A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PHONOLOGICAL AND CHITTAGONIAN DIALECT SPOKEN IN

Amit Barua

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Linguistics)

Graduate School Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University C.E. 2020

A Comparative Study of Phonological Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect Spoken in Bangladesh

Amit Barua

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Linguistics)

Graduate School Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University C.E. 2020

(Copyright by Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University)

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Thesis Title : A Comparative Study of Phonological Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect Spoken in Bangladesh Researcher : Amit Barua Degree : Master of Arts (Linguistics) Thesis Supervisory Committee : Assoc. Prof. Nilratana Klinchan, B.A. (English), M.A. (Politics) : Dr. Narongchai Pintrymool, B.A. (English), M.A. (Linguistics), Ph.D. (Linguistics) Date of Graduation : May 29, 2021 Abstract The purpose of this research is to explore the comparative study of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect Phonology. The objectives of the study are classified into three parts as the following; 1) To study Vowels of both Bengali Language and Chittagorian Dialect, 2) To study Consonants of both Bengali Language and Dialect and 3) To compare vowels and consonants of Bengali Language and Chittagorian Dialect. Research design in this study was qualitative and documentary research. Population was six key informants and study vowels and consonants about different sounds of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect. Research tools was used by interview from interviewers, research works, books, thesis, documentary article about Bengali and Chittagonian Phonology etc. Data collection was the comparative study of phonological Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect collected from in Bengali, English books such as books, academic books, Bengali Dictionary, format (Bengali and Chittagonian, English and Bengali), thesis, documentary article, library and online research and interview. Data analysis of this study was classification and comparison of vowels and consonants of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect. The results of the research found as follows: The study of comparative Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect Phonology. The research investigation divided into two types, Bengali Language Vowels ii and Chittagonian Dialect Vowels, Bengali Language Consonants and Chittagonian Dialect Consonants. Bengali is the official language of Bangladesh but Chittagonian Dialect does not have official recognition. In Chittagonian Dialect vowels and consonants are similar with Bengali Language. [ i̯ ], [ u̯ ], [ e̯ ] and [ o̯ ] are four types of Semi Vowels in Bengali Language, but all of these Bengali Semi Vowels are not available in Chittagonian Dialect but some of the words from those semi vowels are used in Chittagonian Dialect. In Bengali Language phonology [ s ], [ ś ], [ s̥ ] in (occurs also in germination) occurs initially as the first member in combination with [ c ], [ ch ], [ k ], [ m ], [ n ], [ p ], [ ph ], [ t̥ ], [ t̥h ], [ kr ], [ pr ], [ t̥r ]. These combinations are available only in Bengali Language, but Chittagonian dialect are borrowed some words from Bengali Language. In voiced glottal [ ɦ ] occurs always in combination with other sound. [ ɦ ] sound is not available in Chittagonian Dialect. The purpose of showing comparison between Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect discovered in similarity and dissimilarity respectively.

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Acknowledgement

As the researcher, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude and sincere thanks to those who have contributed to my progress over the past years. This study would have never been completed without the support and encouragement of the many people involved. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and greatest appreciation to Asst. Prof. Dr. Veerakarn Kanokkamalade, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ruengdej Pankhuenkhat, Dr. Sakchai Posai for their valuable advice and guidance in various ways to do this thesis. I am heartily thankful to my supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Nilratana Klinchan and Dr. Narongchai Pintrymool whose guidance and support helped me to complete my thesis. I am deeply indebted to my supervisor for giving me their valuable time, suggestions, checking the correctness of thesis format and for supporting me throughout the wring process. I also would like to extend my gratitude and my respect for all lecturers of the Linguistics Program, the Faculty of Humanities at Mahachulalongkornrajavidalaya University who have made a lot of contributions to me including assistance and patience in the process of writing this thesis. Lastly, I am deeply appreciating my thanks to beloved family, relatives, lay devotees, dear friends and colleagues for their unfailing help, motivation, unceasing support and encouragement over the years and during the semester for the accomplishment of this study and have also shared ideas, opinions, and suggestions with me for data collection, giving suggestions, exchanging knowledge and giving some information and my responsibility.

Amit Barua May 29, 2021

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Table of Contents

Title Page Abstract i Acknowledgement iii Table of Contents iv Abbreviations and Symbols vi

Chapter I: Introduction 1 1.1 Background and Significance of the Problems 1 1.2 Scope of the Research 9 1.3 Objectives of the Research 10 1.4 Statements of the Research Question 10 1.5 Definition of the Terms Used in the Research 10 1.6 Research Methodology 11 1.7 Expected Benefits 11

Chapter II: Literature Review and Research Works Concerned 12 2.1 Phonology 12 2.2 Phonological Forms 14 2.3 Research Work Concerned 17

Chapter III: Research Methodology 50 3.1 Research Design 50 3.2 Population 51 3.3 Research Tools 51 3.4 Data Collection 53 3.5 Data Analysis 54

Chapter IV: Results 55 4.1 Kind of Phonological Forms of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect 55 v

Title Page

4.1.1 Bengali and Chittagonian Vowels and their Nasalized Counterparts 51 4.1.2 Bengali and Chittagonian Consonants 65

Chapter V: Conclusion, Discussion and Suggestion 91 5.1 Conclusion 91 5.2 Discussion 94 5.3 Suggestion for Further Studies 98 Bibliography 99 Appendix 103 Biography of Researcher 121

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Abbreviations and Symbols

SB = Sadhu Bhasha CB = Calito Bhasha BEN = Bengali Language CTG = Chittagonian Dialect IPA = International Phonetic Association etc. = Et Cetera ( ) = Optional / / = Phonemic Transcription ! = Exclamation Mark - = Dash or Hyphen . = Period Full Stop : = Vowel Length (Used after a vowel) "or" = Quotation Marks ' = Comma

Chapter I

Introduction

1.1 Background and Significance of the Problems Bangladesh is a small country in with a large population. It is bordered by Myanmar to the southeast and India to the west, north and northeast. Of its total land boundary of 2,637 miles (4,246 km), about 120 miles (93 km) of boarder are shared with Myanmar and rest with India. Bangladesh also has about 360 miles (580 km) of coastline overlooking Bay of . 1 Bangladesh is the world’s eighth populated country in the world and the fifth in Asia. It is also the third Muslim populated country in Asia.2 The official language of Bangladesh is Bengali. It is an Indo-Aryan Language in South Asia. It is also official language of several northeastern states of India such as West Bengal, Tripura and Asamese. With both countries together, the number of speakers is about 200 million. Bengali Language is seventh most spoken language in the world. This language has the great renaissance history in the late 19th Century. 3 Bengali being a member of Indo- Aryan Language, it derived from the language. Despite of Bengali is an Indo- Aryan Language; it has been influenced by other languages in South Asia such as Dravidian, Austroasiatic, Tibeto- Burman. 4 Bengali Linguist grouped into four large clusters,

1 Lin Yong Jui and Whyte Mariam, Cultures of the World: Bangladesh, (Marshal Cavendish Benchmark: New York, 1997), p. 5. 2 Ray Punya Sloka, Hai Muhammed Abdul, Ray Lita, Bengali Language Handbook, (Center for Applied Linguistics: Washington DC, 1966), p. 8. 3 Datta, Asoke Kumar, Acoustics of Bangla Speech Sounds, (Springer Nature Ple Ltd: Singapore, 2018), p. 1. 4 Yong Lin Jui, Whyte Mariam, Bangladesh, (Cavendish Square LLC, 2010), p. 5. 2 namely; Rarh, Vanga, Kamarupa and Varendra. Rarh and Banga are from South- Western part; form the basis of modern standard colloquial Bengali.5 Bangla is a member of the Indo-Aryan sub-group of the Indo-European . Scholars agree that Bangla, along with Asamiya and Oriya belongs to the Eastern, or Magadhi, branch of Indo-Aryan. The Degree of their genetic relatedness to the so called of the Indo-Aryan group Maithili, Magadhi and Bhojpuri is more controversial. Over the years scholars have alternatively grouped those latter three in the Western branch, as well as in the Eastern branch, and also as their own branch of Indo- Aryan. However to the mixed dialectical ancestry of most NIA languages, The meaning of the name “Nia” is different in several languages, countries and cultures and has more than one possibly same or different meanings available. It is a precise and detailed historical taxonomy of the Indo Aryan languages is probably not achievable.6 Indo- Aryan languages, also called Indic languages, subgroup of the Indo Iranian branch of the Indo European Language family. In the early 21st century, Indo- Aryan languages were spoken by more than 800 million people, primarily in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Srilanka. Linguists generally recognize three major divisions of Indo-Aryan languages: Old, Middle, and New (or Modern) Indo-Aryan. These divisions are primarily linguistic and are named in the order in which they initially appeared, with later divisions coexisting with rather than completely replacing earlier ones.7 Distinguished Linguistics researcher Hanne Ruth Thompson Said, Bangla is a world language. In terms of numbers of speakers it ranks fifth or sixth among

5 Chatterji, Suniti Kumar, The Origin and Development of Bengali Language, (Calcutta University Press, Calcutta, 1926), p. 35. 6 David, Anne Boyle, Descriptive Grammar of Bangla, ( University of Maryland, Maryland, 2005), p. 1. 7 Britannica, Indo-Aryan Languages, [Online], Resource: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indo-Aryan-languags [19 October 2020]. 3 the world’s languages. Bangla is the national language of Bangladesh with a population of over 150 million people. It is one of the official with about 80 million speakers in West Bengal. There are substantial Bengali communities in the USA, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. Although Bangladesh has been politically separated from West Bengal for over Sixty years, the Bangla language belongs to both Bangladesh and West Bengal equally.8 The Bengali Phonology is derived from its neighboring language Eastern Indo- Aryan Languages. It is characterized by a wide variety of diphthongs and inherent back vowels are inherited from Sanskrit Language. 9 In Bengali there are seven oral vowels, four semi vowels, and thirty consonants. The consonants are sub divided into twenty ( ten aspirated and ten unaspirated) , three nasals, three liquids and four fricatives. Bengali vowel system basically follows the structure of cardinal vowels. All seven vowels are opposed to each other according to the height of the tongue (openness) and the articulatory area. The roundness of the lips is another point of to be considered. The vowels in Bengali are generally articulated a little lower in the oral cavity than those of cardinal vowels. The main difference between the two systems is the nasalized counterparts of the vowels of Bengali. Cardinal vowel system does not represent nasalized vowels but Bengali does.10 Bangla possesses a total of 30 consonants. Twenty of thirty consonants are either plosives or . This two-third portion forms a block of regular consonants in Bangla. They can be divided into two categories of voiced and voiceless where each category can be further subdivided into unaspirated and aspirated categories. In terms of the place of articulation, that block has five different classes. They are velar, Paleto- alveolar, Retroflex, Dental and Bilabial. Each class consists of four sounds: voiceless-

8 Thompson, Hanne- Ruth, Bengali, ( Center John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 2012), p. 1. 9 Wikipedia, Bengali Phonology, [Online], Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_phonology [19 October 2020]. 10 Kar, Somdev, Syllable Structure of Bangla: An Optimality -Theoretic Approach, (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, 2010), p.13. 4 unaspirated, voiceless- aspirated, voiced- unaspirated and voiced aspirated. Other regular consonants which can be found in most languages are two fricatives, three nasals, one lateral, three flaps and one glothal.11 In Bengali Languages there are two styles of written and spoken with different vocabularies and syntax. They are known as Sadhu (Old Written Form) and Calito Language (Standard Colloquial). Shamsuzzaman Khan pointed out that Bengali includes two basic styles: the colloquial speech known as Chalito bhasa and the formal speech known as Shadhu bhasha. Differences between the two are evident primarily in terms of vocabulary and Chalito bhasa contraction of pronouns and verbs. The reason of this failure is the Bangla used by the West Bengal Hindu community in Calcutta has similarity with their Indian language and culture; so they are not inclined to accept the Bangla wholly that we use in Bangladesh. And, indeed, we also have differences in Chalito Bangla.12 Bangla exhibits important differences between the written and spoken forms of the language. Two styles of writing, involving somewhat different vocabularies and syntax, have emerged: Shadhu bhasha: is the written language with longer verb inflections and more of a Pali/Sanskrit/Totshomo-derived vocabulary. Highly literary and classic songs such as India's national anthem Jana Gana Mana and national song Vande Mataram were composed in SB. However, use of SB in modern writing is uncommon, and restricted to some official signs and documents in Bangladesh as well as for achieving particular literary effects. Cholito bhasha: known by linguists as gentle CB ( Standard Colloquial Bengali), is a written Bengali style exhibiting an abundance of colloquial idioms and shortened verb forms, and is the standard for written Bengali now. This variety of Bangla was modeled on the dialect that was spoken in the Shantipur region at Nadia

11 Ibid., p. 19. 12 Khan, Shamsuzzaman, NSU Holds Discussion on ‘Bangla Bhasha’, [Online], Resource: https://nanopdf.com/download/iml-discourse-i-nsu-holds-discussion-on_pdf# [19 October 2020]. 5 district in West Bengal. This variety of Bangla is also referred to as the Nadia standard or Shantipuri Bangla.13 While most writing is in Standard Colloquial Bengali, spoken dialects exhibit a greater variety. People in South-eastern West Bengal, including Kolkata, speak in Standard Colloquial Bengali. People in other parts of West Bengal and western Bangladesh speak in dialects that are minor variations, such as the Medinipur dialect characterized by some unique words and constructions. However, a majority in Bangladesh speak in dialects notably different from Standard Colloquial Bengali. Some dialects, particularly those of the Chittagong region, bear only a superficial resemblance to Standard Colloquial Bengali. Spoken Bengali exhibits far more variation than written Bengali. Formal spoken Bengali, including what is heard in news reports, speeches, announcements, and lectures, is modeled on Cholto bhasha. This form of spoken Bengali stands alongside other spoken dialects. The majority of are able to communicate in more than one dialect often, speakers are fluent in Cholto bhasha, and one or more forms of rural Bangla dialects specific to a village or town. Even in Standard Colloquial Bengali, Muslims and Hindu use different words. Due to cultural and religious traditions, Hindus and Muslims might use, respectively, Pali-Sanskrit derived and Perso- words14. Chittagong is the chief Indian Ocean port city in the south- east of Bangladesh. The name also refers to one of the six divisions in Bangladesh. It was formerly divided into two administrative regions, north Chittagong and south Chitttagong. From the geographical description and demographic profile, it is understood that Chittagong is an area which consists of the characters of several sub- islands and people of different cultures. The Buddhist culture of Arakan, the Muslims who migrated to Chittagong in the Mughal and Pre-Mughal, Portuguese period, etc. and

13 Forbes Duncan, A Grammar of the Bengali Language, (Crosby Lockwood and Son Press, 1801), p. 11. 14 Khan, Shamsuzzaman, NSU Holds Discussion on ‘Bangla Bhasha’, [Online], Resource: https://nanopdf.com/download/iml-discourse-i-nsu-holds-discussion-on_pdf# [19 October 2020]. 6 the European culture, invading and introducing animistic religious culture of the aborigines in the , the mixed culture of Arakan, Burmese and Chakma- Burmese culture and lastly the modern Christian culture of the British occupation had made a great impact on this area.15 Chittagonian is an Indo- Aryan language spoken by the people of Chittagong in Bangladesh. Chittagong is located in the southeast part of Bangladesh. It is closely related to Bengali and is often considered to be a nonstandard dialect of Bengali, but the two are not mutually intelligible. It is estimated that Chittagonian has 13–16 million speakers, principally in Bangladesh. Historically was used for . The Chittagonian Dialect in Bengali script is the most common script used nowadays in the country and out of the country. 16 It is the sister language of Syleti, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya and Bihari. US estimated that there are 14 million of speakers of this language. It is in top 88 among 100 languages by majority. 17 Like Bangla, most of the vocabulary of Chittagonian is derived from Sanskrit. It also included many imported words from Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, as well as, to a lesser extent, Portuguese. In addition, English words also used in spoken Chittagonian because of previous British Empire in Great India. Although Chittagorian Vocabulary is mostly Bengali, but there is the contribution of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish words to Chittagonian. Because Chittagong was a port city that was open to traders from Arabia, Persia and Turkey since ancient times, naturally absorbing their words. The language mixed up with various foreign countries. Chittagorian Grammar is almost similar to Bengali with uses of morphology. Chittagonian is a head-final language, with a subject– object– verb basic word order. Like Assamese but unlike Bengali. 18 The negative

15 Wikitravel, Chittagorian Phrasebook, [Online], Resource: http://wikitravel.org/en/Chittagonian_phrasebook [21 October 2020]. International Relations 16 Uddin, Md. Ayaj, “”, International Relations, Vol. 1 No. 1 (February 2008): 2. 17 Wikitravel, Chittagorian Phasebook, [Online], Resource: https://wikitravel.org/en/Chittagorian_Phasebook [21 October 2020]. 18 Hoque, Muhammad Azizul, “Chittagonian Variety: Dialect, Language, or Semi- Language?”, IIUC Studies, Vol. 12 No. 1813 (December 2015): 46-62. 7 particle will precede the verb in Chittagonian, where the corresponding Bangla version would have a negative particle following the verb. Chittagonian is a member of the Bengali-Assamese sub-branch of the Eastern group of Indo-Aryan languages, a branch of the wider and more gigantic Indo-European language family. Its sister languages include Sylheti, Rohingya and Bengali. Like other Bengali- Assamese languages, it is derived from Pali and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European. Chittagonian is spoken in southeastern Bangladesh throughout Chittagong Division but mainly in Chittagong District and Cox's Bazar District. Among of 13 million speakers in Bangladesh and also in countries where many Chittagonians have migrated like Burma, where call themselves Rohingya. It has no official status and is not taught at any level in schools. It is mistakenly regarded by many Bangladeshis, including most Chittagonians, to be a crude form of Bengali as all educated Chittagonians are schooled in Bengali. Spoken in: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar Region: Total Speakers: 14 Million Language Family: Indo – European, Indo – Iranian, Indo – Aryan, Bengali, Assamese Sister Languages: Sylheti, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya and Bihari and also less directly all other Indo – Aryan Languages such as . Essentially, Chittagonian has no standard form and is rather a continuum of different dialects, varying with location from north to south and by religion between Muslims (professed by most Chittagonians) and Hindus. Variation in use between Muslims and Hindus is strictly in terms of vocabulary, whereas by location, grammar is slightly varied as well as vocabulary.19 Chittagonian is only oral dialect. It does not have own written form so Chittagonian uses Bengali letters and Chittagonian vowels and consonants are almost similar as Bengali but there are minor difference in semi vowels and diphthongs.

19 Hoque, Muhammad Azizul, “Problems of Pronunciation for the Chittagonian Learners of English: A Case Study”, IIUC Studies, Vol. 12 No 6 (October 2011): 5. 8

22nd edition of Ethnologue, a database covering a majority of the world’s population with detailing approximately 7,111 living languages in existence across the world. On the list, Bengali was ranked at 7th position with 265 million native and non-native speakers, followed by Russian and Portuguese. Chittagonian ranked at 88th position with 13 million native and non- native speakers for the purposes of measurement, the researchers used the ISO 693-3 set of criteria, which accounts for related varieties and dialects; ensuring that linguistics are not the only factor considered in the count of languages.20 The main problems of Chittagonian nowadays most Chittagonian children are facing pronunciation problems to speak Chittagonian with correct tones. Not only children but some adult also can not speak properly. The reason of this problem is most of the parents think that talking in local dialect is something like not modern, not fashionable and uncultured. So parents are leaning over to teach mostly Bengali and English. But Chittagonian Dialect is a culture and linguistic resource they don’t know it. When people know well their own native language, they will be more willing to learn other languages as well. Therefore, in this research work will be the language spoken by Chittagonian people at Raozan District in Chittagong Republic of Bangladesh. Mostly all of the people in people in this district speak in Chittagonian, but when they have academic study, they study in Bengali Language because Chittagonian does not have own written form. The Chittagonian word and Bengali word are having similarly and different. So the purpose of this research is to strengthen the connection between Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect as the Chittagonian historical facets claim. Any comparative study attempts to find out the similarities and dissimilarities or regarding objects. Here the endeavor is to discover the similarities and dissimilarities of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect Phonology. Therefore, this study is an

20 Tribune, Chittagonian, Sylheti Ranked among 100 Most Spoken Languages Worldwide, [Online], Resource: https://www.dhakatribune.com/world/2020/02/17/chittagonian- sylheti-ranked-among-100-most-spoken-languages-worldwide [26 October 2020]. 9 analytical study. It will analyze the Bengali and Chittagonian phonology. Overall, through the comparisons of phonological each phoneme, vowel and consonants of the results here detail a clearer how Bengali and Chittagonian differ in respect to high frequency makers, but also highlight factors pertinent to each language’ s historical development, as well as provide a context and questions for further research. The main focus of this study includes: phoneme, vowels, consonants and tones etc. For my research criteria the former language family is more important than the later one. Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect both under the Indo-Aryan Language family. To support this notion, it is necessary to go back the past history of Bengali and Chittagonian through their ancient literatures including legendary, religious scriptures, historical poems and so on. However, this research work will be guideline significant for further study Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect. It could be very important to productively continue the study of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect their origin words and tones. Therefore, the researcher will try to examine and focus on Chittagonian Dialect spoken in Chittagong City republic of Bangladesh because this topic has never been studied by anyone before. Therefore, the researcher hopes this study will be beneficial for linguistic field and Bengali and Chittagonian as well. 1.2 Scope of the Research The scope of comparative phonological study of Bengali Language and Chittagorian Dialects are as follows: 1.2.1 Scope of Content: The contents consist of phonological expression and comparison of both Bengali Language and Chittagorian Dialect. The study will be based on Bengali Language and Chittagong Dialect including a short length origin, phonology, vowels and consonants of both Language and Dialect. Source and information will be collected from Bengali language institute, academic and non- academic source for example printed books, encyclopedias, journals and modern IT devices (e.g. CD, E-Books and internet) etc. would be scope of research.

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1.2.2 Scope of Place: The Scope of Place focuses in Dhaka, Sylet and Chittagong City in Bangladesh. 1.2.3 Scope of Population: Six informants were interviewed to give key information. 1.2.4 Scope of Time: The timing of this research study has been set from October 2020 to February 2021. 1.3 Objectives of the Research The main purposes of this study are: 1.3.1 To study vowels of both Bengali Language and Chittagorian Dialect. 1.3.2 To study consonants of both Bengali Language and Chittagong Dialect. 1.3.3 To compare vowels and consonants of Bengali Language and Chittagorian Dialect. 1.4 Statements of the Research Question 1.4.1 What are the vowels in both Language and Dialect? 1.4.2 What are the consonants in both Language and Dialect? 1.4.3 How is the analysis of phonological feature of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect? 1.5 Definition of the Terms Used in the Research 1. 5. 1 Phonology: It is the system of contrastive relationships among the speech sounds that constitute the fundamental components of a language. It is the branch of linguistics that deals with systems of sounds, within a language or between different languages. 1.5.2 Chittagong dialect: Chittagong Dialect is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the people of Chittagong in Bangladesh. 1. 5. 3 Bengali language: Bengali language, Bengali Bangla, member of the Indo-Aryan group of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family.

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1.6 Research Methodology The research will be a documentary referent research. That research will be divided into the following stages: 1.6.1 Preparation of the study: To read a lot of including books, research works, online articles and PDF etc. 1. 6. 2 Collecting materials: To collect the materials from Bengal native people and try to understand the related terms with contexts and to categorize them. 1.6.3 Analysis of the data: To analyze the data of sounds and meaning in contrastive of Bengali Language and Chittagorian Dialect. Then the analysis of the data will lead to a comprehensive understanding of term for Bengali and Chittagorian Phonology. 1.7 Expected Benefits 1.7.1 Knowing the vowels of the Bengali language and Chittagonian Dialect. 1.7.2 Knowing the consonants of the Bengali language and Chittagonian Dialect. 1.7.3 Understanding both Bengali language and Chittagonian Dialect.

Chapter II

Literature Review and Research Works Concerned

In this chapter is general information about Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect Phonology. That will be research, covering a brief review of Bengali and Chittagonian as follows 2.1. Phonology 2.2. Phonological Forms (Vowels and Consonants) 2.3 Research Work Concerned 2.1 Phonology 2.1.1 The Concept and Theory of Phonology Phonology is that branch of Linguistics which studies the sound system of languages. The sound system involves the actual pronunciation of words, which can be broken up into the smallest units of pronunciation. It is known as phoneme. Linguistics researcher Robert Kennedy says, Phonology is the study of the organization of sounds of human language. It is a subfield of linguistics concerned with understanding how languages use certain sounds and combine them to build meaningful units essentially words. Phonology begins with the observation that each language uses its own fixed set of sounds, an inventory of consonants and vowels, and that these sounds may combine into sequences in patterned ways and that is phoneme: contrastive sounds of language, they are not themselves meaningful but serve as symbols which are combinable into longer sequences, to which meaning and function are in turn associated.1

1 Kennedy Robert, Phonology: A Coursework, (Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, 2017), p. 3. 13

Linguistics researchers Daniel, Rainer and Wolfgang said, Phoneme is defined as the minimal unit of speech sound in a language that can serve to distinguish meaning. The set of phonemes in a language is considerably small, allowing to train robustly each model. Moreover, phonemes are linguistically distinctive units of sounds, allowing to reduce confusion among different models.2 Prof. Arden R. Thorum says, Phonetics is the study of the transcription of spoken human sounds into written symbols that are designated to each different sound. Phonetics is interrelated to other methods of sound analysis such as phonology and phonics. Phonology includes the analysis of the sound system as it relates to grammatical forms. For example, the ‘s’ sound is a plural maker. If an individual omits the ‘s’ of a plural word, it may indicate that there is not an understanding of the concept of plural rather that it being an articulation error of omission. In phonics, diacritic marks indicate long and short vowels and the pronunciation of other sounds, similar to markings used in dictionaries.3 2.1.2 Phonetics Vs. Phonology – the Key Differences Phonetics looks at the physical production of sounds, focusing on which vocal organs are interacting with each other and how close these vocal organs are in relation to one another. Phonetics also looks at the concept of voicing, occurring at the pair of muscles found in your box, also known as the Adam’s apple. If the vocal folds are vibrating, this creates voicing and any sound made in this way are called voiced sounds, for example ‘z’. If the vocal folds are not vibrating, this does not lead to voicing and creates a voiceless sound, for example ‘s’. Phonology however is associated more with the abstract properties of sounds, as it is about how these categories are stored in the mind. Phonetics also describes certain properties as being gradient such as voicing where we can compare the length of voicing between two sounds.4

2 Vasquez Daniel, Gruhn Rainer, Minker Wolfgang, Hierarchical Neural Network Structures for Phoneme Recognition, (Springer Nature Ple Ltd, Singapore, 2013) p. 1. 3 Thorum, Arden R. Phonetics: A Contemporary Approach, ( John and Bartlett Learning, Burlington, 2013) p. 2. 4 All About Linguistics, Phonetics, [Online], Resource: http://all-about-linguistics.group.shef.ac.uk/branches-of-linguistics/phonetics/ [16 November 2020]. 14

2.2 Phonological Forms 2.2.1 The Organs Speech The organs of speech may be classified into two categories namely, articulators and points of articulation. The articulators are mobile organs of speech and the points of the articulation are stable points in the speech tract. In the production of speech-sounds an articulator or several articulators can be raised or lowered, brought forward or backward towards a point or points of articulation to make a complete stoppage of air or to make a narrow aperture between a point or points of articulation and the articulation etc. in general the articulators are manipulated in such a way that mouth cavity through which air passes can be modified to assume several different shapes.5 For the production of Bengali speech-sounds the following parts of speech-organs are used as articulators: Lower lip, tip of the tongue, Blade of the tongue, front of the tongue, back of the tongue and the uvula.6 2.2.2 Speech-sounds Speech-sounds can be divided into two classes namely, vowels and consonants. This sort of difference of sounds is one means of marking linguistic distinctions. There are other phonetic differences- distinctive, grouped under the name of prosodic or suprasegmental features. These are stress, pitch and intonation. Besides these, juncture and nasalization can also be treated as prosodic or suprasegmental features. These features occur over stretches of segmental features, vowels and consonants. 7 2.2.3 Vowels Vowels are produced by the air-stream coming from the lungs having no obstruction in the mouth passage. The vocal cords are clearly vibrated to produce voice and soft palate is raised to close the nasal passage.

5 Hayes, Bruce, Introductory Phonology, (Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, 2009), p. 11. 6 Broderick, George, A Handbook of Late Spoken Manx: Vol 3 – Phonology, (Max Niemeyer Verlag Tubingen, Darmstadt, 1986), p. 53. 7 Hawkins, Peter, Introducing Phonology, (Routledge Library Editions, New York, 2019), p. 17. 15

Vowels are again subdivided on the basis of a) The height to which the tongue is raised in their production b) Part of the tongue raised and c) The rounding or non-rounding of the lips. According to the tongue-height, vowels may be classified as high, high-mid, low mid and low words. On the basis of the part of the tongue involved in the production of a vowel can classify the vowels into three categories namely, front vowels, central vowels and back vowels. On the basis of the rounding or non-rounding of the lips in its production a vowel may called rounded or unrounded.8 2.2.4 Consonants The Consonants are produced by the flow of air coming from the lungs, obstructed completely or partially at the various points along the way. The shape of the cavities through which the air passes may be modified by the obstruction. Consonants are classified on the basis of the two important characteristics involved in their production. These are place of articulation and manner of articulation. According to the different points where the air-stream can be checked into glottal, velar, palatal, retroflex, palato-alveolar, alveolar, post-dental, dental and bilabial. On the basis of the manner of articulation consonants are classified into voiced and voiceless sounds, stops, fricatives, affricates, nasals, aspirated and unaspirated sounds, flaps, trill, lateral and semi-vowels. If in the production of a sound the vocal cords are vibrated, the sound I called voiced. In case of the absence of vibration, a sound is called voiceless. This feature is applicable to all types of sounds.9 2.2.5 Stops Stops are produced by the complete closure of the air passage at some point of articulation and released with a sudden explosion. When a stop is accompanied by an extra puff of breath, at that time of the release of the stoppage of air in the mouth passage, the stop is called an aspirated stop.

8 Broderick, George, A Handbook of Late Spoken Manx: Vol 3 – Phonology, p. 65. 9 Ibid., p. 77. 16

2.2.6 Fricatives When the air-stream passes through a narrow opening in the mouth passage between a point of articulation and an articulator friction is caused; sounds thus produced are termed as fricative.10 2.2.7 Affricates in affricates the processes of stops and fricatives are combined. In the production of affricates, the air is obstructed as in the case of a stop but the closure is not released suddenly like a stop. The release of stoppage is relatively slow. Friction is caused while the air comes out.11 2.2.8 Nasals To produce nasal sounds we should release the air through the nose and not through the mouth passage. For this soft palate is lowered and this lowered soft palate obstructs the entry of air into mouth passage.12 2.2.9 Flaps These are formed by tapping the tongue tip; by a single vibration of the tongue-tip against the teeth-ridge.13 2.2.10 Lateral The air stream is stopped by a contact of the front part of the tongue against the teeth-ridge and is allowed to exist from one or both sides of the tongue.14

10 Hayes, Bruce, Introductory Phonology, p. 54. 11 Ibid., p. 57. 12 Hawkins, Peter, Introducing Phonology, p. 45. 13 Ibid., p. 49. 14 Broderick, George, A Handbook of Late Spoken Manx: Vol 3 – Phonology, p. 81 17

2.2.11 Trill Trill Sounds are produced by two or three taps of the tip of the tongue, being rolled against teeth-ridge.15 2.2.12 Semivowels The semivowels are produced by a rapid movement of the articulatory organs from one vowel position to another. These sounds are half consonantal in nature.16 2.3 Research Work Concerned 2.3.1 Bengali Vowels Charles A. Ferguson and Munier Chowdhury in their duet journal “The phonememes of Bengali” mentioned that, the vowels of SCB show relatively little allophonic variation and tend to stay away from extremes of vowel articulation. The fronts vowels, oral and nasal and /a, á/ are unrounded; the back vowels are rounded. The high vowels are considerably lower than the highest possible. The back rounded are not strongly rounded. All vowels are considerably longer when they constitute the single vowel of a micro segment. The values of back vowels [ u ], [ o ], [ ɔ ], [ ũ ], [ õ ], [ ɔ ̃ ] are much closer than those of the front vowels [ i ], [ e ], [ æ ], [ ĩ ], [ ẽ ], [ æ̃ ].17 2.3.2 Bengali Diphthongs Linguistics researcher Nuzhat Mizan said Diphthong is a term used in the phonetic classification of vowel sounds on the basis of their manner of articulation. It refers to a vowel where there is a single noticeable change in quality during a single syllable. According to him diphthong depends on the changing sound quality of vowel. Every vowel holds some characteristics according to lip and tongue position. In case of diphthong the tongue utters the first vowel and within a single moment the tongue

15 Ibid., p. 94. 16 Ibid., p. 94. 17 Ferguson Charles A. & Chowdhury Munier, “The Phonemes of Bengali”, A Journal of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), Vol. 36 No. 1 (March 1960): 36. 18 utters rapidly the second vowel and the former articulation is not lucid.18 2.3.3 Bengali Consonants Binoy Barman said, Bengali has 28 consonant phonemes. Consonants are classified according to the manner and place of articulation. The manner of articulation determines how the aggressive pulmonic air passes through different tracts of mouth; and the place of articulation involves where a stricture is made to modulate the air. The places are lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, palate, velum and glottis. Tongue acts as the active articulator for pronouncing most of the sounds. Front, middle and back of the tongue come close to any point of upper region of oral cavity to make a stricture. Depending of the stricture, a consonant is identified as , fricative, , nasal, lateral and .19 2.3.4 Description of Bengali Sounds Bengali Language consists of 49 Alphabets with 13 vowels and 33 consonants including 7 nasalized vowels. Front Central Back Close i, ĩ u, ũ Middle e, ẽ o, õ, ɔ, ɔ̃ (Half Close/Half Open) Open æ, æ̃ a, ã Bengali Vowels with Nasalized Counterparts 1. Bengali Vowels Bengali possesses seven vowels in pronunciation. These are viz. [ɔ], [a], [i], [ u ], [ e ], [ æ ] and [ o ]. All such Sounds are distinguished from one another and are short in length. In normal speech Bengali has lost the length of its vocalic quality in

18 Mizan Nuzhat, “Phonological Patterns in Standard Colloquial Bangla and Netrokoa Dialect”, A Dissertation of Masters of Arts in Linguistic Studies, (Graduate School: Brac University, 2014), p. 4. 19 Barman Binoy, “A Contrastive Analysis of English and Bangla Phonemics”, Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics, Vol. 2 No. 4 (August 2009): 36. 19 contrast to Hindi and some other Indo-Aryan as well as European languages. But the important point to note is that in there still remain the symbols for long [i] and long [u] sounds to follow the spelling. All vowels are capable of nasalization. Nasalisation of vowels is Made by simultaneous emission of breath through both nasal and mouth cavities. 20 The characteristics of the production of vowel sounds are the following. 1) Characteristics of [ ɔ ] (i) Height of the tongue - low-mid; (ii) Position of lips - slightly rounded; (iii) Opening between jaws - medium to wide. Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning ɔ:ba:k surprise kɔ:to: how much kɔ:m less pɔ:th way 2) [ ɔ ] in nasalisation Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning pɔ:̃ ca:śi: eighty-five pɔ:̃ cɔ:̃ n rotten pɔ:̃ ris̥ kar clean pɔ:̃ ci:ś twenty-five

20 Bhattacharya, Krishna, Bengali Phonetic Reader, ( Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, 1988), p. 10. 20

3) Characteristics of [ a ] (i) Height of the tongue - low; open; (ii) Position of lips - neutral; (iii) Opening between jaws - medium to wide. Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning a:r and a:la:da: different ka:j work sɔ:̃ ka:l morning mɔ:̃ ja: fun ga:ri: car 4) [ a ] in nasalisation Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning kã:ca: green khã:ca: cage pã:c five bã:si: flute 5) Characteristics of [ i ] (i) Height of the tongue - high, close; (ii) Position of lips - fully spread; (iii) Opening between jaws - narrow to medium. Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning i:ti: end i:ni: he/she 1 h ci :t i letter ji:bo:n life 21

6) [ i ] in nasalization Example: Bengali Word English Meaning ĩ:t brick ĩ:du:r rat śĩ:du:r vermillion pĩ:pre ant 7) Characteristics of [ u ] (i) Height of the tongue - high, close; (ii) Position of lips - fully rounded; (iii) Opening between jaws - narrow to medium. Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning u:ni: he/she gu:ni: talented tu:mi: You du:pu:r noon 8) [ u ] in nasalisation Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning ũ:ki:ma:ra: to peep h j ũ:ki: risk h p ũ: a whiff h b ũ:ri: belly

22

9) Characteristics of [ e ] (i) Height of the tongue - high-mid, half-close; (ii) Position of lips - spread; (iii) Opening between jaws - medium. Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning e:ktu: slight h k i:de: hunger nice: down h c e:le: boy/so te:l oil

10) [ e ] in nasalization Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning ẽ:ra: they ẽ:co:r green jackfruit kẽ:co: earthworm tẽ:to: bitter

23

11) Characteristics of [ æ ] (i) Height of the tongue - low-mid, half-open; (ii) Position of lips - spread; (iii) Opening between jaws - medium to wide Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning h æ:k o:n now æ:mo:n how h k æ:la: to play h dæ:k a to see bæ:la: day/time mae:la: a fair 12) [ æ ] in nasalization Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning cæ̃:ca:me:ci: shouting pæ̃:ca: owl h mæ̃:c o: who likes fish 13) Characteristic of [ o ] (i) Height of the tongue - high-mid, half-close; (ii) Position of lips - almost rounded; (iii) Opening between jaws - medium. Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning o:gu:lo: those ko:l lap h g o:ra: horse h co:k eye 24

14) [ o ] in nasalization Example: Bengali Word English Meaning gõ: obstinacy h j õ:k tendency h p õ:ta: drop/spot h b õ:ta: blunt 2. Diphthongs and Vowel Combinations The following 25 Diphthongs occur in Bengali, [ ie, ia, io, iu, ei, ea, eo, eu; æe, æo, i ai, æ, ao, au; ɔe, ɔa, ɔo, oi, oa, ui, ue, ua, uo ]. In ordinary speech of sufficient rapidity, those are falling diphthongs with the stress on the first element, if there is any stress. In slow, deliberate speech the vowels may generally be pronounced as distinct syllables; but sometimes when two vowels form separate syllables and not a diphthong, there is difference in meaning. Double vowel groups are found in Bengali, each part being pronounced separately; [ ii ], [ ee ], [ oo ].21 1) Diphthongs The following diphthongs are in use in Bengali;

h (i) ɔe̯ = /c ɔ:e̯ :/ ‘six’ /nɔ:e̯ :/ ‘nine’ /rɔ:e̯ :/ ‘remain’.

h (ii) ai̯ = /k a:i̯ :/ ‘I eat’ /ca:i̯ :/ ‘I want’. (iii) au̯ = /cha:u̯ :ni:/ ‘shade’ /la:u̯ :/ ‘pump-kin’ (iv) ɔo̯ = /nɔ:o̯ :/ ‘you are not’ /bɔ:o̯ :/ ‘you carry’ /hɔ:o̯ :/ ‘you are’.

h (v) ae̯ = /k a:e̯ :/ ‘(he/she) eats’ /ja:e̯ :/ ‘(he / she) goes’ /ha:a:e̯ :/ ‘alas’.

h (vi) ao̯ = /k a:o̯ :/ ‘you eat’ /dao/̯ ‘you give’ /pa:o̯ :/ ‘you get’. (vii) iu̯ = /bi:u̯ :li:/ ‘a kind of husked pigeon-pea’ /mi:u̯ :/ ‘mew’.

21 Dash, Niladri Sekhar, Descriptive Study of Bengali Words, (Cambridge University Press, 2015), p. 36. 25

h (viii) ui̯ = /tu:i̯ :/ ‘you (intimate)’ /du:i̯ :/ ‘two’ /d u:i̯ :/ ‘wash’. (ix) ei̯ = /e:i̯ :/ ‘this’ /ne:i̯ :/ ‘not having’ /se:i̯ :/ ‘that’.

h (x) eu̯ = /ke:u̯ :/ ‘somebody’ /d e:u̯ :/ ‘wave’.

h (xi) eo̯ = /k e:o̯ :/ ‘you (ordinary, imperative) eat’ /geo̯ :/ ‘you (ordinary, imperative) sing’ /je:o̯ :/ ‘you (ordinary, imperative) go’. (xii) æe̯ = /dæ:e̯ :/ ‘he/she gives’ /næ:e̯ :/ ‘he/she takes’. (xiii) æo̯ = /kæ:o̯ :ra:/ ‘a screwpine flower’ /næ:o̯ :ta:/ ‘fond’ /śæ:o̯ :la:/ ‘moss’. (xiv) oi̯ = /do:i̯ :/ ‘curd’ /bo:i̯ :/ ‘book’ /mo:i̯ :/ ‘ladder’ /ro:i̯ :/ ‘I remain’. (xv) ou̯ = /ko:u̯ :to:/ ‘box with a lid’ /no:u̯ :ko:/ ‘boat’.

h (xvi) oe̯ = /do:e̯ :/ ‘she/he milks (the cow)’ /d o:e̯ :/ ‘she/he washes’ /śo:e̯ :/ ‘she/he lies down’. Combination of two vowels of the same type cannot be considered as diphthongs. These are namely [ ii ], [ ee ] and [ oo ]. Examples: (i) ii = /dii/ ‘I give’ /nii/ ‘I take’. (ii) ee = /chee/ ‘having overcast’ /nee/ ‘having taken bath’ (iii) oo = /doo/ ‘you (ordinary imperative) milk’ /dhoo/ ‘you (ordinary, imperative) wash’. 3. Consonants Consonant is defined as a sound produced by obstructing breath at some point in the mouth cavity. The consonants in Bengali can be classified on the basis of point of articulation and the types of sound producing and sound modifying mechanism in the mouth often referred to as manner of articulation. Thus we have nineteen stops including three nasals, four affricates, one rolled, one lateral, two fricatives, two flapped and four semi-vowels. Further, stops and affricates can be classified into four distinct voiced, unvoiced, aspirated and non-aspirated sound components.22

22 Thompson, Hanne- Ruth, Bengali, ( Center John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 2012), p. 37. 26

1) Velar Articulated by the back of the tongue against the forepart of the soft palate.23 These are: k - unvoiced unaspirated velar stop; kh - unvoiced aspirated velar stop; g - voiced unaspirated velar stop; gh - voiced aspirated velar stop. Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning ka:l time/yesterday ka:n ear ga:n song h k a:m envelope h g a:m sweat h k a:l canal go:l round h g o:l whey 2) Velar nasal [ ŋ ] (voiced) Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning pro:śo:ŋśa: praise so:ŋsa:r family rɔ:ŋ colour suto:ra:ŋ so

23 Ibid., p. 38. 27

3) Retroflex Articulated by the tip of the tongue after being curled back towards the mid- palate region.24 These are: (a) t̥ unvoiced, unaspirated retroflex stop,

h (b) t̥ unvoiced aspirated retroflex stop, (c) d̥ voiced unaspirated retroflex stop, (d) d̥ h voiced aspirated retroflex stop. Example: Bengali Word English Meaning t̥ɔ:k sour h t̥ ɔ:k a cheat d̥ a:ka: to call h d̥ a:ka: to cover/ capital city of Bangladesh

4) Retroflex nasal n̥ has no existence in pronunciation in Bengali, but it occurs only with retroflex series in conjunct.25 Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning h g ɔ:o:n̥ t̥a bell h kɔ:n̥ t ɔ: throat 5) Dental Articulated by the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth.26 These are: (a) t - unvoiced, unaspirated dental stop; (b) th - unvoiced, aspirated dental stop;

24 Ibid., p. 39. 25 Ibid., p. 40. 26 Ibid., p. 41. 28

(c) d - voiced, unaspirated dental stop; (d) dh - voiced, aspirated dental stop. Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning ta:n tune ta:la: lock h t a:n sheets of cloth h t a:la: dish da:n gift dɔ:r price h d a:n paddy h d a:r borrow 6) Alveolar nasal [ n ] (voiced) Articulated by the tip of the tongue to touch the teeth-ridge.27 Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning na:m name neo̯ :a: take no:tu:n new 7) Bilabial: Articulated by two lips.28 These are: p - unvoiced, unaspirated bilabial stop; ph - unvoiced aspirated bilabial stop; b - voiced unaspirated bilabial- stop; bh - voiced aspirated bilabial stop.

27 Ibid., p. 42. 28 Ibid., p. 43. 29

Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning pi:ta: father pã:n betel leaf h p i:ta: ribbon bã:n flood ba:t gout h b a:t cooked rice h p u:l flower h b u:l mistake 8) Bilabial nasal [ m ] (voiced) An affricate is a kind of stop consonant in the production of which the articulating organs are separated slowly than usual, so that the corresponding fricative is audible as the separation takes place. In Bengali we get affricates in palato-alveolar region.29 Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning ma: mother h ma:c fish mi:l similarity h k o:ma: forgiveness ja:ma: garment bo:ma: bomb kɔ:m less h g a:m sweat

29 Ibid., p. 44. 30

9) Palato Alveolar Articulated by the blade of the tongue against the back part of teeth-ridge towards palate30. These are: (a) c - unvoiced unaspirated palato - alveolar affricate; (b) ch - unvoiced aspirated palato - alveolar affricate; (c) j - voiced unaspirated palato - alveolar affricate, (d) jh - voiced aspirated palato - alveolar affricate. Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning ca:i i want ca:l uncooked rice/Evil Planning h c a:p print h c a:i: ashes h c a:l skin jo:l water ja:l net ja:ma: shirt h j a:ma: over burnt brick h j a:l spicy hot h j a:p dive, jump 10) The Palato - alveolar nasal [ ñ ]

h h it is rare in use in Bengali. In conjunct with [ c ], [ c ] [ j ] and [ j ] the palato - alveolar [ ñ ] is pronounced as alveolar [ n ]31

30 Ibid., p. 45. 31 Bhattacharya, Krishna, Bengali Phonetic Reader, p. 25. 31

Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning co:ñcɔ:l restless h la:ñc a:na: abuse 11) Rolled The Rolled lingual [ r ] is formed by repeated taps of the tip of the tongue against the teeth-ridge. The nasal passage is blocked and vocal vibrate. It is a voiced sound.32 Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning a:r and ka:ra: who (plural) ra:t night 12) Lateral This sound is formed by an obstacle in the centre of the air passage in the mouth by touching the tip of the tongue against the teeth ridge and the air passes either on one or both sides of the obstacle. The soft palate is raised to block the nasal passage. It is a voiced sound.33 Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning ka:l tomorrow gɔ:la: neck ba:li: sand la:l red 13) Fricative While producing fricative there occur

32 Ibid., p. 25. 33 Ibid., p. 26. 32

(i) incomplete closure in the mouth cavity at some point (ii) narrow opening of the air passage and (iii) audible friction on release. A kind of hissing sound is produced when air is expelled through the mouth. 34 In Bengali Language there are sibilant [ ś ] and glottal fricative [ h ] 14) Sibilant palato - alveolar [ s, ś, s̥ ] (unvoiced): This is articulated by the blade of the tongue against the back part of the teeth-ridge towards palate. The teeth come rather incompletely close together with a narrow opening.35 Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning a:śa: hope s̥ a:t sixty ma:s month

In Bengali [ s̥ ] (alveolar /dental) and [ s ] (Retroflex) are pronounced [ ś ] except a few conjuncts. 15) Glottal fricative [ ɦ ] (voiced) This is produced while air is passing through the glottis. It is a voiced sound. There is another variation of [ h̥ ] which is unvoiced and occurs in the final position of a word and also in conjunct It is called biśɔrgo.36

34 Datta, Asoke Kumar, Acoustics of Bangla Speech Sounds, (Springer Nature Ple Ltd, Singapore, 2018), p. 30. 35 Ibid., p. 35. 36 Ibid., p. 33. 33

Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning h du:h̥ kk o: sorrow chi:h̥ what a shame! ha:t hand ha:si: smile 16) Flapped It is articulated by one single tap of the tip of the tongue against the mid palate. These are: (i) r̥ - voiced unaspirated retroflex flapped, (ii) r̥ ɦ - voiced aspirated retroflex flapped. They never occur initially. They occur medially and finally of the words. Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning h j a:r̥ u: broom ba:r̥ i: house mu:r̥ ɦo: Ignorant 4. Semi Vowels In the production of semivowel a weakly pronounced vowel - glide is formed when the speech organ starts in producing one vowel and moves to other. It is an independent vowel glide but treated as consonant There are four semi vowels in Bengali.37 These are: (I) i̯ and e̯ - palato alveolar voiced semivowels; (II) u̯ and o̯ - bilabial voiced semivowles.

37 Thompson, Hanne-Ruth, Bengali, p. 57. 34

Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning

ga:i̯ : cow/I sing

ta:i̯ : so that h b a:i̯ : brother jɔ:e̯ : win gɔ:e̯ :na: ornament śɔ:o̯ :da: purchase mo̯ :u:no: abstention from speech mo̯ :u:li:k Original pa:o̯ :na: due 2.3.5 Description of Chittagonian Sounds 1. Vowels in Chittagonian Seven vowels can be identified. They are: front, mid and back or, unround 3, neutral 1, and round 4. The three front vowels are [ i ] , [ e ], [ æ ]. The three back vowels are [ u ], [ o ], [ ɔ ]. The only mid vowel is [ a ]. almost all the vowels of Chittagonian can be nasalized. Nasalization of vowels is contrastive in Chittagonian, as with other Eastern Indic languages. 38 1) Characteristics of [ ɔ ] (i) Height of the tongue - low-mid; (ii) Position of lips - slightly rounded; (iii) Opening between jaws - medium to wide.

38 Hoque, Muhammad Azizul, “Chittagorian Variety: Language, Semi Language or a Dialect”, IIUC Studies, Vol. 12 No .1813 (December 2015): 7. 35

Examples: Chittagonian word English Meaning ɔ:da: calling elder brother with courtesy kɔ:to: how much kɔ:n who kɔ:d̥ e: where 2) [ ɔ ] in nasalisation Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning pɔcã :no:bbo:i: ninety-five h mɔ:̃ t a: miser kɔ:̃ da: god mɔ:̃ da: stupid 3) Characteristics of [ a ] (i) Height of the tongue - low; open; (ii) Position of lips - neutral; (iii) Opening between jaws - medium to wide. Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning a:u̯ :n welcoming with respect a:ti:kka: suddenly ka:lu:a: tomorrow de:ba:l wall ɔdã :bari: stick use for old people

36

4) [ a ] in nasalisation Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning mã:ca: a bed made by bamboo lã:ca: heavy rain pã:c five bã:śi: flute 5) Characteristics of [ i ] (i) Height of the tongue - high, close; (ii) Position of lips - fully spread; (iii) Opening between jaws - narrow to medium. Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning i:ti: end i:be: this ci:d̥ i: letter pi:d̥ o:n beating 6) [ i ] in nasalization Example: Chittagonian Word English Meaning ĩ:t brick ĩ:du:r rat h pĩ:c odi: behind kĩ:ptæ: miser

37

7) Characteristics of [ u ] (i) Height of the tongue - high, close; (ii) Position of lips - fully rounded; (iii) Opening between jaws - narrow to medium. Examples: Chittagonain Word English Meaning u:ca:d̥ ai: destroy gu:ta: poke ku:d̥ o:n cutting raw vegetables lu:d̥ o:n reclyning 8) [ u ] in nasalisation Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning ũ:nni:sh nineteen dũ:i:jja: noon kũ:i:jja: Pile of ripe paddy h p ũi::jja: bruned 9) Characteristics of [ e ] (i) Height of the tongue - high-mid, half-close; (ii) Position of lips - spread; (iii) Opening between jaws - medium. Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning e:kke:na: slight h p i:de: home made cake h k e:co:ri: rice gruel mi:d̥ e: sweet te:l oil 38

10) [ e ] in nasalization Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning h ẽ:i:cc a: wish ẽ:d̥ e: here kẽ:cco: earthworm lẽ:cco: bad guy 11) Characteristics of [ æ ] (i) Height of the tongue - low-mid, half-open; (ii) Position of lips - spread; (iii) Opening between jaws - medium to wide Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning æ:kho:n now æ:ne: just for nothing khæ:la: to play læ:da: infant bæ:i:l day/time cæ:la: follower 12) [ æ ] in nasalization Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning bæ̃:co:n selling pæ̃:ca: owl h k æ̃:co:n stomach pain

39

13) Characteristic of [ o ] (i) Height of the tongue - high-mid, half-close; (ii) Position of lips - almost rounded; (iii) Opening between jaws - medium. Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning o:lpo: a little ko:l lap h g o:ra: horse co:k eye 14) [ o ] in nasalization Example: Chittagonian Word English Meaning cõ:r thief jõ:g insect lõ:d̥ a: pot h b õ:ta: blunt 2. Chittagonian Diphthongs Chittagonian is a oral dialect and that does not have any written form. The nature of language is exchanging. Chittagong is a district that is in the country of Bangladesh. So there are so many Bengali words are joined in Chittagonian Dialect. Many linguistics can not be confirmed about Chittagonian Diphthongs, but it might be loan diphthongs from Bengali.39

39 Ray Punya Sloka, Hai Muhammed Abdul, Ray Lita, Bengali Language Handbook, (Center for Applied Linguistics: Washington DC, 1966), p. 67. 40

Example: (iv) ɔe̯ = /kɔ:e̯ :/ ‘he/she says’ /nɔ:e̯ :/ ‘nine’ /sɔ:e̯ :/ ‘endurance’

h (v) ai̯ = /k a:i̯ :/ ‘I eat’ /ca:i̯ :/ ‘I want’. (vi) ae̯ = /ma:e̯ :/ ‘his/her mother’ /pa:e̯ :/ ‘he / she gets’ /ca:e̯ :/ ‘he/she wants’. (vii) iu̯ = /śi:u̯ :li:/ ‘flower’ /miu̯ / ‘cat sound’.

(viii) ui̯ = /tu:i̯ :/ ‘you (intimate)’ /du:i̯ :/ ‘two’ /lu:i̯ :/ cotton. (ix) ei̯ = /e:i̯ :/ ‘this’ /d̥ e:i̯ :/ ‘adault’ /se:i̯ :/ ‘that’. (x) eu̯ = /d̥ e:u̯ :/ ‘wave’.

h (xi) eo̯ = /g e:o̯ :/ sound of dog. (xii) æo̯ = /kæ:o̯ :ra:/ ‘a screwpine flower’ /læ:o̯ :t̥t̥o:/ ‘sticky’. (xiii) oi̯ = /do:i̯ :/ ‘curd’ /bo:i̯ :/ ‘book’ /co:i̯ :/ ‘security’. (xiv) ou̯ = /co:u̯ :t/ ‘in between door and outside’ /no:u̯ :ko:/ ‘boat’.

h (xv) oe̯ = /do:e̯ :/ ‘she/he milks (the cow)’ /d o:e̯ :/ ‘she/he washes’ /lo:e̯ :/ ‘she/he takes’. 3. Consonants The book in Chittagonian Language observes that consonants in Chittagonian also can be classified on the basis of point of articulation, types of sound producing, sound modifying mechanism in the mouth often referred to as manner of articulation. In Chittagonian there are nineteen stops including three nasals, four affricates, one rolled, one lateral, two fricatives, two flapped and four semi-vowels. Further, stops and affricates can be classified into four distinct voiced, unvoiced, aspirated and non-aspirated sound components are available.40

40 Surhone Lambert M, Timpledon Miriam T, Marseken Susan F. , Chittagonian Language, (VDM Publishing, Riga, 2010), p. 30. 41

1) Velar (a) k - unvoiced unaspirated velar stop; (b) kh - unvoiced aspirated velar stop; (c) g - voiced unaspirated velar stop; (d) gh - voiced aspirated velar stop. Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning ka:lu:a: tomorrow kã:n ear gã:n song h k a: to eat h g a:m sweat h k a:t̥ sleeping cot h ga:c tree 2) Velar nasal [ ŋ ] (voiced) Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning śiŋ horn of animal sonŋsar family bɔŋśi who plays flute sutoraŋ so

42

3) Retroflex Articulated by the tip of the tongue after being curled back towards the mid- palate region.41 These are: (a) t̥ - unvoiced, unaspirated retroflex stop,

h (b) t̥ - unvoiced aspirated retroflex stop, (c) d̥ - voiced unaspirated retroflex stop,

h (d) d̥ - voiced aspirated retroflex stop. Example: Chittagonian Word English Meaning t̥ɔ:k sour h t̥ a:d̥ a: thunder d̥ a:ko:n to call h d̥ a:ko:n to cover 4) Retroflex nasal As same as Bengali, Retroflex nasal ɳ in Chittagonian has no existence in pronunciation but it occurs only with retroflex series in conjunct.42 Example: Chittagonian Word English Meaning h g ɔ:o:ɳt̥a: bell a:ŋt̥a: hook

41 Surhone Lambert M, Timpledon Miriam T, Marseken Susan F. , Chittagonian Language, p. 33. 42 Ibid., p. 34. 43

5) Dental Articulated by the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth. These are: (a) t - unvoiced, unaspirated dental stop; (b) th - unvoiced, aspirated dental stop; (c) d - voiced, unaspirated dental stop; (d) dh - voiced, aspirated dental stop. Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning ta:l palm/rhythm ta:la: lock h t a:n sheets of cloth h t a:l dish da:bɔ:n to press something du:lɔ:n swing h d a:n paddy h d o:r to catch something or someone 6) Alveolar nasal [ n ] Like Bengali, in Chittagonian also Alveolar nasal [ n ] (voiced) Articulated by the tip of the tongue to touch the teeth-ridge.43 Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning nã:m name nã:ti grandson nõ:a: new

43 Surhone Lambert M, Timpledon Miriam T, Marseken Susan F. , Chittagonian Language, p. 34. 44

7) Bilabial Articulated by two lips. These are: (a) p - unvoiced, unaspirated bilabial stop; (b) ph - unvoiced aspirated bilabial stop; (c) b - voiced unaspirated bilabial- stop; (d) bh - voiced aspirated bilabial stop. Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning h p ɔ:r light pɔ:l mad pã:n betel leaf h p i:ta: ribbon ba:na:pa:ni: flood ba:d leave h b a:t cooked rice h p u:l flower h b o:ro:n put inside 8) Bilabial nasal [ m ] (voiced) An affricate is a kind of stop consonant in the production of which the articulating organs are separated slowly than usual, so that the corresponding fricative is audible as the separation takes place. In Bengali we get affricates in palato-alveolar region.44 Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning ma: mother h ma:c fish mi:l similarity

44 Ibid., p. 35. 45

Chittagonian Word English Meaning h k o:ma: forgiveness ja:ma: garment bo:ma: bomb kɔ:m less h g a:m sweat 9) Palato Alveolar In Chittagonian Palato Alveolar articulated by the blade of the tongue against the back part of teeth-ridge towards palate.45 These are: (a) c - unvoiced unaspirated palato - alveolar affricate; (b) ch - unvoiced aspirated palato - alveolar affricate; (c) j - voiced unaspirated palato - alveolar affricate, (d) jh - voiced aspirated palato - alveolar affricate. Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning ca:i:l evil planning cã:d moon h c a:p print h c a:i: ashes h c a:r giving discount someone or something jo:g water pot ja:l net jã:t caste h j a:r̥ thicket h j a:l spicy hot h j a:p dive, jump

45 Ibid p. 36. 46

10) The Palato - alveolar nasal [ ñ ]

h as Bengali it is rare in use in Chittagonian too. In conjunct with [ c ], [ c ], [ j ], h and [ j ]. The palato - alveolar [ ñ ] is pronounced as alveolar [ n ]. Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning

mo:ñcɔ: podium

le:ñjo:r problem 11) Rolled The Rolled lingual [ r ] is formed by repeated taps of the tip of the tongue against the teeth-ridge. The nasal passage is blocked and vocal vibrate. It is a voiced sound.46 Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning ã:r of me mã:ro:n to hit rã:i:t night 12) Lateral As Bengali, This sound in Chittagonian is formed by an obstacle in the centre of the air passage in the mouth by touching the tip of the tongue against the teeth ridge and the air passes either on one or both sides of the obstacle. The soft palate is raised to block the nasal passage. It is a voiced sound.47

46 Ibid., p. 36. 47 Hoque, Muhammad Azizul, “Chittagorian Variety: Language, Semi Language or a Dialect”, IIUC Studies, Vol. 12 No. 1813 (December 2015): 12. 47

Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning ma:l products gɔ:la: neck ba:lu: sand la:l red 13) Fricative as mentioned in Bengali, in Chittagonian While producing fricative there occur; (iv) incomplete closure in the mouth cavity at some point, (v) narrow opening of the air passage and (vi) audible friction on release. A kind of hissing sound is produced when air is expelled through the mouth, 48 sibilant [ ś ] and glottal fricative [ h ] . 14) Sibilant palato - alveolar [ ś ] ( unvoiced) : This is articulated by the blade of the tongue against the back part of the teeth-ridge towards palate. The teeth come rather incompletely close together with a narrow opening.49 Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning śo:śa: cucumber sa:t sixty ma:s month

48 Hoque, Muhammad Azizul, “Chittagorian Variety: Language, Semi Language or a Dialect”, IIUC Studies, Vol. 12 No. 1813 (December 2015): 13. 49 Surhone Lambert M, Timpledon Miriam T, Marseken Susan F. , Chittagonian Language, p. 38. 48

In Chittagonian also [ s̥ ] (alveolar/dental) and [ s ] (Retroflex) are pronounced [ ś ] except a few conjuncts.

15) Glottal fricative [ h ], [ ɦ ] (voiced) This is produced while air is passing through the glottis. It is a voiced sound. There is another variation of [ ɦ ] which is unvoiced and occurs in the final position of a word and also in conjunct It is called biśɔrgo.50 Examples: Bengali Word English Meaning h du:ɦkk o: sorrow chi:ɦ what a shame! ha:t hand ha:si: smile 16) Flapped It is articulated by one single tap of the tip of the tongue against the mid palate region.51 These are: (iii) r̥ - voiced unaspirated retroflex flapped, (iv) r̥ ɦ - voiced aspirated retroflex flapped. They never occur initially. They occur medially and finally of the words. Examples: Chittagonian Word English Meaning h j a:r̥ u: broom ba:r̥ i: house h c a:r̥ i: leaving

50 Ibid., p. 33. 51 Hoque, Muhammad Azizul, “Chittagorian Variety: Language, Semi Language or a Dialect”, IIUC Studies, Vol. 12 No. 1813 (December 2015): 14. 49

4. Semi Vowels As Bengali Language, all the forms of Semi Vowels are not available in Chittagonian Dialect, there are some words in Chittagonian that can be considered as semi vowels.

Chapter III

Research Methodology

This is a documentary research to describe the methods of research study in Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialects. The Researcher studies based on comparative study Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialects phonology from the modern usage Bengali, English books such; books, academic books, Bengali Dictionary, thesis, documentary, article, library, online research and the research will study from informants native speakers for 6 persons. The documentary Bengali and Chittagonian data has use for interviewing qualitative methods linguistics. The methodology is explained by data collection and data analysis procedures undertaken by this thesis. With consideration research method, it is predominately related to the linguistic data obtained by observation. The procedures used in gathering the data, in this study will be portrayed into five major parts as follows: 3.1 Research Design 3.2 Population 3.3 Research Tools 3.4 Collect of Data 3.5 Analysis of Data 3.1 Research Design 3.1.1 The current research is documentary research. This is the method of data collection which mainly has emphasized the result of documentary style by the modern usage in Bengali, English books such as books, academic books, Bengali Dictionary, format (Bengali and Chittagonian, English and Bengali), thesis, documentary article, library and online research. Every stage of data collection is performed 51 systematically to make things comfortable and useful to value the study. Therefore, research design is the most important part of the data collection methods that extremely benefit for the study and helpful to succeed in terms of data collection. 3.2 Population 3.2.1 The study refers to interview six people who were born in Bangladesh. To study the vowels and consonants and finding key informants interview about the different sounds Bengali and Chittagonian as concerned in Phonology. 3. 2. 2 To give key- informants in interview, the researcher went back to Bangladesh for two weeks, the researcher take notebook and notes our conversations. The informant’s main point to this thesis about vowels and consonants. 1) Who give the key-informants of data and information must have more knowledge and experience and text book. 2) Who give the key-informants of data and information and can speak, read and write perfectly and know well about Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect. 3) Key-informants explained about Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect for the difference and similarity of sounds by dividing words concerned as follows: 1) Vowels 2) Consonants 3.2.3 The list of interviewer’s key informants: 1) Sex Factor - Male 6 informants 2) Age Factor - 40 Years up, totally six Informants 3.3 Research Tools 3.3.1 The Researcher will be preparing research works, books, documents, dictionary format (Bengali and Chittagonian, English and Bengali), thesis, documentary, article, library and online research about Bengali and Chittagonian Phonology etc. 52

3.3.2 The usage of research of writes Bengali and Chittagonian pronounced by I.P.A (International Phonetic Association) such as Vowels, Consonants and tones types: 1) Vowels: IPA BEN CTG a a a ɛ æ æ e e e i i I o o o ɔ ɔ ɔ u u u - - -

2) Consonants: IPA BEN CTG b b b bh bh bh d d d dh dh dh ɖ d̥ d̥ ɖh d̥ h d̥ h dʒ j j dʒh jh jh g g g gh gh gh h h h ɦ ɦ ɦ k k k kh kh kh l l l m m m n n n 53

IPA BEN CTG ŋ ŋ ŋ p p p ph ph ph r r r ɽ r̥ , rh r̥ , rh s s s ʃ s, ś, s̥ s, ś, s̥ t t t th th th ʈ t̥ t̥ ʈh th th tʃ c c tʃh ch ch 3) Semi Vowels: IPA BEN CTG e̯ e̯ - i̯ i̯ - o̯ o̯ - u̯ u̯ -

3. 3. 3 Analyzing Vowels and Consonants in both Language and Dialects. According to the comparative Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect as the following 3 types: 1) To analyze and classify phonology of vowels and consonants in Bengali Language 2) To analyze and classify phonology of vowels and consonants Chittagonian Dialect 3) To compare vowels and consonants in Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect. 3.4 Data Collection The comparative study of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect was collected by the researcher from the modern usage in Bengali, English books such as 54 books, academic books, Bengali Dictionary, format (Bengali and Chittagonian, English and Bengali), thesis, documentary article, library and online research and interview. The total data had to be written down to find out the original language and pronunciation as the following transliteration which is concentrated on Bengali and Chittagonian. This research was carried of data and related information were collected from the interview and used sound recorded, in depth interviews were carried out in a relaxed manner, in a private setting. The interviewer used open-ended questions for a period of about 20 minutes. The participants were encouraged to discuss the open- ended questions privately with the researcher. The general theme meant each participant was taken through an identical set of themes that were asked in the same way. Then, all items were classified in each type of Bengali Language and Chittagonain Dialect in the appendix. After that, amount Bengali and Chittagonian samplings spoken in conditional potency of usage. However, the transliterations in those words would be indicated as the possible coinage from the compound word and discussed the result in chapter 4. 3.5 Data Analysis Data analysis of the research study was shown and discussed with illustration each type and word as follows: 3.5.1 The phonology was classified in types of vowels, consonants. Each type of Bengali and Chittagonian was analyzed based on the guideline of review of literature. 3. 5. 2 The data were summarized and discussed the results and gave recommendation in the chapter 5.

Chapter IV

Results

This Chapter deals with the Comparative BEN Language and CTG Dialect Phonology system. The focus is on Phoneme, Vowels, Consonants and comparison between of vowels and consonants of both language and dialect. This chapter is focused on the comparative study of BEN Language and CTG Dialect as concerned. To Study Vowels of both BEN Language and CTG Dialect. To Study Consonants of both BEN Language and CTG Dialect. To compare BEN Language and CTG Dialect. 4.1 Kind of Phonological Forms of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect A Phonological form of BEN Language and CTG Dialect, what are the vowels and consonants in both Language and dialect and what are the similarities and dissimilarities in them. 4.1.1 BEN and CTG Vowels and Their Nasalized Counterparts 1) Front Vowels The differences between front vowels of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect are shown by Ven. Ratanasree Mahathera from Middle Adhar Manik Village, Chittagong.1 [ i ]: The front part of the tongue is raised as high as possible towards the hard palate. But it does not touch the hard palate or form any kind of friction. The lips are spread. The soft palate is raised to close the nasal passage and the vocal cords are vibrated.

1 Interview with Ven. Ratanasree Mahathera, Middle Adhar Manik Village, Chittagong, 13 November 2019. 56

BEN: [ i ] occurs in all the positions of a word Initial Medial Final i:ni: – this person ci:ni: – sugar ki: – What h i:ti:ha:s – history di:n – day g i: – clarified butter i:śa:ra:– gesture ci:thi – a letter tu:mi:– you h i:c e: – desire mi:l – similarity ba:ri: – house i:ndri:o: – a sense organ ti:n – three ku:ri: – twenty h i:tta:di: – etcetera ni:l – blue g o:ri: – a watch CTG: [ i ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final i:ti: – this person bi:bi: – wife ro:śi: – rope h i:ti:ha:s – history di:n – day g i: – clarified butter i:śa:ra: – gesture ci:d̥ i – a letter ma:d̥ i – earth h i:c a: – desire mi:l – similarity śa:ri: – women’s traditional dress in Indian Subcontinent i:ndri:o: – a sense organ ji:n – ghost ku:ri: – twenty i:tta:di: – etcetera śi:l – weight measuring go:ri: – a watch [ ĩ ]: This is a nasalized counterpart of [ i ]. To produce this sound the speech- organs are in the same position as they are in case of [ i ]. The soft palate is not raised and thus the nasal passage remains open so that the air-stream can pass through both the oral and nasal cavities. The vocal cords are vibrated. BEN: [ ĩ ] occurs in all positions. Initial Medial Final ĩ:t̥ – brick gĩ:t̥ – a tie cĩ: cĩ: – a neighing sound ĩ:du:r – rat cĩ:re: – flattened rice jĩ: – reply elder with respect h h ĩ:da:ra: – a draw well pĩ:re: – a low wooden seat j ĩ: j ĩ: – grig

57

CTG: [ ĩ ] occurs in all positions. Initial Medial Final ĩ:t̥ – brick gĩ:t̥ – a tie cĩ: cĩ: – a neighing sound ĩ:du:r – rat jĩ:ra: – cumin jĩ: – reply elder with respect h h ĩ:nkam – income pĩ:ra: – a low wooden seat j ĩ: j ĩ: – grig [ e ]: The front part of the tongue is raised high towards the hard palate. But the raising is not as high as it is in the case of [ i ]. The tongue does not touch the hard palate and no friction is caused. The lips are spread. The nasal passage is closed by raising the soft palate and the vocal cords are in vibration. The sound may be described as an unrounded, high-mid, . BEN: [ e ] occurs in all positions. Initial Medial Final e:kt̥i: – one de:ś - country ke: – who e:so: – come be:ś - fine se: – he h h e:k a:ne: – here p e:r – again je: – someone h e:r – of this c e:le: – a boy ni:je: – self e:ba:r – this time te:l – oil ba:je: – useless e:ra:- these people śe:s̥ - end kɔ:re: – he does CTG: [ e ] occurs in all positions. Initial Medial Final e:kkã:n – one de:ś - country de: – give to me h e:co: – look at here be:ś - fine k o:je: – he finds e:d̥ e: – here po:re:r – falling je: – someone e:kka:na: – just a little me:lon – spreading ni:je: – self e:ba:ra – this time te:l – oil ba:je: – useless h e:ra:i:– wide śe:s̥ – end k ole – he/she open [ ẽ ]: This is a nasalized counterpart of [ e ]. To produce this sound the speech organs are the same position as they are in the case of [ e ]. But the nasal passage is kept open so that the air- stream can pass through both the oral and nasal cavities. 58

BEN: [ ẽ ] occurs often in initial and medial but very rarely in final. Initial Medial Final ẽ:ke: – having drawn śẽ:k – fomentation hẽ: hẽ: – a kind of laughing ẽ:do: – gloomy hẽ:t – bent ẽ:t̥o: – left over after eating tẽ:tu:l – tamarind ẽ:co:r – green jackfruit kẽ:co: – earthworm CTG: in CTG also [ ẽ ] occurs often in initial and medial but very rarely in final. Initial Medial Final ẽ:ne: – just for nothing śẽ:k – fomentation hẽ: hẽ: – a kind of laughing h ẽ:i: – calling to younger p ẽ:n – Rice mound ẽ:to: – this much tẽ:to:i: - tamarind h ẽ:śa:ra:j a:n – Muslim’s kẽ:cco: – earthworm morning prayer [ æ ]: This Vowel is produced by raising the front of the tongue slightly. The tongue should not be raised to the level necessary for the production of the sound [ e ]. The degree of raising is a little above the lowest position, the tongue normally occupies in the mouth. Lips are not rounded. The soft palate is raised to block the entry of air into the nasal passage. Vocal cords are vibrated to produce voice. BEN: [ æ ] occurs in initial and medial but rarely in final. Initial Medial Final h h æ:k o:n – now kæ:no: – why c æ: – flee h h æ:ka: – alone bæ:la: – time p æ: p æ: – denoting continuous useless search h æ:k – one mæ:la: – fair k æ:la: – playing h æ:to: – just a little p æ:la: – to throw h æ:kt̥a: – one bæ:t a: – pain æ:mo:n – such jæ:no: – as if

59

CTG: [ æ ] occurs in initial and medial but rarely in final. Initial Medial Final h h æ:k o:n– now kæ:lla:i: – why c æ: – flee h h æ:ka: – alone bæ:la: – time p æ: p æ: – denoting continuous useless search æ:k – one mæ:la: – fair ati:kkæ: – suddenly h æ:ti:kkæ:n – just a little k æ:la: – playing h æ:kka:n – one bæ:t a: – pain æ:n – like this jæ:n – such as [ æ̃ ]: This is a nasalized counterpart of [ æ ]. To produce this sound the speech-organs are in the same position as they are in case of [ æ ]. But the nasal passage remains open so that the air-stream can pass through both the oral and nasal cavities. BEN: [ æ̃ ] occurs in medial but rarely in initial and final Initial Medial Final æ̃:ka: – bæ̃:ka: – zig zag bæ̃:ka: – bent hæ̃: – yes æ̃:o̯ : – cry of a male cat pæ̃:c – five cæ̃: – cry of an infant h d æ̃:r̥ o:ś - the lady’s finger CTG: unlike Bengali, in Chittagonian also [ æ̃ ] occurs in medial but rarely in initial and final. Initial Medial Final æ̃:ka: – bæ̃:ka: – zig zag bæ̃:ka: – bent æ̃: - yes æ̃:o̯ : – cry of a male cat pæ̃:c – five cæ̃: – cry of an infant h d æ̃:r̥ o:ś – the lady’s finger 2) The differences between central vowels of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect are shown by Ven. Ratanasree Mahathera from Middle Adhar Manik Village, Chittagong.2

2 Interview with Ven. Ratanasree Mahathera, Middle Adhar Manik Village, Chittagong, 13 November 2019. 60

[ a ]: The air passes through the center of the tongue and the middle point of the palate. The tongue remains as low as possible and moves slightly backward. The lips are spread. The nasal passage is closed and the vocal cords are vibrated. [ a ] is an unrounded central vowel. BEN: [ a ] occurs in all the positions. Initial Medial Final a:lo: – light ja:ma: – garment ca: – tea h a:śa: – hope k a:sa: – fine ba: – or a:ba:r – again d̥ a:l – branch na: – no a:j – today la:l – red ta:ra: – they a:pni: – you ka:lo: – black ma: – mother CTG: [ a ] occurs in all the positions. Initial Medial Final a:da: – ginger ja:ma: – garment a:la: – brother in law h a:śa: – hope k a:ca: – cage ja: – or a:ba:r – again d̥ a:l – branch na: – no a:i:j – today la:l – red ta:ra: – they a:dda: – chatting ka:la:– black ma: – mother [ ã ]: This is a nasalized counterpart of [ a ]. To produce this sound the speech- organs are in the same position as they are in the case of [ a ]. But the nasal passage is open so that the air-stream can pass through both the oral and nasal passages. BEN: [ ã ] occurs in all positions Initial Medial Final h ã:t̥i: – bundle kã:c – mirror/glass c ã: – a young bird h ã:t̥– tightness kã:ca: – unripe j ã: – great swiftness h ã:ś – fibre k ã:ca: – a cage dã: – a surname h ã:c – ignition mã:c – fish d ã: – suddenness h ã:ka: – to draw p ã:ka: – empty bã: – or ã:ta:t – entente bã:ś – bamboo hã:– open mouth 61

CTG: [ ã ] occurs in all positions Initial Medial Final h ã:i:t̥t̥a: – bundle kã:c – mirror/glass c ã: – a young bird h ã:ra:– we mã:ca: – bed made by bamboo j ã: – great swiftness h ã:ś – fibre k ã:ca: – a cage dã: – a surname h ã:c – ignition mã:c – fish d ã: – suddenness h ã:ga:– to draw p ã:ka: – empty bã: – or ã:ta:t – entente bã:ś – bamboo hã: – open mouth

3) Back Vowels The differences between central vowels of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect are shown by Ven. Sumittananda Mahathera, Hoarapara Village, Raozan, Chittagong.3 [ u ]: In the production of this sound back part of the tongue is raised as high as possible towards the soft palate. But there is no contact made with the soft palate. The lips are rounded. The soft palate is raised close the nasal passage. Vocal cords are vibrated. This sound may be described as a rounded high . BEN: [ u ] occurs in all positions Initial Medial Final h u:s̥ a: – dawn p u:l – flower to:bu: – yet upa:e̯ :– means cu:l – hair go:ru: – cow h h u:t̥ a:n – courtyard b u:l – a mistake gu:ru: – preceptor upo:ka:r – benefit bu:ro: – old so:ru: – narrow u:t̥ – camel du:r – far a:lu: – potato

3 Interview with Ven. Sumittananda Mahathera, Hoarapara Village, Raozan, Chittagong, 13 November 2019. 62

CTG: [ u ] occurs in all positions Initial Medial Final h u:ddi: – up p u:l – flower to:bu: – yet upa:e̯ :– means cu:l – hair go:ru: – cow h u:d̥ a:n – courtyard b u:l – a mistake gu:ru: – preseptor upo:ka:r – benefit bu:ra: – old u:ju: – straight u:t̥ – a camel du:r – far a:lu: – potato [ ũ ]: This is a nasalized counterpart of [ u ]. To produce this sound the speech- organs are in the same position as they are in the of [ u ]. The nasal passage however is open to allow the entry of air through both the nasal and oral cavities. BEN: [ ũ ] rarely occurs in all positions Initial Medial Final h ũ:ki: – peeping kũ:re: – idle p ũ: – puff h ũ:cu: – high kũ:ri: – bud t ũ: – throwing spit pũ:i̯ - a creeper jũ:i̯ - jasmine CTG: [ ũ ] rarely occurs in all positions Initial Medial Final h ũ:ki:– peeping mũ:ri: – parched rice p ũ: – puff h ũ:ca: – high kũ:ri: – twenty t ũ: – throwing spit pũ:i̯ – a creeper jũ:i̯ – jasmine [ o ]: To produce this sound, back part of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate to a height a little lower than the one required for the production of [ u ]. The lips are rounded. The soft palate is raised to block the entry of air into nasal passage. The vocal cords are made to vibrate. This sound may be described as a rounded high-mid, back vowel.

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BEN: [ o ] occurs in all positions Initial Medial Final o: – that bo:n – sister kɔ:to: – how much o:r – of that mo:n – mind ko:no: – any o:kha:ne: – there co:r – a thief ghɔ:no: – condensed h o:ti: – much bo:ka: – fool b a:lo: – good h o:su:d – medicine to:ma:r – your ba:ro: – twelve CTG: [ o ] occurs in all positions Initial Medial Final o:i – calling to friend or bo:i:n – sister kɔ:to: – how much younger h o:bo:st a: – condition mo :n – mind ko:no: – any o:lpo: – a little co:r – a thief ghɔ:no: – condensed h h o:po:ra:d – offence bo:ka: – fool b a:la: – good h o:su:d – medicine to:a:r – your ba:ro: – twelve [ õ ]: This is a nasalized counterpart of [ o ]. To produce this sound the speech- organs are in the same position as they are in the case of [ o ]. But the nasal passage is open so that the air-stream can pass through both the oral and nasal passages. BEN: [ õ ] occurs in all the positions Initial Medial Final õ:r – of that person jõ:k – the leech gõ: – obstinate insistence h h õ:ra: – those persons j õ:k – inclination c õ: – a pounce õ:ca: – extremely kõ:kra: – curled bõ: – whirring sound worthless CTG: [ õ ] occurs in all the positions Initial Medial Final õ:r – of that person jõ:k – the leech gõ: – obstinate insistence h h õ:na:ra: – all of you b õ:ta: – blunt c õ: – a pounce õ:ca: – mallet kõ:kra: – curled bõ: – whirring sound 64

[ ɔ ]: To produce this sound, back part of the tongue is raised slightly. The degree of raising is lower than the height required for [ o ] and highrer than that required for [ a ]. The lips are half-rounded. The nasal passage is closed and the vocal cords are vibrated. This sound may be described as a rounded low-mid, back vowel. BEN: [ ɔ ] occurs in all the positions Initial Medial Final ɔ:to: – so much kɔ:m – less hɔ: – (you – fam.) become ɔ:bujh – innocent jɔ:l – water cɔ: – (you fam.) go h ɔ:por – other k ɔ:bo:r – news bɔ: – (you fam.) bear CTG: [ ɔ ] occurs in all the positions Initial Medial Final ɔ:da: – calling to elder brother kɔ:m – less hɔ: – answer with yes ɔ:ga: – silly kɔ:d̥ e: – where mɔ: – calling to uncle (mom’s brother) h ɔ:po:r – other k ɔ:bo:r – news bɔ: – (you fam.) bear [ ɔ ̃ ]: This is a nasalized counterpart of [ ɔ ]. To produce this sound the speech- organs are in the same position as they are in the case of [ ɔ ]. But the nasal passage remains open so that the air-stream can pass through both oral and nasal cavities. BEN: [ ɔ ̃ ] occurs medially and finally Medial Final pɔ:̃ ca:śi: – eighty five dɔ:̃ – a pool of soft and deep mud pɔ:̃ ci:ś – twenty five mɔ:̃ mɔ:̃ – a kind of sweet smell when fruits get ripe CTG: [ ɔ ̃ ] occurs medially and finally Medial Final pɔ:̃ ca:śi: – eighty five dɔ:̃ – asking someone to give something pɔ:̃ ci:ś – twenty five mɔ:̃ mɔ:̃ – a kind of sweet smell when fruits get ripe

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4.1.2 Bengali and Chittagonian Consonants 1) Stops The differences between stops in consonants of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect are shown by Ven. Sumittananda Mahathera, Hoarapara Village, Raozan, Chittagong.4 [ p ]: To produce this sound the soft palate is raised to close the nasal passage. The air-stream coming from the lungs is completely obstructed by closing the lips tightly. Then the air is exploded without heavy puff of air. There is no vibration in the vocal cords. This sound may be described as an unaspirated voiceless bilabial stop. BEN: [ p ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final pa: – leg ka:po:r – cloth pa:p – sin pa:ta: – a leaf du:pu:r – afternoon ru:p – beauty pã:c – five kɔ:pa:l – forehead sa:p – snake h h pe:śi: – muscle c a:pa: – printed k a:ra:p – bad pa:ka: – ripe opo:re: – on chi:p – fishing rod CTG: [ p ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final h pã:n – betel leaf t a :ppo :r – slap pa:p – sin pa:ta: – a leaf jo:po:n – reciting ru:p – beauty h pã:c – five kɔ:a:l – forehead a:j a:p – heap of dirty h pɔ:̃ ca: – rotten ma:po:n – measuring k a:ra:p – bad pɔnã – ripe so:pi: – giving ka:p – a cup

[ ph ]: The process of articulation is similar to that of [ p ]. The only difference is that at that time of explosion a heavy puff of air is released. It is an aspirated voiceless bilabial stop.

4 Interview with Ven. Sumittananda Mahathera, Hoarapara Village, Raozan, Chittagong, 13 November 2019. 66

h h BEN: [ p ] occurs in all the positions of a word. But in the final position [ p ] is weakly aspirated. It sounds almost like [ p ]. Initial Medial Final h h h p ɔ:so:l – crop sɔ:p o:l – successful bɔ:ro:p – ice h h h p e:r – again tɔ:p a:t – difference ma:p – pardon h h h p a:t̥o:l – cracks to:p a: – fine lo:p – (you fam.) catch h h h p u:t̥o: – a hole a:p i:m – opium tɔ:ro:p – side h h h p o:la: – to swell la: p a:no: – to jump hã:p – panting

h CTG: Unlike Bengali in Chittagonian also [ p ] occurs in all the positions of h a word. But in the final position [ p ] is weakly aspirated. It sounds almost like [ p ]. Initial Medial Final h h h p e:lo:n – to throw sɔ:p o:l – successful bɔ:ro:p – ice h h h p a:k – gap tɔ:p a:t – difference la:p – jump h h p ait̥ – cracks pha:pha: – strong wind ha:p – snake h h h p u:d̥ a: – a hole a:p i:m – opium tɔ:ro:p – side h h h p u:la: – to swell o:p i:s – office hã:p – panting [ b ]: To produce this sound the air-stream is completely obstructed by closing the lips tightly as in the production of [ p ]. The obstruction is released without a heavy puff of air. The soft palate is raised to close the nasal passage. The vocal cords are clearly vibrated to produce voice. This is the only difference between [ p ] and [ b ]. This sound may be described as an unaspirated voiced bilabial stop. BEN: [ b ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final bo:n – sister a:ba:r – again rɔ:b – sound h be:śi: – much k ɔ:bo:r – news ni:rɔ:b – silent h bi:li: – distribution ca:bi: – key b a:b – friendship h bæ:la: – time c o:bi: – picture go:ri:b – poor h ba:r̥ i: – house ko:bi: – a poet k u:b – very

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CTG: [ b ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final bo:i:n – sister a:ba:r – again a:b-ba:b – behavior h be:śi: – much k ɔ:bo:r – news ni:rɔ:b – silent bi:li: – distribution ca:bi: – key d̥ a:b – coconut h bæ:i:l – time c o:bi: – picture go:ri:b – poor h ba:r̥ i: – house ko:bi: – a poet k u:b – very

h [ b ]: The process of articulation is similar to that of [ b ] except that while releasing obstruction a heavy puff of air is let out. This sound may be described as an aspirated voiced bilabial stop. BEN: [ bh ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final h h h b a:t – rice sɔ:b a: – meeting la:b – profit h h h b a:s̥ a: – language so:b a: – beauty lo:b – greed h h h h b a:r – load sɔ:b a:b – nature k o:b – grief h h h b a:i̯ : – brother go:b i:r – deep du:rlɔ:b – rare h h h h b u:l – mistake ɔ:b a:b – proverty bi:kk o:b – agitation CTG: [ bh ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final h h h b a:t – rice sɔ:b a: – meeting la:b – profit h h h b a:s̥ a: – language la:b a: – lava lo:b – greed h h h h b a:ro:t – india sɔ:b a:b – nature k o:b – grief h h h b a:i̯ : – brother go:b i:r – deep du:rlɔ:b – rare h h h h b u:l – mistake ɔ:b a:b – proverty bi:kk o:b – agitation [ t ]: To produce this sound the soft palate is raised to close the nasal passage. The air-stream coming from the lungs is completely stopped by the front of the tongue against the upper teeth. The obstruction is released without any aspiration. There is no vibration in the vocal cords. The sound may be described as an unaspirated voiceless dental stop. 68

BEN: [ t ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final h ti:n – three k a:ta: – an exercise book sa:t – seven ti:r – bank of river pa:ta: – leaf ha:t – hand h h ta:r – his/her c a:ta: – umbrella b a:t – rice ta:ra: – they ju:to: – shoe ra:t – night tu:mi: – you no:tu:n – new ja:t – caste CTG: [ t ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final h ti:n – three k a:ta: – an exercise book sa:t – seven ti:r – arrow pa:ta: – leaf ha:t – hand h h ta:r – wire c a:ti:– umbrella b a:t – rice ta:ra: – they ju:ta: – shoe ra:i:t – night tu:i: – you no:tu:n – new ja:t – caste

h [ t ]: The process of articulation for this sound is similar to that of [ t ] except that the stop is released with a heavy puff of air. This sound may be described as an aspirated voiceless dental stop.

h h BEN: [ t ] occurs in all positions of a word. But [ t ] sounds almost like [ t ] h in the final position. [ t ] does not occur initially or medially as the first member in combination with other consonants. Initial Medial Final h h h t o:li: – a bag kɔ:t a: – word pɔ:t – path h h h t a:la: – a plate ma:t a: – head rɔ:t – chariot h h h t a:ma: – to stop bæ:t a: – pain ka:t – decoction h h h t a:ka: – to stay la:t i: – a kick na:t – a surname h h h t u:tni: – the chin sa:t i: – a friend ɔ:na:t – an orphan CTG: As Bengali, [ th ] occurs in all positions of a word. But [ th ] sounds h almost like [ t ] in the final position. [ t ] does not occur initially or medially as the first member in combination with other consonants.

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Initial Medial Final h h h t o:i:la: – a bag kɔ:t a: – word pɔ:t – path h h h t a:l – a plate ma:t a: – head rɔ:t – chariot h h h t a:mo:n – to stop bæ:t a: – pain ka:it – tilt h h h t a:ko:n – to stay ke:t a: – blanket na :t – a surname h h h t a:ppo:r – slap la:tt i: – a kick ɔ:na:t – an orphan [ d ]: To produce this sound the air stream is completely stopped by the front of the tongue against the upper teeth like the production of [ t ] and the stoppage is released without heavy puff of air. The soft palate is raised to close the nasal passage. The vocal cords are clearly vibrated to produce voice and this makes the difference between [ t ] and [ d ].

BEN: [ d ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final do:ś – ten jo:di: – if ro:d – sunshine di:n – day no:di: – river ba:d – exclusion du:r – far ka:da: – mud mɔ:d – wine de:ri: – delay a:de:ś – order sa:d – taste du:pu:r – noon ca:do:r – a bed sheet je:d – obstination CTG: [ d ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final do:ś – ten jo:di: – if ro:i:d – sunshine di:n – day no:di: – river ba:d – exclusion du:r – far ka:do:n – crying mɔ :d – wine de:ri: – delay a:de:ś – order sa:d – taste dũ:r – noon ca:do:r – a bed sheet me:d – cholesterol

h h [ d ]: The process of articulation for [ d ] is similar to that of [ d ] except that the stoppage is released with a heavy puff of air. This sound is described as an aspirated voiced dental stop.

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BEN: [ dh ] occurs in all positions of a word. But [ dh ] sounds almost like [ d ] in the final position. Initial Medial Final h h h d a:n – paddy ba:d a: – obstruction sa:d – desire h h h d o:n – wealth mo:d u: – honey bæ:d – hunter h h h d ɔ:ra: – to catch ga:d a: – an ass śo:d – repayment h h h d a:t – nature si:d e: – straight ba:d – dam h h h d a:r – debt o:d i:ka:r – right ɔ:ba:d – unobstructed CTG: [ dh ] occurs in all positions of a word. But [ dh ] sounds almost like [ d ] in the final position. Initial Medial Final h h h d a:n – paddy ba:d a: – obstruction sa:d – desire h h h d o:n – wealth mo:d u: – honey ka:d – shoulder h h h d ɔ:ro:n – to catch ga:d a: – an ass śo:d – repayment h h h d a:kka: – push ɔ:dd e:k – half biro:d – enmity h h h d a:r – debt o:d i:ka:r – right ɔ:bo:d – unobstructed [ t̥ ]: To produce this sound the tip of the tongue is raised towards the roof of the mouth and is curled back. The underside of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth and then suddenly it leaves the point of articulation and explodes without releasing a heavy puff of air. The nasal passage remains closed and the vocal cords are not vibrated. The sound may be described as an unaspirated voiceless retroflex stop. BEN: [ t̥ ] occurs in all position Initial Medial Final t̥a:ka: – money a:t̥ɔ:k – detention la:t̥ – gentle man t̥ɔ:k – sour ku:t̥ni: – unlawful woman ɔ:kɔ:pɔ:t̥ – frankly t̥ɔ:kko:r – challenge kost̥ɔ: – trouble a:ka:t̥ – arrant t̥a:na: – pulling ɔ:kt̥t̥o: – irrefutable ɔ:t̥u:t̥ – intact t̥ɔ:me:to: – tomato ɔ:t̥ɔ:l – firm pa:t̥– jute

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CTG: [ t̥ ] occurs in all position Initial Medial Final t̥e:a: – money a:t̥ɔ:k – detention la:t̥ – gentle man h t̥ɔ:k – sour ku:t̥budd i: – unlawful plan i:t̥ – brick t̥ɔ:kko:r – challenge kost̥ɔ: – trouble u:t̥ – camel t̥a:no:n – pulling ɔ:pu:st̥i: – malnutrition ɔ : t̥u:t̥ – intact t̥ɔ:me:to: – tomato ɔ:t̥ɔ:l – firm bo:t̥– a banyan tree

h [ t̥ ]: The process of articulation is similar to that of [ t̥ ] but when the stoppage in the mouth is released, a heavy puff of air is let out. This sound may be described as an aspirated voiceless retroflex stop.

h h BEN: [ t̥ ] occurs in all positions of a word. But [ t̥ ] sounds almost like [ t̥ ] in the final position. Initial Medial Final h h h t̥ i:k – exact ma:t̥ a: – milk cream pa :t̥ – lesson h h h t̥ a:nd̥ a: – cool mi:t̥ a: – sweet ka:t̥ – wood h h h t̥ i:ka:na: – address pi:t̥ e: – cake lu:t̥ – plunder h h h t̥ a:ku:ma: – grandmother mu:t̥ o: – handful pi:t̥ – back h h h t̥ a:t̥t̥a: – fun ka:t̥ a:l – jack fruit ma:t̥ – field

h h CTG: [ t̥ ] occurs in all positions of a word. But [ t̥ ] sounds almost like [ t̥ ] in the final position. Initial Medial Final h h h t̥ i:k – exact ma:t̥ a: – milk cream mo :t̥ – hindu temple h 4 h h t̥ a:nd̥ a: – cool ɔ:ti:s t̥ o: – irritate mu :t ̥ – handful h h h h t̥ i:ka:na: – address ɔ:d i:st̥ a:n – dwelling lu:t̥ – plunder h h h t̥ a:ku:mma: – grandmother o:nu:st̥ a:n – ceremony pi:t̥ – back h h h t̥ a:d̥ a: – thunder ka:t̥t̥ o:l – jackfruit ma:t̥ – field [ d̥ ]: The process of articulation is similar to that of [ t̥ ] except that the sound is voiced. That is, to produce this sound the tongue is raised towards the roof of the mouth and is slightly curled back. The underside of the tongue touches 72 the roof of the mouth and then suddenly the stoppage of air is released with an explosion but without aspiration. The nasal passage remains closed and the vocal cords vibrate. This sound may be described as an unaspirated voiced retroflex stop. BEN: [ d̥ ] occurs initial position of a word. Medially and finally it occurs in a few loan words only. Initial Medial Final d̥ i:m – egg so:d̥ a: – sodium bicarbonate rɔ:d̥ – rod d̥ a:l – branch a:d̥ d̥ a: – a rendezvous ro:d̥ – road d̥ a:na: – wing ha:d̥ d̥ i:sa:r – skinny d̥ a:ŋa: – dry land d̥ i:ŋi – small boat CTG: [ d̥ ] occurs initial position of a word. Medially and finally it occurs in a few loan words only. Initial Medial Final d̥ i:m – egg mi:d̥ a: – sweet rɔ:d̥ – rod d̥ o:r – fear fa:d̥ a: – fracture ro:d̥ – road d̥ a:ko:n – to call lo:d̥ :a: – pot d̥ a:i:ne: – to right side o:d̥ a: – elder call to younger [ d̥ h ]: The process of articulation for [ d̥ h ] is similar to that of [ d̥ ] except that the obstruction in the mouth is released with a heavy puff of air. This sound may be described as an aspirated voiced retroflex stop. [ d̥ h ] does not occur initially as the first member in combination with any other consonant. BEN: [ d̥ h ] occurs only initial position of a word. Initial h d̥ a:k – a drum h d̥ i:le: – loose h d̥ e:u̯ : – wave h d̥ a:l – a shield h d̥ ɔ:l – a slope

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h CTG: [ d̥ ] occurs only initial position of a word. Initial h d̥ a:k – a drum h d̥ i:la: – loose h d̥ e:u̯ : – wave d̥ ha:l – a shield h d̥ ɔ:l – a slope [ k ]: To produce this sound the soft palate is raised to close the nasal passage. The air-stream coming from the lungs is completely checked by the back part of the tongue against the soft palate. The air is exploded without any aspiration. There is no vibration in the vocal cords. This sound may be described as an unaspirated voiceless velar stop. BEN: [ k ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final ka:j – work ka:ka: – uncle ka : k – crow kɔ:la: – a banana pa:ka: – ripe śa:k – vegetable kɔ:ra: – to do bo:ka: – fool bu:k - chest ka:lo: – black po:ka: – insect ta :k – a shelf ka:li: – ink ku:ku:r – dog lo:k – people CTG: [ k ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final ka:m – work ka:ka: – uncle po :k – insect kɔ:la: – a banana ca:kka: – wheel śa:k – vegetable h ka:śi: – sneezing c o:kka: – six bu:k - chest ka:la: – black æ:ka: – alone ti:lo:k – a sign on forhead h ka:li: – ink t̥a:kko: – bald c o:t̥a:k – a measure of weight

[ kh ]: The process of articulation is similar to that of [ k ] except that the sound is aspirated. The sound may be described as an aspirated voiceless velar stop.

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BEN: [ kh ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final h h h k u:b – very pa:k a: – fan mu:k – mouth h h h k a:ta: – an exercise book dæ:k a: – to see co:k – eye h h h k æ:la: – play tɔ:k o:n – then śo:k - hobby h h h k a:ra:p – bad æ:k o:n – now no:k – nail h h h h k a:t̥ – bed mu:k o:mu:k i: – confront a :k – sugarcane CTG: [ kh ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final h h h k a:ca: – prison pa:ŋk a: – fan mu :k – mouth h h h k a:ta: – an exercise book dæ:k a: – to see co:k – eye h h h k æ:la: – play tɔ:k o:n – then śo:k - hobby h h h k a:ra:p – bad æ:k o:n – now no:k – nail h h h k a:t̥ – bed bo:i:śa:k i: – Bengali month pa:k – wing

[ g ]: The process of articulation is similar to that of [ k ] except that the sound is voiced. That is, to produce this sound the air-stream is stopped when the back part of the tongue touches the soft palate. The air is exploded, without any aspiration and the nasal passage is closed. But the vocal cords are clearly vibrated. This sound may be described as an unaspirated voiced velar stop. BEN: [ g ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final ga:n – song ro:ga: – thin ro :g – disease ga: – body pa:go:l – mad ra:g – anger h go:ru: – a cow c a:go:l – a goat da:g – a mark h h ga:c – a tree ba:ga:n – garden b a:g – share gɔ:ro:m – hot sa:go:r – sea ju:g – an era

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CTG: [ g ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final ga:n – song ro:ga: – thin ro :g – disease ga: – body ma:go:n – begging ra:g – anger go:ru: – a cow u:ggɔ: – just one da:g – a mark h h ga:c – a tree ba:ga:n – garden b a:g – share go:ro:m – hot sa:go:r – sea ju:g – an era

[ gh ]: The Process of articulation is similar to that of [ g ] except that the sound is aspirated. This sound may be described as an aspirated voiced velar stop. BEN: [ gh ] occurs in all positions of a word. But in the final position it sounds almost like [ g ]. Initial Medial Final h h h g i: – clarified butter di:g i: – a large tank ba :g – tiger h h h g o:r – a room ba:g a: – very efficient ma:g – a month cloud h h h g o:ra:– a horse bi:g a: – a measure of flat area me:g – cloud h h h g u:m – sleep be:g o:r – absence of ni:da:g – summer sensibility h h h g u:s̥ – bribe a:g a:t – a stroke ɔ :mo :g – unfailing CTG: [ gh ] occurs in all positions of a word. But in the final position it sounds almost like [ g ]. Initial Medial Final h h h g i: – clarified butter ɔ:g a – illiterate ba:g – tiger h h h g o:r – a room ɔ:g o:r – senseless ma:g – a month cloud h h h g o:ra:– a horse bi:g a: – a measure of flat area me:g – cloud h h h g u:m – sleep ɔ:po:g a:t – accident mo:g – a community lives in Bangladesh and in myanmar h h h g u:s̥ – bribe a:g a:t – a stroke ga : g – customer

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2) Affricates The differences between stops in consonants of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect are shown by Mr. Mukul Kanti Barua, Patharghata city, Chittagong.5 [ c ]: To produce this sound the air-stream coming from the lungs is stopped by the closure made by the front part of the tongue against the hard palate. Then the stoppage is released gradually so that a friction is created. There is no aspiration and voice. The soft palate is raised to block the entry of air into the nasal passage. This sound may be described as an unaspirated voiceless alveo-palatal affricate. BEN: [ c ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final ca: – tea pɔ:ca: – rotten nã :c – dance ca:l – rice ka:ca: – to wash ka :c – you wash ca:r – four a:ca:r – pickle pã :c – five cu:l – hair kã:ca: – unripe chũ:c – a needle co:r – a thief bã:ca: – to live kã:c – glass CTG: [ c ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final ca: – tea pɔ:ca: – rotten nã :c – dance co:i:l – rice mã:ca: – bed made by ã:c – ignition bamboo ca:i:r – four a:ca:r – pickle pã :c – five cu:l – hair kẽ:ca: – unripe chũ:i:c – a needle co:r – a thief bã:co:n – to live kã:i:c – glass

[ ch ]: The process of articulation is similar to that of [ c ] except that the sound is aspirated. This sound is may be described as an aspirated voiceless alveo- palatal affricate.

5 Interview with Mr. Mukul Kanti Barua, Patharghata city, Chittagong, 6 November 2019. 77

BEN: [ ch ] occurs in all positions of a word. But finally it sounds almost like [ c ]. Initial Medial Final h h h c ɔ:e̯ :– six ka:c e: – near ma :c – fish h h h c a:ta: – an umbrella ki:c u: – some ga:c – tree h h h c u:t̥i: – holiday ma:c i: – a fly go :c – a bunch h h h c o:t̥o: – small mi:c e: – false mo:c – you wipe h h h c o:la: – gram go:c a: – a bundle ba:c – you select CTG: [ ch ] occurs in all positions of a word. But finally it sounds almost like [ c ]. Initial Medial Final h h h c ɔ:– six ka:c e: – near ma :c – fish h h h c a:ti: – an umbrella ki:c u: – some ga:c – tree h h h c u:d̥ i: – holiday ma:c i: – a fly go :c – a bunch h h h c o:d̥ o: – small mi:c a: – false mo:c – you wipe h h h c o:la: – chickpea go:c a: – a bundle ba:c – you select [ j ]: The process of articulation is similar to that of [ c ] except that the sound is voiced. That is, to produce the sound the air-stream is stopped by the closure made by the front part of the tongue against the hard palate. The air is released with friction. There is no aspiration. But the vocal cords are vibrated. The nasal passage remains closed. This sound may be described as an unaspirated voiced alveo-palatal affricate. BEN: [ j ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final jɔ:l – water mɔ:ja: – pleasure ka : j – work jo:r – strength ba:je: – trashy ro:j – daily h ja:t – caste b i:je: – wet a:j – today je:la: – district so:ja: – straight ba:j – thunder ju:to: – shoe ba:ja:r – market so:ho:j – easy

78

CTG: [ j ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final ja:m – rose apple mɔ:ja: – pleasure ma :j – you wash dish h jɔ:r – fever ba:je: – trashy k o:j – to search h ja:t – caste b i:ja: – wet a:i:j – today je:la: – district so:ja: – straight ba:j – thunder ju:ta: – shoe ba:ja:r – market so:ho:j – easy

h [ j ]: The process of articulation is similar to that of [ j ] except that the sound is aspirated. This sound may be described as an aspirated voiced alveo-palatal affricate.

h BEN: [ j ] occurs in all positions of a word. But finally it sounds almost like [ j ]. Initial Medial Final h h h j i: – maid servant me:j e: – floor bo:j – understand h h h j ɔ:r – storm ma:j e: – inside ma :j – the midst h h h j u:li: – a bag bo:j a: – load sa:j – evening h h h h j o:l – curry soup ma:j a:ri: – moderate j a:j – strong heat h h h j o:gr̥ a: – quarrel ma:j a:ma:j i: – almost central CTG: [ jh ] occurs in all positions of a word. But finally it sounds almost like [ j ]. Initial Medial Final h h h j i: – maid servent me:j e: – floor bu:j – understand h h h j ɔ:r – storm ma:j e: – inside ma :j – the midst h h h j ɔ:la: – a bag bo:j a: – load sa:j – draw on clay home h h h h j o:l – curry soup ma:j a:ri: – moderate j a:j – strong heat h h h j a:r̥ – thicket ma:j a:ma:j i: – almost central

3) Fricatives The differences between stops in consonants of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect are shown by Mr. Promotosh Barua, Hoarapara Village Raozan, Chittagong.6

6 Interview with Mr. Promotosh Barua, Hoarapara Village Raozan, Chittagong, 13 November 2019. 79

[ s ]: To produce this sound the front part of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate leaving a narrow passage through which the air squeezes out with friction. The soft palate will be raised to block the entry of air into the nasal passage and vocal passage and the vocal cords do not vibrate. The lips are slightly spread apart and not protruded. This sound may be described as a voiceless alveo-palatal fricative. BEN: [ s ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final śo: – lie down a:śa: – hope ba:s – residences so:na: – gold ba:sa: – nest ma:s – a month sɔ:ka:l – morning ha:si – a laugh a:ka:ś – sky so:ja: – easy ca:s̥ a: – a farmer ca:s̥ – cultivation śe:s̥ – end ni:mi:s̥ e – in an instant a:po:s̥ – compromise CTG: [ s ] occurs in all positions of a word. Initial Medial Final śo: śo: – sound of wind a:śa: – hope ba:ś – bamboo so:na: – gold ba:sa: – nest ma:s – a month sɔ:ma:n – morning ha:si – a laugh a:ka:ś – sky so:ja: – easy ca:i:ss̥ a: – a farmer ca:s̥ – cultivation śe:s̥ – end ni:mi:s̥ e – in an instant mo:i:s̥ - buffalo In BEN [ s ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with [ t̥ ] (in some loan words) and [ t̥ h ]. [ s ] occurs medially as the first member in combination with [ k ], [ c ], [ ch ], [ t̥ ], [ n ], [ p ], [ ph ], [ m ], [ kr ], [ t̥r ], [ pr ]. It occurs also in germination. This part of interview is given by Ven. Sanghananda Mahathera, Sylet Buddhist Monastery, Brahmanshason, Nayapara, Sylet.7

7 Interview with Ven. Sanghananda Mahathera, Sylet Buddhist Monastery, Brahmanshason, Nayapara, Sylet, 13 November 2019. 80

Example: [ st̥ ] = /st̥e:s̥ o:n/ ‘station’ h h [ st̥ ] = /st̥ i:bo:n/ ‘spitting’ [ śk ] = /śu:s̥ ko:/ ‘dry’ [ śc ] = /po:ści:m/ ‘west’ h h [ śc ] = /śi:ro:c e:d/ ‘beheading’ [ śn ] = /prśno:/ ‘question’ [ s̥ p] = /ba:s̥ po:/ ‘vapour’ h h [ s̥ p ] = /ni:s̥ p ɔ:l/ ‘fruitless’ [ śm ] = /ka:śmi:r/ ‘a place in between India and Pakistan’ [ ss ] = /so:sso:/ ‘crops’ [ s̥ kr ] = /ni:s̥ kri:o:/ ‘inactive’ [ s̥ tr ] = /ra:s̥ tro:/ ‘a state, a country’ [ s̥ pr ] = /ni:s̥ pro:di:p/ ‘black – out’. [ s ]: To produce this sound the front part of the tongue (rather that part of tongue which is immediately behind the tip of the tongue) is raised towards the inner side of upper teeth and the teeth-ridge leaving a narrow passage through which the air squeezes out with friction. The soft palate is raised. The vocal cords do not vibrate. The lips are spread slightly. This sound may be described as a voiceless dental fricative. BEN: in this case [ s ] does not occur as an individual entity. It occurs always in combination with other sounds. [ s ] occurs initially as the first member combination with [ k ], [ kh ], [ t ], [ th ], [ n ], [ p ], [ ph ], [ r ], [ l ], [ kr ], [ tr ], and [ pr ]. [ s ] occurs medially as the first member in combination with [ t ], [ th ], [ sn ], [ sr ], [sl ] and [ tr ]. Example:

h [ sk ] = /skɔ:nd o:/ ‘the shoulder’ h h [ sk ] = /sk ɔ:lo:n/ ‘falling’ [ st ] = /stɔ:b/ ‘a hymn’ h h [ st ] = /st a:n/ ‘a place’ [ sn ] = /sna:n/ ‘bath’ [ sp ] = /spɔ:rśo:/ ‘touch’ 81

h h [ sp ] = /sp o:t̥i:k/ ‘crystal’ [ sr ] = /sro:t/ ‘a current’ [ sl ] = /slo:k/ ‘a couplet’ [ skr ] = /skru:/ ‘a screw’ [ str ] = /stri:/ ‘a wife’ [ spr ] = /spri:ŋ/ ‘a spring’ [ ssl ] = /ɔ:ssli:l/ ‘obscene’. CTG: There is no use of such words in Chittagonian. [ h ]: To produce this sound the glottis, the space or opening between the vocal cords remains open, thus producing no voice. The tip of the tongue lies loosely on the gum of the lower teeth. The middle part of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate. The air-stream passes through the glottis with weak friction. The lips are open. The nasal passage is closed. This sound may be descried as a voiceless glottal fricative. BEN: [ h ] occurs initially and medially. Initial Medial ha:t– hand mo:ho: – infatuation ha:si:– smile lo:ha: – iron ha:ti – an elephant bo:hu: – many 3 ha:r̥ - bone be: ha:la: – violin hu:ku:m – order pa:ha:r̥ - a hill CTG: [ h ] occurs initially and medially. Initial Medial ha:t– hand mo:ho: – infatuation ha:si:– smile lo:ha: – iron ha:ti – an elephant a:ha: – alas 3 ha:r̥ - bone be: ha:la: – violin hu:ku:m – order pa:ha:r̥ - a hill [ ɦ ]: The process of articulation is similar to that of [ h ] except that the sound is voiced. This sound may be described as a voiced glottal fricative. [ ɦ ] 82 occurs always in combination with other sounds. It occurs initially as the first member in combination with [ r ] and [ i ] and medially with [ r ]. BEN: [ ɦr ]: /ɦrɔ:d/ ‘lake’ /ɦra:s/ ‘decrease /upo:ɦri:to:/ ‘presented’ [ ɦl ]: /ɦla:di:to:/ ‘delighted’ /ɦla:di:ni:/ ‘delighting’ CTG: [ ɦ ] is not available in Chittagonian Dialect. 4) Nasals The differences between nasals in consonants of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect are shown by Mr. Mukul Kanti Barua, Patharghata city, Chittagong.8 [ m ]: To produce this sound the lips are closed so that the air-stream is stopped in the mouth. The soft palate is lowered and the air-stream passes through the nasal cavity. The vocal cords are vibrated. This sound may be described as a bilabial nasal. BEN: [ m ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final ma:– mother a:mi – i a:m – mango h ma:c – fish ja:ma: – garment kɔ:m – less h ma:s – month bo:ma: – bomb g a:m – sweat mi:l – similarity ma:ma: – uncle nɔ:rɔ:m – soft h ma:t a:– head a:ma:r – my gɔ:rɔ:m – warm

8 Interview with Mr. Mukul Kanti Barua, Patharghata city, Chittagong, 13 November 2019. 83

CTG: [ m ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final h ma:– mother k o:ma:– forgiveness a:m – mango h ma:c – fish ja:ma: – garment kɔ:m – less h ma:s – month bo:ma: – bomb g a:m – sweat mi:l – similarity ma:ma: – uncle nɔ:ro:m– soft h ma:t a:– head a:mo:n – a kind of paddy gɔ:rɔ:m – warm [ n ]: To produce this sound the tip of the tongue is raised towards the backside of the upper teeth to block the air in the mouth cavity. The soft palate is lowered and the air-stream passes freely through the nose. The vocal cords are vibrated. The lips are not rounded and are kept open. This sound may be described as an alveolar/post dental nasal. BEN: [ n ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final na:m – name no:na: – salty ka:n – ear na:k – nose so:na: – gold bã:n – flood h no:di: – river śo:na: – to hear d a:n – paddy ni:l – blue ja:ni: – I know nu:n – salt no:ro:k – hell mo:ni: – jewel mo:n – mind CTG: [ n ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final na:m – name no:na: – salty ka:n – ear na:k – nose so:na: – gold bã:n – flood h no:di: – river mo:na: – mynah bird d a:n – paddy ni:l – blue ja:ni: – I know nu:n – salt no:ro:k – hell mo:ni: – jewel mo:n – mind [ ŋ ]: To produce this sound the lips are kept open. The back part of the tongue touches the soft palate to block the air current in the mouth passage. The soft palate is lowered and the air-stream escapes through the nose. The vocal cords are vibrated. This sound may be described as a velar nasal. [ ŋ ] occurs only in between vowels. 84

BEN: [ ŋ ] occurs medially and finally. Initial Medial ra:ŋa: – crimson ro:ŋ – color h b a:ŋa: – broken so:ŋ – a clown ba:ŋa:li: – a Bengali jɔ:ŋ – rust ka:ŋa:l – destitute ra:ŋ – tin d̥ a:ŋa: – upland ba:ŋg – marijuana CTG: [ ŋ ] occurs medially and finally. Initial Medial mo:ŋga: – expensive ro:ŋ – color h b a:ŋa: – broken so:ŋ – a clown ba:ŋa:li: – a Bengali tɔ:ŋ – drunk h ka:ŋa:l – destitute t e:ŋ – a leg le:ŋga: – lame ba:ŋg – marijuana 5) Flaps The differences between flaps in consonants of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect are shown by. Mr. Promotosh Barua, Hoarapara Village Raozan, Chittagong.9 [ r ]: This tip of the tongue touches the teeth-ridge in a such a way that it results in a single quick tap or flap. The nasal passage is closed by raising the soft palate. The air-stream passes through the oral cavity. The vocal cords are vibrated. The lips are not rounded but kept slightly open. This sound may be described as a voiced alveolar flap. BEN: [ r ] occurs medially and finally. Initial Medial a:ra:m – comfort a:r – and nɔ:rɔ:m– soft ka:r – whose gɔ:rɔ:m – warm ca:r – four

9 Interview with Mr. Promotosh Barua, Hoarapara Village Raozan, Chittagong, 13 November 2019. 85

Initial Medial h to:ra: – you (plural) d a:r – debt ma:ra: – to strike a:ba:r – again CTG: [ r ] occurs medially and finally. Initial Medial a:ra:m – comfort a:r – and nɔ:rɔ:m– soft ka:r – whose gɔ:rɔ:m – warm ca:i:r – four h to:ra: – you (plural) d a:r – debt ma:ra: – to strike a:ba:r – again [ r̥ ]: The tip of the tongue is raised towards the roof of the mouth and is slightly curled back. As a result its underside touches the roof of the mouth and thus the air-stream is blocked. Then the air-stream bursts out throwing the tip of the tongue forward with a sharp thrust. There is no explosion or release of a heavy puff of air similar to the one we find in the production of stops. The sound produced by the release has the quality of flapping. The nasal passage is closed. The vocal cords are vibrated. The lips are not rounded but kept slightly open. This sound may be described as a voiced retroflex flap. BEN: [ r̥ ] occurs medially and finally. Initial Medial pɔ:r̥ a: – to head ha:r̥ – bone kɔ:r̥ a:– strict ma:r̥ – starch sa:r̥ a: – reply mo:r̥ – crossing h b a:r̥ a: – rent sa:r̥ – sensation ta:r̥ a: – hurry gha:r̥ – neck CTG: [ r̥ ] occurs medially and finally. Initial Medial pɔ:r̥ a: – to head cha:r̥ – rebate kɔ:r̥ a: – strict ma:r̥ – starch sa:r̥ a: – reply mo:r̥ – crossing 86

Initial Medial h b a:r̥ a: – rent sa:r̥ – sensation ta:r̥ a: – hurry la:r̥ – you move

h [ r̥ ]: The process of articulation is similar to that of [ r̥ ] except that the sound is aspirated. This sound may be described as a voiced aspirated retroflex flap.

h BEN: [ r̥ ] occurs medially and finally in sophisticated speed. In rapid speed h [ r̥ ] is pronounced as [ r̥ ] only. Medial Final h h dri:r̥ o: – firm a:s̥ a:r̥ – name of the Bengali month h ga:r̥ o – deep ma:r̥ – starch h mu:r̥ o: – fool mo:r̥ – crossing h ru:r̥ o: – rude sa:r̥ – sensation h gu:r̥ o: – secret la:r̥ – you move

h CTG: [ r̥ ] occurs medially and finally in sophisticated speed. In rapid speed h [ r̥ ] is pronounced as [ r̥ ] only. Medial Final h h ga:r̥ o – deep a:s̥ a:r̥ – name of the Bengali month 6) Trill The differences between tril in consonants of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect are shown by. Mr. Promotosh Barua, Hoarapara Village Raozan, Chittagong.10 [ r ]: The tip of the tongue taps against the teeth ridge two or three times resulting in a trill sound. The soft palate is raised to close the nasal passage. The air- stream passes through the oral cavity. The vocal cords are vibrated. The lips are not rounded but kept slightly open. This sound may be described as an alveolar trill. When [ r ] use front of the word, it becomes a trill sound. When it use in medially and finally, [ r ] belongs to Flaps sound. But both Flap and Trill phonetic symbols are same [ r ] in

10 Interview with Mr. Promotosh Barua, Hoarapara Village Raozan, Chittagong, 13 November 2019. 87

English and [ র ] in Bengali and Chittagonian Dialect. Trill [ r ] does not occurs with combination of any other words. BEN: Trill [ r ] occurs only initially. Initial ra:t – night ra:śi: – horoscope rɔ:tɔ:n – jewel rɔ:ga: – skinny ra:g – anger CTG: Trill [ r ] occurs only initially. Initial ra:i:t – night ra:śi: – horoscope rɔ:tɔ:n – jewel rɔ:ga: – skinny ra:g – anger 7) Lateral The differences between lateral in consonants of Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect are shown by. Ven. Ratanasree Mahathera, Abbot of Shraddhananda Vihara, Raozan, Chittagong.11 [ l ]: The tip of the tongue touches the teeth-ridge and thus there is a blockade of air in the middle of the mouth. However, the sides of the tongue are not in contact with the roof of the mouth. The air is allowed to pass by the sides of the tongue. The nasal passage is closed by raising the soft palate. The vocal cords are vibrated. This sound may be described as a voiced alveolar-lateral.

11 Interview with Honorable Vice Sanghanayaka of Bangladesh Bhikkhu Mahasabha Ven. Ratanasree Mahathera, Abbot of Shraddhananda Vihara, Raozan, Chittagong, 13 November 2019. 88

BEN: [ l ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final h la:l – red k æ:la: – playing ka:l – time/ yesterday lo:k – people a:lo: – light ga:l – cheek h h le:k a: – writing ka:lo: – black k a:l – canal h h lo:b – greed bha:lo: – good c a:l– skin h li:cu – litchi t a:la: – a plate d̥ a:l – branch CTG: [ l ] occurs in all the positions of a word. Initial Medial Final h la:l – red k æ:la: – playing ka:i:l – tomorrow la:ś – dead body ma:la: – garland ga:l – cheek h la:mba: – long ka:la: – black k a:l – canal lo:bh– greed bha:la: – good cha:l– skin h li:cu – litchi go:la: – granary t a:l – a plate 8) Semi Vowels This part of interview is given by Mr. Fani Bhushan Barua, Basabo, Sabujbagh, Dhaka.12

[ i̯ ]: This sound is non-syllabic variant of the vowel [ i ]. It is formed in the same manner as the vowel [ i ] except that is produced when the articulatory organs make a rapid movement from one vowel position to that of [ i ]. This sound occurs always as the second element in combination with other vowels. Example: [ ii̯ ] [ ai̯ ] [ ui̯ ] h di:i̯ : – I give k a:i̯ : – I eat du:i̯ :– two [ ei̯ ] [ oi̯ ] se:i̯ : – that do:i̯ : – curd

12 Interview with Mr. Fani Bhushan Barua, Basabo, Sabujbagh, Dhaka, 13 November 2019. 89

[ u̯ ]: This sound is non-syllabic variant of the vowel [ u ]. The production of this sound is similar to that of [ u ], except that at that time of production of articulatory organs make a rapid movement from one vowel position to that of [ u ]. This sound occurs always as the second element in combination with other vowels. Examples: [ iu̯ ] [ au̯ ] śi:u̯ :li – a kind of flower la:u̯ : – pumpkin

[ eu̯ ] [ ou̯ ] ke:u̯ : – anyone bo:u̯ : – married woman [ e̯ ]: This sound is non-syllabic variant of the vowel [ e ]. It is formed in the same manner as the vowel [ e ], except that it is produced when the articulatory organs make a rapid movement from one vowel position to that of [ e ]. This sound occurs always as the second element in combination with other vowels. Examples: [ ae̯ ] ja:e̯ : – he goes

[ ee̯ ] [ ɔe̯ ] h k e:e̯ :– having eaten nɔ:e̯ : – nine

[ æe̯ ] [ oe̯ ] næ:e̯ :– he takes śo:e̯ : – he lies [ o̯ ]: This sound is non-syllabic variant of the vowel [ o ]. This production of this sound is similar to that of [ o ]. But when producing the articulatory organs move rapidly from one vowel position to that of [ o ]. This sound occurs always as the second element in combination with other vowels.

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Examples: [ æo̯ ] [ ɔo̯ ] mæ:o̯ : – sound of cat hɔ:o̯ : – you become

[ ao̯ ] [ oo̯ ] na:o̯ : – you take śo:o̯ : – you lie down In conclusion, the researcher can say that knowledge we can get from the comparative of BEN Language and CTG Dialect phonology. This research was conducted in a sample of phonological structural model effectively and efficiently.

Chapter V

Conclusion, Discussion and Suggestion

This research is aimed to study the comparative Phonological study of BEN Language and CTG Dialect spoken in Bangladesh. To research and analysis, BEN Vowels, BEN Consonants, CTG Vowels, CTG Consonants and similarities and dissimilarities in between BEN Language and CTG Dialect that spoken in Bangladesh. The research refers develop knowledge and comprehensive analyze in between BEN Language and CTG Dialect. This chapter presents the conclusion, discussion and suggestion for further studies. The main points of this chapter can be divides into three categories as following: 5.1 Conclusion 5.2 Discussion 5.3 Suggestion 5.1 Conclusion As mentioned above, the key objective of the study is to discover the comparative BEN Language and CTG Dialect. The researcher had collected books, BEN and CTG books, Thesis, Documents, online research and interview BEN and Chittagonian people in Bangladesh. The study shows, there are phonological study of BEN Vowels, CTG Vowels, BEN Consonants, CTG Consonants and comprehensive analysis in between BEN Language and CTG Dialect. CTG Dialect is just an oral dialect which does not have any written form. On the other hand BEN has both oral and written form. In Comparison with the previous studies, the researcher hopes to find some initial vowels and consonants which define the characteristics of BEN Language and CTG Dialect as mentioned in Hypothesis. By viewing the whole research, it found that there are a few minor differences. 92

5.1.1 In Bengali Language there are four types of semi vowels: 1) [ i̯ ]: non-syllabic variant of the vowel [ i ] which is formed in the same manner as the vowel [ i ] except that is produced when the articulatory organs make a rapid movement from one vowel position to that of [ i ] and which is occurred always as the second element in combination with other vowels. Example: [ ii̯ ] =/ni:i̯ :/ ‘I take’ [ ai̯ ] = /pa:i̯ :/ ‘I get’ [ ui̯ ] =/du:i̯ :/ ‘two’ [ ei̯ ] = /e:i̯ :/ ‘this’ [ oi̯ ] = / lo:i̯ :/ ‘I take’. 2) [ u̯ ]: non-syllabic variant of the vowel [ u ] which is formed in the same manner as the vowel [ u ] except that is produced when the articulatory organs make a rapid movement from one vowel position to that of [ u ] and which is occurred always as the second element in combination with other vowels. Example: [ iu̯ ] =/śi:u̯ :li/ ‘a kind of flower’ [ au̯ ]= /la:u̯ :/ ‘pumpkin’ [ eu̯ ] =/ke:u̯ :/ ‘anyone’ [ ou̯ ] = /mo:u̯ :/ ‘bee’ 3) [ e̯ ]: non-syllabic variant of the vowel [ e ] which is formed in the same manner as the vowel [ e ] except that is produced when the articulatory organs make a rapid movement from one vowel position to that of [ e ] and which is occurred always as the second element in combination with other vowels. Example: [ ae̯ ] =/pa:e̯ :/ ‘he gets’ [ ee̯ ]= /pe:e̯ :/ ‘having gotten’ [ ɔe̯ ] = /nɔ:e̯ :/ ‘nine’ [ ee̯ ]= /dæ:e:e̯ :/ ‘he gives’ [ oe̯ ] =/lo:e̯ :/ ‘he takes’. 4) [ o̯ ]: non-syllabic variant of the vowel [ o ] which is formed in the same manner as the vowel [ o ] except that is produced when the articulatory organs make a rapid movement from one vowel position to that of [ o ] and which is occurred always as the second element in combination with other vowels. Example: [ æo̯ ]=/mæ:o̯ :/ ‘sound of cat’ [ ɔo̯ ]= /nɔ:o̯ :/ ‘you are not’ [ ao̯ ]= /ja:o̯ :/ ‘you go’ [ oo̯ ]= /śo:o̯ :/ ‘you lie down’. But in Chittagonian, [ i̯ ], [ u̯ ], [ e̯ ], [ o̯ ] all these semi vowel are not used. But there are some words from these semi vowels can be seen in Chittagonian Dialect for example: (1) [ i̯ ]: [ ii̯ ] = /ni:i̯ :/ ‘I take’ – not available in Chittagonian Dialect.

[ ai̯ ] = /pa:i̯ :/ ‘I get’ or /jai/̯ ‘I go – available in Chittagonain Dialect.

[ ui̯ ] = /du:i̯ :/ ‘two’ – available in Chittagonian Dialect. 93

(2) [ u̯ ]: [ iu̯ ] = /śi:u̯ :li/ ‘a kind of flower’ – available in Chittagonian Dialect. [ au̯ ] = /la:u̯ :/ ‘pumpkin’ – not available in Chittagonian Dialect. [ eu̯ ] = /ke:u̯ :/ ‘anyone’ – not available in Chittagonian Dialect. [ ou̯ ] = /mo:u̯ :/ ‘bee’ – available in Chittagonian Dialect. (3) [ e̯ ]: [ ae̯ ] = /pa:e̯ :/ ‘he gets’ – available in Chittagonian Dialect. [ ee̯ ] = /pe:e̯ :/ ‘having goten’ – not available in Chittagonian Dialect. [ ɔe̯ ] = /nɔ:e̯ :/ ‘nine’ – available in Chittagonian Dialect. [æe̯ ] = /dæ:e:e̯ :/ ‘he gives’ – not available in Chittagonian Dialect. [ oe̯ ] = /lo:e̯ :/ ‘he lies’ – not available in Chittagonian Dialect. (4) [ o̯ ]: [ æo̯ ] = /mæ:o̯ :/ ‘sound of cat’ – available in Chittagonian Dialect. [ ɔo̯ ] = /nɔ:o̯ :/ ‘you are not’ – not available in Chittagonian Dialect. [ ao̯ ] = /pa:o̯ :/ ‘you get’ – not available in Chittagonian Dialect. [ oo̯ ] = /śo:o̯ :/ ‘you lie down’ – not available in Chittagonian Dialect. So from the above discussion we can see that from these four semi vowels of Bengali, only some semi vowels are used in Chittagonian Dialect. 5. 1. 2 s, ś, s̥ in Fricatives (occurs also in germination) occurs initially as h the first member in combination with [ t̥ ] (in some loan words) and [ t̥ ]. [ s ] occurs medially as the first member in combination with [ k ] = /mu:śki:l/ ‘a trouble’ [ c ] = h h /po:ści:m/ ‘west’ [ c ] = /śi:ro:c e:d/ ‘beheading’ [ t̥ ] = /mi:s̥ ti:/ ‘sweet’ [ n ] = /tri:s̥ na:/ ‘thirst’ h h [ p ] = /ba:s̥ po:/ ‘vapour’ [ p ] = /ni:s̥ p ɔ:l/ ‘fruitless’ [ m ] = /ka:śmi:r/ ‘a place in between India and Pakistan’ [ kr ] = /ni:kkri:s̥ to:/ ‘inferior’ [ t̥r ] = /ra:s̥ tro:/ ‘a state’ [ pr ] = /ni:s̥ pro:di:p/ ‘black – out’. This kinds of words are available only in BEN but not in CTG Dialect. CTG loan some words from BEN, but not all of them for example: [ k ] = /mu:śki:l/ 94

‘a trouble’ [ t̥ ] = /mi:s̥ ti:/ ‘sweet’ [ m ] = /ka:śmi:r/ ‘a place in between India and Pakistan’ [ kr ] = /ni:kkri:s̥ to:/ ‘inferior’ [ t̥r ] = / ra:s̥ tro:/ ‘a state’ are loan words from BEN and sometimes are used in CTG. 5.1.3 In BEN, the process of articulation of [ ɦ ]: is similar to that of [ h ] except that the sound is voiced. This sound may be described as a voiced glottal fricative. [ ɦ ] occurs always in combination with other sounds. [ ɦ ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with [ r ] = /ɦrɔ:d/ ‘lake’ [ I ] = /ɦla:di:to:/ ‘delighted’ and medially with [ r ] = /upo:ɦri:to:/ ‘presented’. Using of [ ɦ ] sound is not available in CTG Dialect. 5.2 Discussion The research was found that To develop the knowledge of phonological study about BEN Language and CTG Dialect. Nowadays, the young generations study more about language but some of words of BEN and CTG have more similarity and difference in sound and word. So, research can help for young generation to study about BEN Language and CTG Dialect. In Comparison with previous studies, the researcher hopes to find some initial sounds of vowels and consonants of BEN and CTG Dialect as mentioned in hypothesis. By viewing the whole research, it found that there are a few minor differences. 5. 2. 1 In BEN, [ p ] occurs as the first member in combination with h h h [ c ] = /g u:pci:/ ‘dark and narrow’ [ c ] = /ma:pc i:/ ‘I am measuring’ [ t̥ ] = /cæ:pt̥a:/ ‘flat’ h [ t ] = /k i:pto:/ ‘maddened’ [ n ] = /sɔ:pno:/ ‘dream’ [ r ] = /pra:n/ ‘life’ [ r̥ ] = /ca:pr̥ a:no:/ ‘to h pat’ [ l ] = /pla:bo:n/ ‘flood’ [ s ] = /li:psa:/ ‘greediness’ [ p ] = /d a:ppa:/ ‘bluff’ [ pr ] = /a:ppra:n/ ‘to one’s utmost’ [ pl ] = /bi:plɔ:b/ ‘a revolution’.1 In CTG can be seen some loan words from BEN for Example: [ n ] = /sɔ:pno:/ ‘dream’ [ pr ] = /a:ppra:n/ ‘to one’s utmost’.

h 5.2.2 Krishna Bhattacarya also said, In BEN, [ p ] occurs initially as the first h h h member in combination with [ r ] = /p rɔ:k/ ‘frock’ or /p re:m/ ‘frame’ and [ l ] = /p la:ne:l/

1 Bhattacharya, Krishna, Bengali Phonetic Reader, ( Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, 1988), p. 21. 95

h ‘flannel’ or /p la:sk/ ‘flask’ in some loan words.2 In CTG can be seen some loan words h from BEN for Example: [ r ] = /p re:m/ ‘frame’. 5.2.3 In BEN [ b ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with [ r ] = /bro:to:/ ‘ a vow’ and [ l ] = /bla:u:j/ ‘a blouse’ and medially as the first member in h h h combination with [ j ] = /ju:bjo:/ ‘hunchbacked’ [ d ] = /śɔ:bdo:/ ‘sound’ [ d ] = /k u:bd o:/ h h ‘agitated’ [ b ] = /so:bb o:/ ‘civilized’ and also in gemination [ b ] occurs as the first h h member in a tri-consonantal cluster with [ b r ] = /śu:b ro:/ ‘white’.3 In CTG can be seen some loan words from BEN for Example: as the first member in combination with [ l ] = / bla:u:j/ ‘a blouse’ and medially as the first member in combination with [ d ] = / śɔ:bdo:/ ‘sound’ [ bh ] = /so:bbho:/ ‘civilized’.

h 5.2.4 In BEN [ b ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with h h [ r ] = /b ro:m:or/ ‘a bee’ or /b ro:m/ ‘an error’.4 In CTG there is no any combination of h [ b ] with [ r ]. 5.2.5 In BEN [ t ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with [ r ] = /tra:n/ ‘rescue’ and occurs in gemination in the medial position [ t ] = /so:tto:/ ‘truth’ and also as the first member in combination with [ n ] = /rɔtno:/ ‘a gem’ and [ s ] = /ci:ki:tsa:/ ‘treatment’. [ t ] occurs as the first member in a tri-consonantal cluster in combination with [ tr ] = /kri:tti:m/ ‘ artificial’ . 5 In CTG, there are not much such combinations but can be seen some loan words from BEN. Example: occurs in gemination in the medial position [ t ] = /so:tto:/ ‘truth’ also as the first member in combination with [ n ] = /rɔtno:/ ‘a gem’ and [ s ] = /ci:ki:tsa:/ ‘treatment’. In CTG [ t ] occurs as the first member in a tri-consonantal cluster in combination with [ tr ] = /kri:tti:m/ ‘artificial’. 5.2.6 In BEN [ d ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with [ r ] = /dru:to:/ ‘first’ and medially as the first member in combination with [ g ] = /u:dga:r/

2 Ibid., p. 21. 3 Ibid., p. 22. 4 Ibid., p. 22. 5 Ibid., p. 22. 96

h h h h h h ‘a belch’ [ g ] = /u:dg a:to:n/ ‘opening’ [ d ] = /bu:dd i:/ ‘intelligence’ [ b ] = /sɔ:b a:b/ ‘friendship’. It occurs also in gemination in the medial position. In BEN [ d ] occurs in h h tri-consonantal clusters in combination with [ dr ] = /ni:ddra:/ ‘sleep’ and [ d ] = /gri:dd ro:/ ‘ a vulture’.6 In CTG n can not be seen combination as BEN as discussed above only some loan words from BEN; ex: [ dh ] = /bu:ddhi:/ ‘intelligence’.

h 5.2.7 In BEN [ d ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with [ r ] = /dhru:bo:/ ‘eternal’.7 In CTG can not be seen combination as BEN as discussed above. 5.2.8 In BEN [ t̥ ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with [ r ] = /t̥ra:m/ ‘tram’ and medially as the first member in combination with [ k ] = /t̥a:t̥ka:/ h h ‘fresh’ [ c ] = /a:t̥ca:la:/ ‘a thatched room with eight roof and no walls’ [ c ] = /ka:t̥c i:/ h h h h ‘I am cutting’ [ t̥ ] = /pa:t̥t̥ o:/ ‘readable’ [ t ] = /c u:t̥to:/ ‘ he used to run [ n ] = /k at̥ni:/ ‘hard- work’ [ r ] = /pæ:t̥ra:/ ‘portmanteau’ [ l ] = /ka:t̥lo:/ ‘he cut’ [ t̥ ] = /na:t̥t̥o:ka:r/ ‘a playwright’.8 In CTG can not be seen combination as BEN as discussed above only some loan words from BEN; ex: [ r ] = / t̥ra:m/ ‘tram’ as [ t̥ ] occurs initially as the first member in combination and medially [ k ] = /t̥a:t̥ka:/ ‘fresh’ [ c ] = /a:t̥ca:la:/ ‘a thatched room with h h h eight roof and no walls’ [ t̥ ] = /pa:t̥t̥ o:/ ‘readable’ [ n ] = /k at̥ni:/ ‘hard-work’ [ t̥ ] = /na:t̥t̥o:ka:r/ ‘a playwright’. 5.2.9 In BEN [ d̥ ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with [ r ] = /d̥ ra:m/ ‘a drum’ or /d̥ re:n/ ‘drain’ and medially as the first member in combination h h with [ d̥ ] = /a:d̥ d̥ o:/ ‘a surname’. It occurs also in gemination [ d̥ ] = /a:d̥ d̥ a:/ ‘a rendezvous’ or /ha:d̥ d̥ i:sa:r/ ‘skinney’. 9 In CTG can not be seen combination as BEN as discussed above only some loan words from BEN; ex: [ r ] = /d̥ ra:m/ ‘a drum’ or /d̥ re:n/ ‘drain’ occurs initially as the first member in combination and in gemination [ d̥ ] = /a:d̥ d̥ a:/ ‘a rendezvous’ or /ha:d̥ d̥ i:sa:rr/ ‘skinney’.

6 Ibid., p. 23. 7 Ibid., p. 23. 8 Ibid., p. 23. 9 Ibid., p. 24. 97

5.2.10 In BEN [ k ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with h [ r ] = /kre:ta:/ ‘a purchaser’ [ l ] = /kla:b/ ‘club’ and medially in combination with [ k ] = h /du:kk o:/ ‘suffering’ [ t̥ ] = /æ:kt̥a:/ ‘one’ [ t ] = /rɔ:kto:/ ‘blood’ [ n ] = /śu:kno:/ ‘dry’ [ ś ] = h /ba:kśo:/ ‘a box’ and in gemination [ k ] =/d a:kka:/ ‘a push’. [ k ] occurs medially in combination with [ kr ] = /bi:kkrɔ:e̯ :/ ‘selling’ [ kl ] = /śu:klo:/ ‘the white color’.10 In CTG can not be seen combination as BEN as discussed above only some loan words from BEN; ex: [ r ] = /kre:ta:/ ‘a purchaser’ [ l ] = /kla:b/ ‘club’ occurs initially as the first member h h in combination and medially [ k ] = /du:kk o:/ ‘suffering’ [ t ] = /rɔ:kto:/ ‘blood’ [ ś ] = h /ba:kśo:/ ‘a box’ and in gemination [ k ] =/d a:kka:/ ‘a push’.

h 5.2.11 In BEN [ k ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with h h h [ r ] = /k ri:st̥o:/ ‘Christ’ or /k ri:st̥a:bd o:/ ‘a Christian Era’ and medially in combination with [ n ] = /ti:khno:/ ‘sharp’.11 In CTG can not be seen combination as BEN as discussed above only h h h some loan words from Bengali; ex: [ r ] = /k ri:st̥o:/ ‘Christ’ or /k ri:st̥a:bd o:/ ‘a Christian Era’. 5.2.12 In BEN [ g ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with [ r ] = /gra:m/ ‘a village’ [ l ] = /gla:s/ ‘a tumbler’ and medially in combination with [ d ] = h h /ba:gdi:/ ‘a caste’ [ d ] = /mu:gd o:/ ‘charmed’ [ n ] = /ru:gno:/ ‘sickly’ [ m ] = /ba:gmi:/ h ‘orator’. It occurs also gemination [ gg ] = /b a:ggo:/ ‘fate’. [ g ] occurs medially in h h combination with [ gr ]= /o:ggri:m/ ‘paid in advance’ and [ g r ] = /śi:gg ro:/ ‘quickly’.12 In CTG can not be seen combination as BEN as discussed above only some loan words from BEN; ex: [ r ] = /gra:m/ ‘a village’ [ l ] = /gla:s/ ‘a tumbler’ and occurs also gemination h [ gg ] = /b a:ggo:/ ‘fate’.

h 5.2.13 In BEN [ g ] occurs initially as the first member in combination with h h [ r ] = /g ra:n/ ‘smell’ and medially in combination with [ n ] = /bi:g no:/ ‘a hindrance’.13 In CTG can not be seen combination as BEN as discussed above only some loan words from BEN; ex: [ r ] = /ghra:n/ ‘smell’.

10 Ibid., p. 25. 11 Ibid., p. 25. 12 Ibid., p. 26. 13 Ibid., p. 26. 98

5.2.14 In BEN [ c ] occurs medially as the first member in combination with h h h [ c ] = /a:cc a:/ ‘all right’ or /tu:cc o:/ ‘insignificant’ and in gemination [ cc ] = /u:cca:ro:n/ h h h ‘ pronunciation’ . It occurs medially in combination with [ c r ] = / u: cc ri: ŋk ɔ: l/ ‘uncontrolled’.14 In CTG can not be seen combination as BEN as discussed above only some loan words from BEN; ex: in gemination [ cc ] = /u:cca:ro:n/ ‘pronunciation’. It occurs medially in combination with [ chr ] = /u:cchri:ŋkhɔ:l/ ‘uncontrolled’. 5.2.15 In BEN [ j ] occurs medially as the first member in combination with h h [ j ] = /so:jj o:/ ‘tolerance’ and [ jr ] = /bɔ:jjro:/ ‘thunder’. It occurs also in gemination [ jj ] = /lɔ:jja:/ ‘shame’. 15 In CTG can not be seen combination as BEN as discussed above only some loan words from BEN; ex: [ j ] occurs medially as the first member in combination with [ jh ] = /so:jjho:/ ‘tolerance’ and in gemination [ jj ] = /lɔ:jja:/ ‘shame’. 5.3 Suggestion for Further Studies As this research is the comparision of phonological study of BEN Language and CTG Dialect spoken in Bangladesh. Therefore, the phonology of phoneme, vowels, consonants which deals with full characteristics of the BEN Language and CTG Dialect is worth to study. 1) This research is comparison phonological vowels and consonants of BEN Language and CTG Dialect. Students who would like research in BEN Language and CTG Dialect, they can research other topics in phonology of BEN Language and CTG Dialect such as syllable structure, stress, feature geometry, and intonation. 2) Students who are interested to research in BEN Language and CTG Dialect, they can research in comparative study of morphological BEN Language and CTG Dialect. 3) This research also conducted the similarities and dissimilarities of Vowels and Consonants between BEN Language and CTG Dialect. Therefore, further researcher can discover other phonological subfields (syllable structure, stress, feature geometry, and intonation) and morphological subfields in both Language and Dialect.

14 Ibid., p. 27. 15 Ibid., p. 27. Bibliography

1. Secondary Sources (I) Books: Beames John. Grammar of the Bengali Language: Literary and Colloquial. Oxford Clarendon Press, 1891. Bhattacharya & Krishna. Bengali Phonetic Reader. Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, 1988. Broderick & George. A Handbook of Late Spoken Manx: Vol 3 – Phonology. Max Niemeyer Verlag Tubingen, Darmstadt, 1986. Carey, William. A Grammar of the Bengalee Language. Mission Press, Serampor, 1801. Chatterji, Suniti Kumar. The Origin and Development of Bengali Language. Calcutta University Press, Calcutta, 1926. Dash, Niladri Sekhar. Descriptive Study of Bengali Words. Cambridge University Press, 2015. Datta, Asoke Kumar. Acoustics of Bangla Speech Sounds. Springer Nature Ple Ltd, Singapore, 2018. David, Anne Boyle. Descriptive Grammar of Bangla. University of Maryland, Maryland, 2005. Forbes Duncan. A Grammar of the Bengali Language. Crosby Lockwood and Son Press, London, 1801. Hawkins, Peter. Introducing Phonology. Routledge Library Editions, New York, 2019. Hayes, Bruce. Introductory Phonology. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, 2009. Kar, Somdev. Syllable Structure of Bangla: An Optimality-Theoretic Approach. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, 2010. Kennedy Robert. Phonology: A Coursework. Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, 2017. Lin Yong Jui and Whyte Mariam. Cultures of the World: Bangladesh. Marshal Cavendish Benchmark, New York, 1997. Majumdar, Bijay Chandra. The History of the Bengali Language. Asian, lthaca, New York, 1965. Morton, William. A Dictionary of the Bengali Language. Published Bissop College, India, 1828. 100

Ray Punya Sloka. Hai Muhammed Abdul & Ray Lita. Bengali Language Handbook. Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington DC, 1966. Surhone Lambert M. Timpledon Miriam T & Marseken Susan F. Chittagonian Language. VDM Publishing, Riga, 2010. Thompson & Hanne- Ruth. Bengali. Center John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 2012. Thorum, Arden R. Phonectis: A Contemporary Approch. John and Bartlett Learning, Burlington, 2013. Vasquez Daniel. Gruhn Rainer & Minker Wolfgang. Hierarchical Neural Network Structures for Phoneme Recognition. Springer Nature Ple Ltd, Singapore, 2013. (II) Articles: Barman Binoy. “A Contrastive Analysis of English and Bangla Phonemics”. Dhaka University Journal of Linguistics. Vol. 2 No. 4 (August 2009): 36. Hoque, Muhammad Azizul. “Chittagorian Variety: Language, Semi Language or a Dialect”. IIUC Studies. Vol. 12 No .1813 (December 2015): 7. Hoque, Muhammad Azizul. “Problems of Pronunciation for the Chittagonian Learners of English: A Case Study”. IIUC Studies. Vol. 12 No 6 (October 2011): 5. Uddin, Md. Ayaj. “Chittagonian Language”. International Relations. Vol. 1 No. 1 (February 2008): 2. (III) Theses: Mizan Nuzhat. “Phonological Patterns in Standard Colloquial Bangla and Netrokona Dialect”. A Dissertation of Masters of Arts in Linguistic Studies. Graduate School: Brac University, 2014. (IV) Electronics: All About Linguistics. Phonetics. [Online]. Resource: http: / / all- about- linguistics. group. shef. ac. uk/ branches- of- linguistics/phonetics/ [19 October 2020]. Britannica. Indo-Aryan Languages. [Online]. Resource: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Indo-Aryan-languags [19 October 2020]. 101

Dhaka Tribune. Chittagonian, Sylheti Ranked among 100 Most Spoken Languages Worldwide. [Online]. Resource: https: / / www. dhakatribune. com/ world/ 2020/ 02/ 17/ chittagonian- sylheti- ranked-among-100-most-spoken-languages-worldwide [19 October 2020]. Khan, Shamsuzzaman. NSU Holds Discussion on ‘Bangla Bhasha’. [Online]. Resource: https://nanopdf.com/download/iml-discourse-i-nsu-holds-discussion- on_pdf# [19 October 2020]. Maa Sarada. Bengali Alphabet. [Online]. Resource: https: / / maasarada. blogspot. com/ 2015/ 12/ bengali- alphabet- origin- bengali.html [19 October 2020]. New World Encyclopaedia. Bengali Language. [Online]. Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_language [19 October 2020]. Wikipedia. Bengali Language. [Online]. Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_language/ [19 October 2020]. Wikipedia. Bengali Phonology. [Online]. Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_phonology [19 October 2020]. Wikipedia. Chittagonian Language. [Online]. Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chittagonian_language [19 October 2020]. Wikitravel. Chittagorian Phrasebook. [Online]. Resource: http://wikitravel.org/en/Chittagonian_phrasebook [19 October 2020]. World Language Gazetteer. The Organs of Speech. [Online]. Resource: https://worldlanguagesgazetteer.wordpress.com/2018/06/17/the-organs-of- speech [19 October 2020]. (V) Interviews: Interview with Honorable Vice Sanghanayaka of Bangladesh Bhikkhu Mahasabha Ven. Ratanasree Mahathera, Abbot of Shraddhananda Vihara, Raozan, Chittagong 13 November 2020. Interview with Mr. Fani Bhushan Barua. Basabo, Sabujbagh, Dhaka. 11 November 2020. Interview with Mr. Mukul Kanti Barua. Patharghata city, Chittagong. 6 November 2020. Interview with Mr. Promotosh Barua. Hoarapara Village Raozan, Chittagong. 13 November 2020. 102

Interview with Ven. Sanghananda Mahathera. Sylet Buddhist Monastery, Brahmanshason, Nayapara, Sylet. 3 November 2020. Interview with Ven. Sumittananda Mahathera. Hoarapara Village, Raozan, Chittagong. 13 November 2020.

Appendixes

104

Appendix (A)

Research Interview of Questionnaires

Thesis Title: A Comparative Study of Phonological Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect Spoken in Bangladesh. Introductions: This questionnaire is used to collect data for the study of Comparative Bengali Language and Chittagonian Dialect Phonology and divided into 3 parts as followings: Part 1: It consists of general information Part 2: As set of questions focusing on developing the Phoneme, Vowels and Consonants. Part 3: Suggestion and opinion about the comparative Bengali Language and Chittagonian Phonology in Republic of Bangladesh.

105

Appendix (B)

The List of Interviewers as Key Informants

1. Ven. Ratanasree Mahathera 72 years old Middle Adhar Manik Village, Chittagong 2. Ven. Sumittananda Mahathera 43 years old Hoarapara Village, Chittagong 3. Ven. Sanghananda Mahathera 42 years old Brhamanshason, Nayapara, Sylet 4. Mr. Mukul Kanti Barua 55 years old Patharghata City, Chittagong 5. Mr. Fani Bhushan Barua 58 years old Basabo, Sabujbagh, Dhaka 6. Mr. Promotosh Barua 63 years old Hoarapara Village, Chittagong

106

Appendix (C)

Picture of Activities

Interview with Ven. Sanghananda Mahathera, Sylet Buddhist Monastery, Brahmanshason, Nayapara, Sylet on November 3, 2020.

107

Picture of Activities

Interview with Mr. Mukul Kanti Barua, Patharghata city, Chittagong on November 6, 2020.

108

Picture of Activities

Interview with Ven. Sumittananda Mahathera, Hoarapara Village, Raozan, Chittagong on November 13 2020.

109

Picture of Activities

Interview with Mr. Fani Bhushan Barua, Basabo, Sabujbagh, Dhaka on November 11, 2020.

110

Picture of Activities

Interview with Honorable Vice Sanghanayaka of Bangladesh Bhikkhu Mahasabha Ven. Ratanasree Mahathera, Abbot of Shraddhananda Vihara, Raozan, Chittagong on November 13, 2020.

111

Picture of Activities

Interview with Mr. Promotosh Barua, Hoarapara Village Raozan, Chittagong on November 13, 2020.

112

Appendix (D)

Spellings and Sounds of Bengali Letters This chart gives both the standard transliteration (TIL) and the sound each letter produces. A colon indicates a long or closed pronunciation of vowels. ɔ (an open o sound as in English hot) is given as the transliteration for the inherent vowel and is also one of the two sounds it produces consonant. Vowels: Vowels TL Sound অ ɔ ɔ, o আ, ◌া a a, a: ই, ি◌ i i, i: ঈ, ◌ী ī i, i: উ, ◌ু u u, u: ঊ, ◌ূ ū u, u: ঋ, ◌ৃ r̊ ri এ, ◌ e e, æ ঐ, ◌ oi oi ও, ◌া o o ঔ, ◌ৗ ou ou

113

Consonants: Consonants TL Sound ক k k h h খ k k গ g g h h ঘ g g ঙ n̊ ng চ c tʃ h ছ c tʃ+h জ j j h h ঝ j j ঞ ñ ñ ট t̥ t̥ h h ঠ t̥ t̥ ড d̥ d̥ h h ঢ d̥ d̥ ণ n̥ n ত t t h h থ t t দ d d h h ধ d d ন n n প p p h h ফ p p , f 114

Consonants TL Sound ব b b h h ভ b b ম m m য y j য় ŷ y র r r ল l l শ ś ʃ ষ s̥ ʃ স s হ h ʃ, s

Additional Symbols: TL Sound ◌ং m̊ ng ◌ঃ h̥ - ◌ঁ ̃ ̃ ড় r̥ r̥ h h ঢ় r̥ r̥ ৎ t̠ t ব v b

115

Positioning of Vowels: Full Vowel Vowel Sign Pronounced Position Demo Transit অ - ɔ, o No vowels sign is ক k written আ ◌া a, a: After কা ka the consonant ই ি◌ i, i: Before িক ki the consonant ঈ ◌ী i, i: After কী kī the consonant উ ◌ু u, u: Underneath ku the consonant ঊ ◌ূ u, u: Underneath kū the consonant ঋ ◌ৃ ri Underneath কৃ kr̊ the consonant এ ◌ e, æ Before ক ke the consonant ঐ ◌ oi Before ক koi the consonant ও ◌া o Around কা ko the consonant ঔ ◌ৗ. ou Around কৗ kou the consonant

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The Names of the Letters and Additional Symbols of Vowels: অ অ ɔ আ আ a ◌া আ – কার a – kar ই ই hrɔsvo i ি◌ ই – কার hrɔsvo i – kar ঈ দীঘ ঈ dīrgho ī ◌ী দীঘ ঈ – কার dīrgho ī – kar উ উ hrɔsvo u ◌ু উ – কার hrɔsvo u – kar ঊ দীঘ ঊ dīrgho ū ◌ূ দীঘ ঊ – কার dīrgho ū – kar ঋ ঋ r̊ ◌ৃ ঋ – কার r̊ – kar এ এ e ◌ এ – কার e – kar ঐ ঐ oi ◌ ঐ – কার oi – kar ও ও o ◌া ও – কার o – kar ঔ ঔ ou ◌ৗ ঔ – কার ou - kar

The Names of the Letters and Additional Symbols of Consonants: Most consonants are called by their sound with the inherent vowel following (kɔ, khɔ, gɔ) but some have descriptive names to distinguish them from one another: ক – kɔ খ – khɔ গ – gɔ ঘ – ghɔ ঙ (েয়া) – ūo চ – cɔ ছ – chɔ জ (বগয় জ) – ঝ – jhɔ ঞ (ইঁেয়া) – ĩo bɔrgio jɔ ট – t̥ɔ ঠ – t̥ hɔ ড – d̥ ɔ ঢ – d̥ hɔ ণ (মূধন ণ) – murdhono n̥ ɔ ত – tɔ থ – thɔ দ – dɔ ধ – dhɔ ন (দ ন) – dɔntyo nɔ প – pɔ ফ – phɔ ব – bɔ ভ – bhɔ ম – mɔ য (অ য) – র – rɔ ল – rɔ শ (তালব শ) – ষ (মূধন ষ) – ɔontɔh̥ stho jɔ talobo śɔ murdhono s̥ ɔ স (দ স) – হ – hɔ ড় – r̥ ɔ ঢ় – r̥ hɔ য় (অ য়) – dɔnto sɔ ɔontɔh̥ sthoɔ 117

Additional Symbols:

h ৎ t̊ খ ৎ k ɔn̥ dô tɔ ◌ং m̊ অনুর ônusvôr ◌ঃ h̥ িবসগ bisɔrgô ◌ঁ ̃ চ – িবু cɔndrôbindu h ◌্র r র – ফলা rɔp ɔla h ৴ r রফ rep h ◌্য j য – ফলা jɔp ɔla

Numbers in Bengali: English Bengali Sound 1 ১ e:k 2 ২ du:i̯ : 3 ৩ ti:n 4 ৪ ca:r 5 ৫ pæ̃:c h 6 ৬ c ɔ:e̯ :

7 ৭ sa:t

8 ৮ a:t̥ 9 ৯ nɔ:e̯ : 10 ১০ do:ś

Conjuncts: When two (or more) consonants come together without an intervening inherent vowel, they are written as conjunct letters. Many of the common conjuncts letters have symbols which do not reveal their components in their shape. Others are easily recognisable. Below is a list of the common conjuncts in Bengali with their component 118 parts. There is a now a move both West Bengal and Bangladesh to simplify writing the component parts, eg instead of (kt) for (k) + (t) some modern books write kt from which two components can easily be recognised. However, Bengali school children still need to learn original (and often more elegant) forms in order to read older texts. (k + t) = (kt) /mu:kti:/ ‘freedom’ (k + r) = (kr) /śu:kro:ba:r/ ‘friday’ (k + s̥ ) = (ks̥ ) /ɔ:pe:ks̥ a:/ ‘wait’ (n̊ + k) = (n̊ k) /ɔ:n̊ ko:/ ‘sum’ (n̊ + g) = (n̊ g) /sɔ:n̊ gɔ:/ ‘friendship’ (c + c) = (cc) /ba:cca:/ ‘infant’

h h h (c + c ) = (cc ) /i:c a:/ ‘desire’ (j + j) = (jj) /lɔ:jja:/ ‘shame’ (j + ñ) = (jñ) /bi:jña:n/ ‘science’ (ñ + c) = (ñc) /ɔ:ñcɔ:l/ ‘territory’ (ñ + j) = (ñj) /ge:ñji:/ ‘undervest’

h (t̥ + t̥) = (t̥t̥) /t a:t̥t̥a:/ ‘fun’

h (n̥ + t̥) = (n̥ t̥) /g ɔ:o:n̥ t̥a:/ ‘bell’

h h h (n̥ + t̥ ) = (n̥ t̥ ) /kɔn̥ t̥ ɔ:/ ‘throat’

h (n̥ + d̥ ) = (n̥ d̥ ) /t̥ a:nd̥ a:/ ‘cool’ (t + t) = (tt) /so:tto:/ ‘truth’ (t + r) = (tr) /ma:tro:/ ‘just’ (d + d) = (dd) /u:dde:śo:/ ‘intention’

h h h (d + d ) = (dd ) /ju:dd o:/ ‘war’ (d + b) = (db) /dvɔ:ndvo:/ ‘conflict’

h h h (d + b ) = (db ) /ɔ:db u:t/ ‘strange’ 119

(n + t) = (nt) /ɔ:nto:r/ ‘heart’ (n + t + r) = (ntr) /mo:ntri:/ ‘minister’

h h h (n + t ) = (nt ) /gro:nt o:/ ‘book’ (n + d) = (nd) /mɔ:ndo:/ ‘bad’

h h h (n + d ) = (nd ) /ɔ:nd o:/ ‘blind’

h (n + n) = (nn) /b i:nno:/ ‘different’ (p + t) = (pt) /tɔ:pto:/ ‘thermal’ (p + p) = (pp) /gɔ:ppo:/ ‘fairy tales’ (p + r) = (pr) /pra:n̊ / ‘life’ (b + d) = (bd) / śɔ:bdo:/ ‘ sound’

h h h (b + d ) = (bd ) /lu:bd o:/ ‘entice’ (m + p) = (mp) /kɔ:mpo:/ ‘shake’

h h h (m + b ) = (mb ) /sɔ:mb ɔ:b/ ‘possible’ (r + k) = (rk) /tɔ:rkɔ:/ ‘argument’ (r + t) = (rt) /mu:rti:/ ‘statue’ (ś + c) = (śc) /po:ści:m/ ‘west’ (s̥ + t̥) = (s̥ t̥) /mi:s̥ ti:/ ‘sweet’

h h h (s̥ + t̥ ) = (s̥ t̥ ) /śre:s̥ t̥ o:/ ‘superior’ (s̥ + n̥ ) = (s̥ n̥ ) /u:s̥ n̥ o:/ ‘warm’ (s + k) = (sk) /sku:l/ ‘school’ (s + t) = (st) /ra:sta:/ ‘road’ (s + t + r) = (str) /mi:stri:/ ‘mechanic’

h h h (s + t ) = (st ) /be:bo:st a:/ ‘arrangement’ (s + v) = (sv) /svɔ:rgo:/ ‘paradise’ 120

(h + n) = (hn) /chi:no:/ ‘sign’ (h + m) = (hm) /brɔ:hmo:/ ‘god’ Consonants Vowel Combinations: (g + u) = (gu) /guha/ ‘cave’ (t + r + u) = (tru) /tru:t̥i:/ ‘error’ (n + t + u) = (ntu) /ki:ntu:/ ‘but’ (r + u) = (ru) /ru:t̥i:/ ‘bread’ (r + ū) = (rū) /rū:p/ ‘beauty’ (ś + u) = (śu) /śu:kro:ba:r/ ‘friday’ (s + t + u) = (stu) /pro:stu:t/ ‘ready’ (h + u) = (hu) /ba:hu:/ ‘arm’ (h + r̊) = (hr̊) /hr̊dɔ:y/ ‘heart’ 120

Biography of Researcher

Name : Amit Barua Date of Birth : November 18, 1991 Date of Ordination : June 3, 2011 Higher Full Ordination : June 13, 2011 Nationality : Bangladeshi Present Address : Wat Kantathararam, 14 Ratchadaphisek, Thoet Thai Road, Talat Phlu, Thonburi, Bangkok, 10600 Education Background: 2007 : Secondary School, Chittagong, Bangladesh 2009 : Higher Secondary, Bangladesh 2015 : Bachelor of Arts, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand E-mail : [email protected]