭi'', 'soil') is pronounced
ät̠iin Standard Bengali but
ädiin Eastern Bengali. However, this does not occur in geminates, so (
ISO-15919: ''ṭāṭṭi'', 'latrine') remains relatively unchanged across varieties, being
̠ät̠ːiin Standard Bengali and
ätːiin Eastern Bengali.
* The voiced retroflex flap of Standard Bengali is usually merged with
in Eastern Bengali, such that the two phonemes become indistinguishable and allophonic to most speakers.
* Dialects of Eastern Bengali tend to
spirantise the Standard Bengali palato-alveolar affricates
͡ʃ ͡ʃʰ and
͡ʒ ~ d͡ʒʱinto
͡s and
respectively. For example, (
ISO-15919: ''cōra'', 'thief'), (
ISO-15919: ''chaẏa'', 'six'), and (
ISO-15919: ''jāṛa'', 'cold') are respectively pronounced
͡ʃoɾ ͡ʃʰɔe̯ and
͡ʒäɽin Standard Bengali but
͡suɾ ɔe̯ and
äɾin Typical East Bengali.
͡sin tends to merge with
as the areas of Eastern and Southeastern Vaṅga are approached, such that (
ISO-15919: ''cā'', 'tea'), pronounced
ʃäin Standard Bengali, is pronounced
säin farther western varieties and
äin farther eastern varieties of Eastern Bengali.
͡zis an allophone of
that more frequently occurs in Southwestern Vaṅga.
͡ʃand
͡ʒoccur respectively as allophones of
͡s ~ sand
in geminates and
consonant clusters
In linguistics, a consonant cluster, consonant sequence or consonant compound, is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word ''splits''. In the education fie ...
, e.g. (
ISO-15919: ''bāccā'', 'child') /bät͡sːä ~ bäsːä/
äi̯t͡ʃːä (
ISO-15919: ''iñci'', 'inch') /int͡si ~ insi/
nt͡ʃi (
ISO-15919: ''ijjat'', 'honour') /izːɔt̪/
d͡ʒːɔt̪
*The voiceless labial and velar plosives are often spirantised, such that
often becomes
and
often becomes
or
the latter transformation chiefly occurring
intervocalically. Hence (
ISO-15919: ''pākā'', 'ripe'), pronounced
äkäin Standard Bengali, may variably be pronounced
äɦä äɦä or
äxäin Eastern Bengali dialects.
is often deleted entirely instead of simply being spirantised, especially when in proximity of
For example, (
ISO-15919: ''bikāla'', 'afternoon'), pronounced
ikälin Standard Bengali, is frequently pronounced
iälin Eastern Bengali.
*When followed by a
rounded vowel
In phonetics, vowel roundedness is the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. It is labialization of a vowel. When a ''rounded'' vowel is pronounced, the lips form a circular opening, and ''unrounded'' vowels are pron ...
,
and
are treated as allophones in most dialects of Eastern Bengali. For example, (
ISO-15919: ''kām̐kai'', 'comb')
äɦɔi̯may often be pronounced
äɸɔi̯and (
ISO-15919: ''phakīra'', 'beggar')
ɔɦiɾmay often be pronounced
ɔɦiɾ This
merger
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
is expanded upon in the Noakhali dialect, where all word-initial
(and, by extension,
are pronounced
e.g. (
ISO-15919: ''pāgala'') 'madman'
ägɔl→
ägɔl→
ägɔl and by some speakers of the Mymensingh and Comilla dialects, who pronounce all
as
e.g. (
ISO-15919: ''ḍhupi'')
̠ʱupi→
úɸi→
úɦi'dove'.
* Standard
has a tendency to debuccalise to
in word-initial position, e.g. (
ISO-15919: ''śālā'')
älä→
älä'brother-in-law', be deleted entirely in word-medial position, e.g. (
ISO-15919: ''uśāsa'')
ʃäʃ→
äʃ'breath', and be either retained or deleted in word-final position, e.g. (
ISO-15919: ''mānuṣa'')
änuʃ→
änuʃ ~ mänu'people'.
Tone
The aspiration and
breathy voice
Breathy voice (also called murmured voice, whispery voice, soughing and susurration) is a phonation in which the vocal folds vibrate, as they do in normal (modal) voicing, but are adjusted to let more air escape which produces a sighing-like ...
present in Standard Bengali is notably mostly if not entirely absent in Eastern Bengali. The
West Bengali linguists Chatterji and
Sen
Sen may refer to:
Surname
* Sen (surname), a Bengali surname
* Şen, a Turkish surname
* A variant of the Serer patronym Sène
Currency subunit
* Etymologically related to the English word ''cent''; a hundredth of the following currencies:
** ...
described the deaspirated voiced consonants present in Eastern Bengali as being
implosive consonants
Implosive consonants are a group of stop consonants (and possibly also some affricates) with a mixed glottalic ingressive and pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism.''Phonetics for communication disorders.'' Martin J. Ball and Nicole Müller. Rou ...
, such that the Standard Bengali phonemes /bʱ/, /d̪ʱ/, /ɖʱ/, /dʒʱ/, and /ɡʱ/ would respectively correspond to //, //, //, /
ɗʒ/, and // in Eastern Bengali. However, Animesh K. Pal, a native speaker of Eastern Bengali from
Narayanganj
Narayanganj ( bn, নারায়ণগঞ্জ ''Naraeongônj'') is a city in central Bangladesh. It is in the Narayanganj District, about southeast of the capital city of Dhaka, and has a population of about 2 million. It is the 6th larges ...
, disputed this claim, instead describing the deaspiration as leading to the development of
tones.
[: "Glottalization is often connected with tone and in the East Bengali cases seem to be related to the evolution of tone from the voiced aspirates."]
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.
Furthermore, the
of Standard Bengali is most often deleted in Eastern Bengali dialects. This
h-dropping
''H''-dropping or aitch-dropping is the deletion of the voiceless glottal fricative or "''H''-sound", . The phenomenon is common in many dialects of English, and is also found in certain other languages, either as a purely historical developmen ...
has also been said to result in tone.
Comparison
References
Bibliography
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{{Bengali language
Eastern Indo-Aryan languages
Bengali dialects
Languages of West Bengal
Languages of Bangladesh
Languages of Tripura