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The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language – An Overview
Bhikkhu Gyanabodhi (Sajal Barua)
[email protected]
01. Introduction:
Bengali or Bangla (
) is the national language of Bangladesh. It is the second official
language in India1, and seventh in the list of most spoken languages in the world.2 The six
languages that come before it are Chinese, English, Hindi-Urdu, Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese.
As a language of more than two hundred million people around the world, it is spoken, apart
from bangladesh, in the West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Bihar in India, and by sizable
immigrant communities in Eorupe, USA and the Middle-East.
According to the language family, Bengali is categorised as a Modern or New IndoAryan (NIA) language of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. As
Chatterji (1926, p. 1) notes, ‘[i]t has been in existence as an independent and characterized
language, or, rather, as a distinct dialect group, for nearly ten centuries’. If we accept Chatterji’s
remark, as about a hundred year has passed since the book was published, Bengali, as an
independent language, has been in existence for about eleven centuries now. The present study
provides an overview of the origin of the language and its development throughout these eleven
centuries.
02. Origin and Development:
Bengali alphabets and terms started to appear in the literatures of as early as 10th century
A.C. Since then it had gone through significant stages of development to finally take the present
shape. In the subsequent paragraphs I discuss the language affiliation of Bengali, its origin as a
distinct speech and different stages of its development.
2.1 Language Affiliation:
Bengali, together with Assamese and Oriya, is a speech belonging to the New IndoAryan (NIA) group. The Indo-Aryan (IA) is a major branch of the Indo-Iranian language
subdivision consisting the easternmost group within the Indo-European (IE) language family. It
has been classified into three periods considering its historical development and the phonetic and
morphological connections. NIA is the last of the three stages of the development of the IA
branch. In the subsequent paragraphs we will discuss that Bengali as a distinct speech has also
1
The following link presents a list of 22 official languages (http://rajbhasha.nic.in/UI/pagecontent.aspx?pc=MTUz)
as included in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
The ‘Concise Encyclopedia of Language of the World’ in Brown (2009, p. 148) in fact states that Bengali is the
fifth largest language which is spoken by about 260 million people around the world.
2
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been subdivided into three periods of historical development. Following chart displays the
classification of IA speeches and the position of Bengali in it.3
Fig 1: Indo-Aryan Speeches
Chatterji (1926, p. 17) explains that Vedic and Sanskrit dialects can be regarded as
representatives of the Old Indo-Aryan (OIA) period. Representatives of Middle Indo-Aryan
(MIA) are various forms of Prakrits including Pāli that is used for the inscriptions of the Great
Emperor Aśoka and the Theravāda Buddhist Canon. In the period between MIA and OIA, there
existed Apabhraṃśa speeches and in the process of the development of different dialects,
Prakrits had died out and various NIA tongues came into existence.
Taking into account the diverse changes that took place during the MIA period, it is again
subdivided into four successive stages. They are:
1) Early (c. 600 – 200 B.C.),
2) Transitional (c. 200 B.C – 200 A.C.),
3) Second (c. 200 – 600 A.C.), and
4) Late (c. 600 – 1000 A.C.).
In the Early stage, the use of primarily Aśokan Prakrit and Pāli were in existence. Some
significant characteristics of this form of speech, as noted by Chatterji (1926, p. 18), are – lost of
ṛ and ḷ; simplification of āi, āu, aya, and ava into ē and ō; dropping of final consonants and
visarga, the reducing of ś, ṣ, and s into one sibilant, s or ś. The general feature of the speeches in
this period was largely simplification of vowels and consonants.
Kharoṣṭhī and Brāhmī, these two writing systems were prominent in the transitional
period. The notable difference between the two systems was that the former was written from
right to left, whereas the latter was written from left to right. Salomon (1998, p.7) remarks that
Kharoṣṭhī died out without any descendants whereas Brāhmī became the parent of most of the
MIA speeches and writing systems.4
3
For more details about the classification of IA speeches, see: Chatterji (1926, pp. 6-20); Chowdhury (1957, pp. 813); Sen, S. (1939, pp. 1-5); Munshi (2009, p. 522); and Sen, D.C. (1896, p.1).
4
Also see: Munshi (2009, p. 524).
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In the second MIA stage, among the popular speeches were Dramatic Prakrits, such as,
Śaurasēnī, Mahārāṣṭrī, Māgadhi and Ardha-māgadhi. Distinct characteristics of the speeches of
this period were that the word order became stereotype, and rather than the verbal phrase,
nominals were preferred in writing.5
In the late or final stage of the period of MIA speeches, Śaurasēnī and Apabhraṃsa were
primarily in use. The main change in the language was the use of rhyme in versification. One
other notable feature of the speeches of this period was the existence and use of loan words (new
tat-samas, semi-tat-samas) from Sanskrit and Prakrits of earlier stage.6
Following is a map showing the distribution of IA languages in the Ancient India7:
Fig 2: IA Language Distributions
5
Chatterji (1926, p. 19).
6
Ibid.
7
The map is collected from the URL: http://www.languagesgulper.com/eng/Indoaryanmap.html.
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2.2 Origin of Bengali as a Distinct Language:
Vaṅga-Bhāsa, the language of Vaṅga, was a language of the people living on the eastern
part of Indian subcontinent. The place was referred to as Vaṅga-Desa, because it was a country
where Vaṅga community/people would have lived. The term ‘Vaṅga’ first appears in the
Aitareyya Brāhmana (vāyāṃsi vaṅga vagadhaścerapādāh).8 Historically, the Modern day
Bengal (consisting of both Eastern and Western parts) was a conglomeration of several
territories. The most notable among them were: 1) Vaṅga (East Bengal), 2) Rāḍhā-Suhma (West
Bengal), 3) Varendrī Puṇḍra (North Bengal), 4) Catrala (Southeast Bengal), and 5) Samataṭa
(East Bengal).9 Regarding the early history of Bengal, Chatterji (1926, p. 67) states,
‘Bengal originally did not form one country and one nation. The Ganges (Padmā or
Paddā) with its branch the Bhāgīrathī or Hugli and the Brahmaputra divide the country
into four tracts, in which dwelt, several hundred years before Christ, …, the tribes of the
Puṇḍras, …, the Vaṅgas, …, the Rāḍhas, … and the Suhmas…’
The speeches of the non-Aryan tribes in Bengal, before being Aryanised, were Kol,
Austric, and various Dravidian dialects. Scholars believe that the Aryanisation took place in
Bengal during the closing centuries of the first millennium B.C.10 However, in his magnificent
work ‘The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language’, Chatterji precisely says, “North
and West Bengal, contiguous to Magadha and Kaliṅga, were under Aśoka in the 3rd century B.C.
From that time, we might assume, there was the commencement of a vigorous movement
towards Aryanisation in Bengal.”11 And thus he is of the opinion that, in the subsequent periods,
the native dialects and speeches were replaced gradually by the Aryan speech that was brought,
from Magadha and beyond, by Magadhan officials, soldiers, Buddhist and Jain missionaries and
priests, and traders and so on.12
Considering the existence of a number of Sanskrit vocabularies and phonological and
morphological similarities, many scholars argue that Bengali as a distinct language developed
from Sanskrit. In fact, the oldest epigraphical record found in Bengal was a very short Sanskrit
inscription belonging to the circa 4th to 5th century A.C.13 But there is strong evidence to prove
that Bengali has actually derived from a form of Prakrit dialect.
Those upholding Prakrit to be the parent language of NIA (vernacular) speeches argue
that the IA language had two descendants – Sanskrit and Pāli. The former was a language of the
aristocrats. It was a furnished language used mostly for the literary purposes. The latter, together
with other Prakrit dialects, was a speech of the common folk. It was relatively vulgar,
unsophisticated and incomplete. In fact, it is said that Prakrit was a name given, by the speakers
On ‘Vaṅga’ and the Aryan settlement in Vaṅga, refer to: Sen, D.C. (1911, p. 1); Mazumdar, (1920, p. 20); Sen, S.
(1940, p. 3); and Sharif, (1971, p. 7).
8
9
Chowdhury (1957, p.16).
10
Chatterji (1971, p. 376).
11
Chatterji (1926, p. 72).
12
Ibid, p. 73.
13
Ibid, p. 75.
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of Sanskrit as a derogatory term, to the dialects of the ordinary people.14 The NIA speeches, such
as Bengali, are said to have derived from Prakrit, not Sanskrit. Hindi, Oriya, Maithilā, Assamese
are among the NIA speeches that had developed from Prakrit.
The Prakrit speeches, such as Pāli, received literary status with the teachings of the
Buddha and Jain leaders. Chatterji (1926, p. 53) remarks that during MIA stage, Sanskrit became
almost identical with Prakrit except for Phonetics, and Inflection which remained true to the OIA
stage. In other words, languages like Pāli and Ardha-Magadhī became rival literary languages for
Sanskrit.15 The Buddhist Vinaya text records of an incident in which a certain monks went to the
Buddha with a request to make his teachings available only in Sanskrit. The Buddha rejected
their idea saying that his teachings should be understood and practiced in one’s own (mother)
tongue.16 Thus together with Pāli, four more speeches – Śauraseni, Mahāraṣṭrī, Māgadhī and
Paiśachī – obtained the status of literary language. Over the time these speeches of Prakrits gave
way to the rising of diverse Apabhraṃśas, and Bengali specifically belongs to this category of
speech.17 From the above discussion it can be said of Bengali language that it developed as a
distinct speech from a form of ‘Māgadhī Apabhraṃśa’. The first literature that marks the
beginning of Bengali language and literature was a Buddhist text, known variously as Caryāgīti,
Caryāpada, Caryācaryaviniścaya and so on, and was composed between 9th and 12th centuries
A.C.18 Languages used in this text were Apabhraṃśa and Śauraseni.19
According to the above explanation, Bnegali as a distinct language came into being no
more than 10th century A.C. Following chart, prepared based on Bhudev’s explanation, presents
precisely the stages of development of Bengali as a distinct NIA tongue from OIA speeches.
Fig 3: Origin of Bengali as NIA speech
14
Chowdhury (1957, p.11).
15
Also see, Mazumdar (1920, pp. 55-56).
Vin II 139: Anujānāmi bhikkhave sakāya niruttiyā buddhavacanaṃ pariyāpuṇitunti. Also see, Sen, D.C. (1908, p.
17); Chowdhury (1957, pp. 11-12).
16
17
Chowdhury (1957, p. 13).
18
See: ‘Charyapada’ in http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Charyapada (May 10, 2016).
19
Chowdhury (1957, p. 12).
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2.3 Three Main Periods of Development:
Bengali language and literature started to take shape since 10th century A.C. As it has
been mentioned earlier, the first literature identified to have composed in old/archaic form of
Bengali was the Caryāpada. Considering the changes and developments that took place
throughout the eleven centuries, starting with 10th century A.C. till now, the history of Bengali
language and literature have been classified into three major periods. Following chart presents
different historical periods of Bengali language.
Fig 4: Three Periods of Developemnt
2.3.1 Formative Period:
The period between 10th and 12th/13th centuries is regarded as the formative period of the
Bengali language. It was a period of proto-Bengali stage. The only representative text of this
period was the Caryāpada. It was a text, containing 47 songs (also called caryās or padas) in
total that were composed by 23 Siddhas or mystic teachers over a period of about 200 years.
These Siddhas were practitioners of the Sahajiya sect of the Tantrika (Tantric) or Late Mahāyāna
Buddhism.20 Scholars differ on the exact period of the composition of the text. The Banglapedia
Encyclopedia, for example, states the date to be between 9th and 12th centuries A.C.21 Chatterji
opines the text to have been composed in the beginning of 12th century A.C.22 However, the text
has been discovered, edited and published by the great Ācariya Pandit Hara Prasad Shastrī
(1853-1931) in 1916.23
20
Chatterji (1926, p. 110).
21
See: ‘Charyapada’ in http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Charyapada (retrived on May 10, 2016).
22
Chatterji (1926, p. 110): some (Rākhāl-Das and so on) even think the period to be early 14 th century.
23
Pandit Hara Prasad Shastri discovered the text from the royal court of Nepal in 1907, and after editing, published
it together with two Dohakosas and Dakarnava in a compilation with the title ‘Hājār Bochorer Purāṇa Bāngālā
Bhāśāy Bouddha Gān O Doha’ – (Buddhist Songs and Couplets in the Bengali Language a Thousand Years Old) in
2016. For more on H. P. Shastrī, see: http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Shastri,_Haraprasad (retrived on
April 27, 2016).
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Fig. 5: Photo of a page from Caryāpada24
The language of Caryās was proto-Bengali, it had significant influence of Śauraseni
Apabhraṃśa, and also Sanskrit and literary Prakrits. Observing the declensions in the language
which is more close to MIA than NIA, Chatterji (1926, p. 115) remarks that the literary
languages and models that were present before the Caryās were Sanskrit and various literary
Prakrits, specifically Śauraseni Aphabhaṃśa. The meter used in the text was ‘Mātrā-vṛtta’, not
‘Payār’, probably because it was not yet fully developed in this period.25 The subject-matter of
the Caryāpada is basically mystic or yogic experience of the Siddhas. But it also presents
discussions of the mediaeval Bengali society, different occupations of the people, and their life
and so on.
2.3.2 Middle Period:
As shown in the chart above, this is the transitional period (c. 1200 – 1300 A.C.) between
Old Bengali and Middle Bengali. According to Chatterji (1926, p. 130), ‘[t]he language had all
its Bengali characteristics fully established during this period, so that from the speech of the
Caryās it was transformed into that of the Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Kīrttana’’.
The significant work of this period was the ‘Śrī-Kṛṣṇa-Kīrttana’ of Baru Caṇḍī-dāsa. It
was a text about extolling the love affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇā, two godly figures in the Hindu
Mythology. The text contains 418 devotional lyrics presented in 13 chapters. It was discovered
and edited by Basanta Ranjan Ray in 1909 and published by Vangiya Sahitya Parishad in 1916.
Chatterji notes that the text was composed in the late 14th century A.C. Among the significant
changes and characteristics in the language of the text was the change of the old mātrā-vṛtta to
akśaras, a syllabic meter of 8+6=14 akśaras and the development of ‘Payār’ meter and so on.
Among other important works of this period were – Mānik-candra Rājār Gān, Maynāmatīr Gān,
Gopi-cand legend, Śunya-purāṇa and the proverbial distiches of Dāk and Khanā and so on.26
Chatterji (1926, p. 132) is of the opinion that the language that was used in these texts was good
middle Bengali, and in their grammar there was nothing archaic.
24
Collected from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charyapada (retrived on April 28, 2016).
Chatterji (1926, p. 117); for more on ‘Prosody’, see: http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Prosody (retrived
on April 25, 2016).
25
26
See: Chatterji (1926, p. 131).
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Fig.6: Photo of a page from the Śrī-Kṛśṇa-Kīrttana27
In the early middle period (c. 1300 – 1500 A.C.), many significant literary works were
produced which became classics of the Bengali Language. Among the literature were the
Rāmāyaṇa of Kṛtti-vāsa, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, and the Mahābhārata. A great influence of
Sanskrit, specifically the use of significant amount of tatsama terms, can be seen in these texts.
Linguistically, among the notable changes that were evident in the literature of this period were
that the conjugations of the verb in the past tense became solely active, strong compound tenses
came to existence.28
The late middle period (c. 1500 – 1800 A.C.) had contributed enormously in Bengali
language. During this period, Vaiṣṇava literature became prominent under the strong influence of
Caitanya (c. 1485-1533) and his students. A new genre of literature called biography had started
in this period. Chatterji (1926, p. 133) notes that a great influence of Sanskrit, and of Maithilī
and a restricted form of Western Hindī can be seen on both language and literature. At the
closing period of this era is seen an influence of Persian and Portuguese on the vocabulary. In his
words, Chatterji (1926, p. 134) writes –
“All these ushered in, by the end of the 18th century, the Modern stage of the language;
and the medieval spirit in Bengali literature was entirely done away with by the middle of
the next century.”
2.3.3 Modern or New Period:
The final development of Bengali language and literature took place in the Modern
period. The proper prose writing in Bengali had been successfully established in this period. The
prose writing had actually begun in the late middle period, but with a heavy influence from
Sanskrit. Chatterji (1926, p. 134) compares it with ‘‘Modern English’ with a Chaucerian
grammar and a super-Johnsonian vocabulary’.
The modern period began with the foundation of the Fort William College 29 in 1800 A.C.
in Calcutta and with the writing of Christian ecclesiastics and Sanskrit scholars and
educationists. It was mainly for the administrative and proselytizing purposes that the prose
writing had started. Richard Colley Wellesley30, a governor general of British India, realizing the
need to learn the native languages, cultures and life philosophy, to successfully rule the British
India, established the college and inviting scholars expert in different local languages and
cultures, produced a number of text books, dictionaries and grammar texts. ‘Vocabulario em
idioma bengalla e portugueza’ (Vocabulary of Bengali language and Portuguese) of Manoel da
Assumpcam was the first bilingual dictionary published in 1743. The first Bengali grammar ‘A
27
Taken from Banerji (1919, p. 61).
28
For more on the linguistic changes, see: Chatterji (1926, pp. 132-133).
For more about the college, see: ‘Fort Willam College’ in
http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Fort_William_College (retrived on May 11, 2016).
29
About ‘Lord Wellesley’, click: http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Wellesley,_Lord (retrived on May 11,
2016).
30
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Grammar of the Bengali Language’ was written by Nathaniel Brassey Halhed (1751-1830) in
1776. William Carey (1761-1834) was another British Missionary who wrote ‘Mathi Rachita
Mabgal Samachar’, a Bangla translation of the bible in 1800 and ‘A Grammar of the Bengali
Language’ in 1818.
The two famous exponents of Bengali language and literature of this period were the
great Rājā Rāmmohan Roy (1772-1833)31 and the great Ishwarchandra Vidyāsāgar (18201891).32 Roy was proficient in many oriental languages such as Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Hindi
and Bengali. Having seen the corrupt writings of the non-Bengali writers, he, together with few
more Bengali educationists, contributed to the writing of Proper Bengali Prose. Among his other
contributions was the establishment of the ‘Brahma-Samāj’, a society that denounced idolatry
and various forms of superstitions including ‘Sati-Dāho’ or widow immolation. He wrote several
books that include – Vedānta Grantha (1815), Vedāntasār (1815), Kenopanisad (1816),
Ishopanisad (1816), Sahamaran Virodhi Pustika, Sahamaran Visay (1828) and so on.
Ishwarchandra Vidyāsāgar was a Sanskrit scholar, writer, educationist, humanist pundit,
social reformer and philanthropist, all at the same time. He is regarded as the father of Bengali
Prose, sometimes even the father of Modern Bengali language. Two prestigious colleges where
he worked most of his life were the Fort William College and the Sanskrit College in Calcutta. It
was Vidyāsāgar who introduced the Bengali alphabets to everyone with his extraordinarily
brilliant work ‘Barnaparichay’, an introduction to the alphabets. Among his other notable books
are: Bodhoday (1851), Kathāmālā (1856), Charitābalī (1856), Jibancharit (1859), Samskrita
Byakaraner Upakramanikā (An Introduction to Sanskrit Grammar) (1851), and Byākarankaumudi (1853-1863).
Among other notable writers who had contributed to the development of Bengali
language in this period are Peary Chand Mitra (1814-1883), Kali Prasanna Singh (1840-1870),
Rajendralal Mitra (1822-1891) and so on. They had popularized Calita Bhāṣā (colloquial
language) in literature, whereas Vidyāsāgar firmly established the use of Sādhu-Bhāṣā (chaste
language) in writings. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838-1894) was the first novelist to
write in Modern Bengali followed by the great Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941).
By this time Bengali language and literature became firmly established. Different genre
of literary works had been produced. Tagore was the charismatic figure who had contributed in
all genres of Bengali literature equally in this period. He wrote rich and varied forms of poetry,
plays, novels, short stories, essays and thousands of songs. He was the first Asian to receive the
prestigious noble prize for his literary work ‘Geetanjali’ in 1913. He had created an era for
himself that would be remembered as the era of Tagore in the history of Bengali literature.
The distinguishing features of Bangla literature of this period, as noted by the
Banglapedia, were: (a) the rise and development of powerful prose literature; (b) the influence of
Sanskrit scholars on prose during the first half of the 19th century; (c) the influence of western
literature; (d) the diversification of subjects; (e) the rise of periodical literature; (f) the elevation
See: Sen, D. C. (1911, pp. 931-989); and ‘Raja Rammohun Roy’ in
http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Roy,_Raja_Rammohun (retrived on May 9, 2016).
31
See: ‘Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’ in http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Vidyasagar,_Ishwar_Chandra
(retrived on May 9, 2016).
32
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of colloquial language to the status of a literary language; (g) the development of new poetic
genres.33
2.4 Sādhu and Chalita Bhāṣā:
Apart from different spoken dialects in different states of both East and West Bengal,
literatures have been written particularly in two specific dialects. The two dialects – Sādhu and
Chalita – became popular in Bengali literature during 19th and 20th century A.C.34 Sādhu literally
means ‘sage’ or ‘chaste’. So, Sādhu-Bhāṣā means ‘language of the sage’ or ‘chaste language’. It
was a literary language as opposed to the colloquial Chalita, which is reffered to as the language
of the common people. Its syntax is more defined and vocabulary is full of ‘tatsama’ (literally,
the same as that, meaning Sanskrit) words. Two giant literalists of Bengal, namely, Ishwar
Chandra Vidyāsāgar and Bankimcandra Chattopadhyay made this form of speech popular in
literature. Sādhu-Bhāṣā was prominently used till the early 19th century, before the writings of
Peary Chand Mitra and Kali Prasanna Singh. It is during these two great educationists in the
Bengali literature that the Chalita Bhāṣā or the colloquial language became well known. The
Chalita Bhāṣā saw its full growth with the literary journal ‘Sabujpatra’ edited by a great essayist
Paramatha Chowdhuri (1868-1946) who had also contributed significantly in writings.
Sādhu was established under the umbrella of Sanskrit with the purpose that this should be
just a language of literature, away from the touch of common folk. On the contrary, the Chalita
was the language that has got Pāli, Prakrit, Austroasiatic, even Persian and Arabic words in it.
Among others the fundamental difference between the two forms is that the pronouns,
verbal endings and others are longer in Sādhu than the Chalita Bhāṣā. following chart provides
an example of some words in both forms:
Sadhu
karitechi
karila
karitechila
karibe
pronouns āmādigake
tāhārā
āmādiger
kāhāke
others
ekkhane
tatpar
verbs
Chalita
karchi
karla
karchila
karbe
āmāderke
tārā
āmāder
kāke
ekhan
tārpar
English Meaning
doing
done
had been doing
will do
to us
they
our
to who
now
then
Fig. 7: Examples of Sadhu and Chalita Words
See: ‘Bangla Literature’ in http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Bangla_Literature (retrived on May 5,
2016).
33
34
Chāki (2013, pp. 48-59) discusses extensively on ‘Sadhu’ and ‘Chalita’.
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2.5 Loan or Foreign Words:
A significant amount of loan and foreign words can be found in the Bengali language.
Throughout its development over different phases of time, it has come in contact with people of
diverse tongues. Since the settlement of the Indo-Aryan people, there came the Turkish, the
Portuguese, the British and various Austro-Asiatic people in Bengal. They came for various
purposes such as preaching, business, invasion, proselytizing and so on. The Bengali language
absorbed many of their vocabularies into it and developed along with that. Broadly the Bengali
vocabulary can be categorized into three groups: 1) tatsama, tatbhava and Austro-Asiatic. Below
I present a list of some borrowed words in Bengali.35
Types
Loan words
Tatsama
aṅga (part), akkhi (eye), agni (fire), asva (horse), iṣṭa (desire), iśvara (god),
udara (stomach), aikya (unity), aihika (worldly), krodha (anger), kriṣi
(agriculture), gagana (sky) nakśatra (star), carana (foot), etc.
Tadbhava āj < adya (today), āṭ < aṣṭa (eight), ār < apara (again), kāṭh < kāṣṭha (wood),
gā < gātra (body), khet <kṣetra (field), ghar < gṛiha (house), cokh < cakṣu
(eye), etc.
Arabic
ākkel (wisdom), āsal (real), elākā (area), ojan (weight), kabar (grave), khabar
(news), garib (poor), jabāb (answer), tārikh (date), duniyā (world), nakal
(fake) etc.
Persian
āynā (mirror), ārām (comfort), āste (slowly), kāgaj (paper), khodā (god),
garam (hot), caśma (glasses), cākuri (job), etc.
Turkish
cakmak (sparkle), dādā (elder brother), bābā (father), nānī (maternal
grandmother), bāburci (cook), etc.
English
ofis (office), jel (jail), dāktār (doctor), puliś (police), skul (school), hāspātāl
(hospital), kāp (cup), ceyār (chair), tebil (table), etc.
Fig. 8: List of Loan Words
3. Bengali Scripts/Alphabets:
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, in his book ‘Barnaparichay’ (1855), introduced 12 vowels
and 40 consonants to be found in the Modern Bengali language. However in the list of alphabets
in modern books, two letters, one from vowel cluster and one from consonant cluster, are not in
use. Thus, the alphabets found presently in Modern Bengali are 11 + 39 = 50 in total. The two
letters are marked in the chart below:
35
For more on loan/borrowed words in Bengali Language, see: Chaki (2013, Pp. 27-37).
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vowels
অ(a), আ(ā), ই (i), ঈ (ī), উ(u), ঊ(ū), ঋ(ri), ঌ(li), এ(e), ঐ(ai), ও(o), ঔ(ou),
consonants
ক(ka), খ(kha), গ(ga), ঘ (gha), ঙ(ṅa), চ (ca), ছ (cha), জ(ja), ঝ(jha), ঞ(ña), ট(ṭa),
ঠ(ṭha), ড(ḍa), ঢ(ḍha), ণ(ṇa), ত(ta), থ(tha), দ(da), ধ(dha), ন(na), প(pa), ফ(pha),
ব(ba), ভ(bha), ম(ma), য(za), র(ra), ল(la), ব(va/wa), শ(śa), ষ(ṣa), স(sa), হ(ha),
ড়(ṛa), ঢ়(ṛha), য়(ya), ৎ (khanda-ta), ং(anusvara), ঃ(visarga), ঁ(candra-vindu)
Fig. 9: Vowels and Consonants
It was the Vidyāsāgar who standardized the Bengali scripts for writing. But it has gone
through more than a thousand years of evolution before its final development into the present
state. The parent script of Bengali is said to be Brāhmī, one of the two well known writing
systems of the ancient India; the other being the Kharoṣṭhī. Kharoṣṭhī is said to have developed
from the Aramaic script, but Brāhmī was developed locally from the Indus Valley writing
system. A number of rock edicts belonging to the Aśokan period were found to have inscribed in
Brāhmī Script. It was from the Northern Class of Brāhmī that Bengali script developed. Other
modern scripts that derived from this script are Nāgarī, Sāradā, Tamil, Telegu, Marathi, Gujrati,
Gurumukhi, Malaya etc.
There can be seen some alphabets of ‘Proto-Bengali’ appearing on some copper plates of
9th century A.C. But proper Bengali scripts developed with the mixture of Nāgarī and specially
Kuṭila36 scripts between 11th and 12th centuries. Caryāpada was the first text of this period. It had
texts on several languages such as Oriya, Maithila, Bengali and Assamese. Some of its texts were
incomprehensible, while some were comprehensible. Due to that its language was designated as
‘Alo-Andhari’ (light and shadow) or ‘Sandhya’ (twilight).
It was during 12th – 13th centuries that manuscripts were written with complete Bengali
alphabets. Well known among the manuscripts of this period are: Laghukālacakraṭka of
Vimalaprabha, Kālacakrāvarta of Abhayakāragupta, Pañcarakṣa, Guyhāvalīvivṛti, and
Vajrāyānasādhanaṇgāni.37 Interestingly enough these were all Buddhist texts of the Sahajiya
sect. And as has been mentioned in §2.3.2 above, Srī Caitanya’s Vaiśnava-texts and the
Canḍidāsa’s Kṛṣṇa-Kīrttan of the 15th century A.C. were among the texts that were composed
with more developed form of Bengali alphabets. In brief, Bengali script developed from Brāhmī
through Nāgarī and Kuṭila into the present form.
4. Conclusion:
Bengali is certainly an ancient language which was originated from the IA group of
language family. It is either a first or second language of more than 200 million people around
the world. With the composition of Caryāpada between 10th and 12th century C.E. it has made its
first ever appearance in written form. But it was only in the 19th century C.E. that Bengali has
been firmly established as a distinct literary and colloquil language. During its long evolution of
about eleven hundred years, it has absorved a great number of native as well as foreign words. A
36
For more on Kuṭila language, see: Sen, D.C. (1908, pp. 10-11).
See, ‘Bengali Script’ in http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Bangla_Script (retrived on May 18, 2016); and
also Sen, D.C. (1908, pp. 12-13).
37
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large number of words were mainly Tatsama, Tatbhava and Austro-Asiatic. The Bengali writing
system originally derived from the Brāhmī script. But with the evolution of many centuries, it
has been finalized in the 19th century in the hand of Rām Mohan Roy and Vidyāsāgar. Today
Bengali stands as a distinct language with its own unique characteristics in the history of human
civilization.
**************
5. Bibliography:
Banerji, R. D. (1919). The Origin of the Bengali Script. Calcutta: University of Calcutta.
Bengali language. (2010). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate
Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.
Brown, K. and Ogilvie, S. (Ed.). (2009). Concise Encyclopedia of Languages in the World.
Oxford: Elsevier Ltd.
Carey, W. (1818). A Grammar of the Bengali Language (4th ed.). Serampore: Mission Press.
Chāki, J.B. (2013). Bangla Bhasar Byakaran (a grammar of the Bengali language). Calcutta:
Ananda Publishers Private Limited.
Chatterji, S. K. (1926). The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language. (Vol. I & II).
Calcutta: Calcutta University Press.
Chatterji, S. K. (1971). Rise of Vernacular Literatures. In Majumdar, R.C. (Ed.). The History of
Bengal (Vol. I). Lohanipur: N.V. Publications.
Chowdhury, B. (1957). Bangla Sahityer Itikotha (A Chronicle of Bengali Literature). Calcutta:
Bookland Private Ltd.
Masica, C. P. (1991). The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mazumdar, B. C. (1920). The History of The Bengali Language. Calcutta: Calcutta University
Press.
Munshi, S. (2009). Indo-Aryan Language. In Brown (Ed.) Concise Encyclopedia of Languages
in the World. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd.
Ray, R. (1958). Bangla Sahiyte Pramatha Chowdhury (Pramatha Chowdhury in Bengali
Literature). Calcutta: East and Company.
Salomon, R. (1998). Indian Epigraphy. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sen, D. C. (1908). Bangabhasa O Sahitya (Bengali Language and Literature) (3rd ed.). Calcutta:
Indian Publishing House.
Sen, D. C. (1911). History of Bengali Language and Literature. Calcutta: University of Calcutta.
Sen, D. C. (1914). Vanga Sahitya Parichay or Selections from the Bengali Literature (Part I).
Calcutta: University of Calcutta.
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Sen, S. (1939). Bangla Sahityer Kotha (A Discussion of Bengali Literature) Calcutta: University
of Calcutta.
Sen, S. (1940). Bangla Sahityer Itihas (History of Bengali Literature). Calcutta: Modern Book
Agency.
Sharif, A. (1971). Bangali O Bangla Sahitya (Men and Literature of Bengal) (Vol I). Dacca:
Barnamichil.
Sharif, A. (1971). Bangali O Bangla Sahitya (Men and Literature of Bengal) (Vol II). Dacca:
Barnamichil.
Shāstrī, H. P. (2005). A Descriptive Catalogue of Sanscrit Manuscripts in the Government
Collection (Vol. I). Kolkata: The Asiatic Society. (Originally Published in 1917).
Vidyasagar, I. C. (1930). Barnaparichay (An Introduction to the Alphabets). Calcutta:
Prabodhcandra Mazumdar and Brothers.
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