Linguistic Survey Of India Vol V Part I Indo Aryan Family Eastern Group

BENGALI.

jaye ek-gayS jayS pahuchali S8th§ dlkhli 38 bahut 16k
m-rotd going to-a-mllage g<mg wived. There wc-sau that mny people
jama haye nach gan karehhS. Ta ami basi basi frku
collected being dancing nwging we-doing. Then I sittmg sitting a-tittle
dekhi sethe-hate ami apanar kaj karte ar ek-ta g!-ke geli,
hamg-seen there-from 1 my-own 5«$w»fl» to-do other a tillage-fa went.
Sethe kaj-ta kari, tar adin ghar-ke ghurS

Tliere the-hmess having-donet of-tbat-(day) next-day home-to returning

all,
Learns. _«__——__

The next two specimens come from the west of the Burdwaa District. They are
excellent examples of the language spoken in that tract, and in the Districts of Birbhum
and Bankura and in the South and East of the Sonthal Parganas. Considerable care has
evidently been taken in recording peculiarities of the local pronunciation.

The principal peculiarity is the tendency shown to disaspirate aspirated letters.
Thus we have madde for madtee, among; ute, for &,/%<», having arisen; kdche for
Mehhe, near; ttrwlde for Uruddhe, in opposition; dtkti for dekhtte, to see; timuke for
sammukJi'e; karichi, I have done; sigglr for sighra, quickly; katd for kathd, a word; badn
for landhut a friend, Note also forms like aagger for s'argvr, of heaven; which
illustrates the common tendency amongst all Bengali speakers to drop an r at the com-
mencement of a compound letter, and to double the other member of the compound in
compensation, The word $el$ for pdile is the frank adoption of the ordinary pro-
nunciation, The forms of the negative auxiliary are instructive, They are net', 1 am
not;wii, thouaitnot. They are also used like the standard mi, to represent a past
negative with the present tense, ami churi kariwi, I did not commit theft; tumi ddo mi,
thou didst not give. This is quite different from Standard Bengali, in which flaior
noM is the negative auxiliary, while ndi gives a past negative sense to a present
tense.

In the second specimen, we have the old first person singular of the past,

The first specimen is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The second is a portion of
the statement of a person accused of theft. Both are transcribed in the Eoman charac-
ter, and represent the pronunciation according to Standard Bengali principles of spelling.
The rules for the pronunciation of Standard Bengali must, therefore, be applied when
reading them.