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

[No. 17.]
INDO-ARYAN FAMILY. (EASTERN GROUP.)
BENGALI OE BANGA-BHASHA.
WESTBEN DIALECT. (WEST °* BTOBWAH DISTEICT,)
Ami Barddaman rel lokomotib api& chaprasi-giri chakuri
I Burdwan rail locomotive in-office chapra*i*hood service
kari. A] rat andaji char-ter samay rel-garir Janali Mahammad-ke
do. This'day night about four in-time rail-cart's Janali Mohammad
tar basa Baje Pratappur theke dakte 'jachchinu. Basta
his lodging Saje Pratappur from to-call Lwas-going. Soad
bhule ek-tu be& uttur dige giyechinu* Tar par phir&giy§ gali-rastay
mfomg little more north ride Lhad-gone. Afterwards returning in-lane
Rahaman-ke dakte ]aba eman-samay chor char bale ama-ke dharSche.
Sahman to-call going at~this-time thief thiqf shouting me caught.
Ami sander par theke rat oharte parfanta api^e chhinu.
I evening after since night four till in-office was.
Taha Gharbaran 5 Hari Bagdi cbaprasi jane* Ami churi
This Qharbaran and Sari Bagdi Chaprdsi know. I theft
kari net Ami jani-na s5 kena amar name eman michhe
committed have-not. I do-not-know he why my in-name such false
apabad dichohe.
blame is-giving.___________
A variety of this western dialect of Bengali is spoken by the Sarawak Manjhis, a
well-to-do cultivating and trading caste of Jains, who live in the Tamar and Ehunti
Thanas, in the extreme South-East of the Ranch! District, where it is called Khotta
Bangala* Sarawak!, or Saraki. The difference between it and Western Bengali is so
slight that it is not worthy of the title of a separate dialect The following translation
of the Parable of the Prodigal Son is in this dialect*
Note the typical Western Bengali preference of o for a in words like dauloter* of
wealth; morchhu* 1 die; koebi> a harlot. As usual, there is a tendency to elide an unac-
cented *. Thus, khdtek, he used to eat; hate, to be; jdte, to go; nijdlek, he went; palek,
he got; and many others. As usual, also, a medial h is liable to elision. Thus, kaittb,
he said; railek, he was ; ra$te> remaining. There is a tendency for i to become i, as in
the wor&pechhu, after.
In the declension of nouns, the nominative plural termination rd is carried through
the oblique cases, so that we have as accusatives plural ohakar-r&-ke$ servants; mtdn-
ra*H friends; and as a genitive plural, kd$bi-ra-der, of harlots.
In regard to pronouns note the singular mu%> I; and the form hamw&* we, borrowed
from the ham*ra$ we, of Bihari which is the main language of EanchL