Q/A about Bangladesh

[LaBong]

Whats the major difference between bengali spoken in in india and bangladesh

Allow me to take the liberty of answering this question.

The main difference is that of accent. Generally there are two official dialects of Bengali - Chalit and Sadhu. Sadhu is heavily Sanskritized version of Bangla which is rarely used in everyday conversation and mainly limited to newspaper editorial and few literary work. Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana were written in Sadhu Bangla. Chalit is the dialect which was evolved more naturally and now used in common conversation and most of literary works.

Now except this two official dialects there are many corrupted versions of the Bangla which mainly differ from district to district, for example, Noyakhailya dialect in Noakhali, Dhakaiya in Dhaka, Syleti in Sylhet and also dialects spoken in Rarh regions of West Bengal(between Chota Nagpur plateau and Ganges delta).

Also Bangladeshis tend to use few arabic/persian loan words.

 

[Skies]

Because of exposure to many languages in his childhood he will pick up other languages much faster than an uni-lingual child. It is same with Indians. they learn many languages and they are thought to be quite brainy. Studying science by an Indian or Pakistani student is not a burden. Rather, because of they have sharper brain, therefore, they would pick up any subject fast.

I think Japanese, Chinese and Americans learn only one language. But they have sharper brain. I think it about IQ and 'the way of thinking' and 'the way of teaching', not language actually.

 

[OrionHunter]

Ask questions if you want to know about Bangladesh. Iajdani, Planet, Sami, Boltu, Eastwatch, munshi, Zakir, luffy , dark will answer honestly from their neutral viewpoint!! ...

Luffy will answer honestly??? That's one joke that really made me ROFL!!

 

[Md Akmal]

read about punjab partition. many muslim punjabis were slaughtered by hindu n sikhs

@ It is true that many Punjabis lost their life during and after partition of Punjab. But here eastwatch was trying to convey the message that before the general election of 1946 most of the people of Punjab and Sind were involved in Unionist politics. Even Khizir Hyat was doing Unionist politics. In NWFP many people were supporting Congress like Khan Abdur Gaffer Khan. Majority of the West Pakistani people lately realised after the general election of 1946. Infact they were not that politically conscious like the other muslims of India and Bengal. They were too loyal to the British that is why you would find that most of the British-Indian Military forces were Punjab and Pathan biased.

@ The question is most of the upper elites of Punjab, Sind and NWFP were not fully united like in Bengal. In Bengal ML got almost 97% votes among the muslim voters.

 

[Md Akmal]

This is not vini vidi vici game that Mr. Jinnah came and announced and it got materialized. It needs influence of personality among people, he never passed his time in East Pakistan, never met mass people here which might mean he announced that in a colony not in his own country.

Whatever, it was in no sense logical to declare Urdu instead of Bangla as 1st language here.

@ Why you are propagating Indian message again and again ? If you want to know about Jinnah ask your grand father and donnot believe on Awamy Version of History.

@ It is true that Jinnah hardly visited East Bengal but he visited many a time at Calcutta. Jinnah had a strong personality. Even Sharwardy used to shiver in front of Jinnah. From 1940 till 1949, the people of Bengal were mad for Jinnah and his party Muslim Leaque. Muslim Leaque was the party not like Awami Leaque where people are kept under pressure and intimadation. "Narai Takbir, Allah Who Akbar", "Lanke Lenge Pakistan " were common "slogan" in those days. Each and every person (muslims) including women and children participated in this movement.

@ Jinnah's "Two Nation Theory" was whole heartedly accepted by the muslim people of Bengal and I tell you it is still prevailing. I can still re-collect (though I was not born) once some Chakmas of Rangamati hoisted the Congress and then Indian flag on 14\15 August 1947, the only lone Punjab Regiment at once moved to Rangamati to crush the movement. On 16/17 August a flash message came from Britain that Chittagong Hill Tract was annexed with the then East Pakistan. Millions of students, Muslim Leaque workers, common people and Scouts from Sylhet to Coxe's Bazar at once moved behind the Punjab Regiment having "Jhanda of chand tara" on the left and "Danda" on the right hand and captured the whole of Chittagong Hill Tract. It was Fuzlul Kader Chow who lead the rally. By seeing this India never dare to attack East Pakistan.

@ Jinnah never, never was unpopular in Bengal. It was on that day (1948) once he declared that Urdu should be the state language of Pakistan for its unity, since then some interested quaters started maligning him which is still continuing.

@ We struggled, we fought , we rallied for our greater freedom means to come out from the clutches of Hindus but finally it was under the leadership of Jinnah and nobody elses. In those days to have a separate independence(separate Bengal) state was unthinkable, unrealistic, utopian idea etc.

 

[SHAMK9]

saag or makki de roti is also eaten in pakistan

I had saag and makkai ki roti for lunch

 

[eastwatch]

Every language has a grammar, if the language exists so does the grammar. I think what eastwatch meant to say is that Bengali grammar wasn't well documented before 18th century.

You are partially right. But, when the Portugese came to Bengal to do trade they thought it would be necessary for their people to learn simple Bengali. But, they could not find a single line of prose literature or a page of grammar. So, they were the first to compile a very small and concise grammar for their own need. It was late 17th (?) century.

Bengali as a language was not developed yet even in the early 1800s. Only after the grammar was written by Pundit Tarkalanker and Principal Kerry of Fort William College the prose literature (story, essay and novel) was initiated by many. It was Bangali Hindus who were foremost, but the Muslims also followed them fast. Development of Bengali was fast from 1805 and one day Rabindranath Thakur received the Nobel Prize during the next 120 (?) years.

Before 1805 the language was spoken as we speak today, but it was more rough and colloqual. But, I repeat, there was no grammar and there was not a single line of prose literature before 1805. I am talking about the real history and not talking from ignorance.

 

[eastwatch]

I also have never heard anyone saying Dada kheye esechen na giye khaben. Granted all my relatives are classy people.

I think, your family is Bangal and are all your relatives. So, you do not see these things. But, here people are talking about the Ghotis.

 

[eastwatch]

I think Japanese, Chinese and Americans learn only one language. But they have sharper brain. I think it about IQ and 'the way of thinking' and 'the way of teaching', not language actually.

I think, you have raised a valid point. Japanese and Chinese are uni-lingual people. But, These two nations have thousands of Kanji or Chinese characters which everyone has to master. These two people may be sharper than may other people. Kanji is something very difficult to understand and memorize. Each Kanji is different from all others, but there are also similar looking Kanjis. So, even when a person knows how to read, he may not be able to write it perfectly. On top of this, Japanese language has also two more sets of alphabets, Hiragana and Katakana, just like english or bengali.

I have no way to defend what you said about Americans. But, most of these rich people do not have to go through higher education. They land a job after HSC. You can see that many non-American and non-whites are in the teaching line only because most americans are averse to higher education. Note, President Bush did not even know where Pakistan was. However, USA has many highly intelligent people at the top.

 

[Md Akmal]

You are partially right. But, when the Portugese came to Bengal to do trade they thought it would be necessary for their people to learn simple Bengali. But, they could not find a single line of prose literature or a page of grammar. So, they were the first to compile a very small and concise grammar for their own need. It was late 17th (?) century.

Bengali as a language was not developed yet even in the early 1800s. Only after the grammar was written by Pundit Tarkalanker and Principal Kerry of Fort William College the prose literature (story, essay and novel) was initiated by many. It was Bangali Hindus who were foremost, but the Muslims also followed them fast. Development of Bengali was fast from 1805 and one day Rabindranath Thakur received the Nobel Prize during the next 120 (?) years.

Before 1805 the language was spoken as we speak today, but it was more rough and colloqual. But, I repeat, there was no grammar and there was not a single line of prose literature before 1805. I am talking about the real history and not talking from ignorance.

@ "Puthir Gan " played a vital role in keeping the Bengali muslim culture. From 15 to 18 century, it was through this "Puthir Gan" that the muslim adventures and other Islamic history were went on generation after generation. In those days this "Puthir Gan" became so popular that Hindu Pandits were afraid to lose their field on the ground of East Bengal. Soon they invented "Kobir Gan" to hold the ground.

 

[boltu]

Bangal sounds cool, whats wrong in that ?? I think in hindi and urdu bengal is pronounced as bangal.

 

[Roybot]

Bangal sounds cool, whats wrong in that ?? I think in hindi and urdu bengal is pronounced as bangal.

Isn't that how you pronounce it in Bangla too? Bengal is anglicized pronunciation.

 

[TopCat]

I think, you have raised a valid point. Japanese and Chinese are uni-lingual people. But, These two nations have thousands of Kanji or Chinese characters which everyone has to master. These two people may be sharper than may other people. Kanji is something very difficult to understand and memorize. Each Kanji is different from all others, but there are also similar looking Kanjis. So, even when a person knows how to read, he may not be able to write it perfectly. On top of this, Japanese language has also two more sets of alphabets, Hiragana and Katakana, just like english or bengali.

I have no way to defend what you said about Americans. But, most of these rich people do not have to go through higher education. They land a job after HSC. You can see that many non-American and non-whites are in the teaching line only because most americans are averse to higher education. Note, President Bush did not even know where Pakistan was. However, USA has many highly intelligent people at the top.

@eastwatch, our students already overwhelmed learning two foreign language English and Arabic. Why do you want to add more? Is it logical. One foreign language is hard and enough. There is no reason to learn Hindi or Urdu in our classes. We certainly need optional course of Chinese language as most Chinese cant speak English. For India and PK we can always use English, no need Urdu/Hindi.

 

[boltu]

Isn't that how you pronounce it in Bangla too? Bengal is anglicized pronunciation.

No, we pronounce it just the way it is- Bangla,Bangali.
btw, in my school our Science teacher used to yell at us when he got angry by saying 'Bangal ka baccha choop kor sobai'

 

[Skies]

There are female members from India, Pakistan here, but none from BD. Should I think that our females are lagged behind?