[CLOSED] A land of glory, a land of antiquity, India. A history spanning more than 5000 years, there is no dearth of topics to discuss. What we bring here right now is a comprehensive knowledge about the different languages in use in this great and...
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Ami Banglay Kotha Koi Ami Banglar Kotha Koi Ami Banglay Hasi,banglay Vashi, Banglay Jege Roi... Ami Banglay Bhalobasi Ami Bangla Ke Bhalobasi Ami Tari Hat Dhore Sara Prithibir Manush Er Kache Asi ...
(I speak in Bangla I speak for you Bangla I laugh in Bangla, I fly in Bangla, I awake in Bangla. I love in Bangla I love Bangla I meet you in Bangla and all around.)
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নমস্কার/Namaskār (Hallo)! Meet me, I'm Bengali - granddaughter of Sanskritam and daughter of Māgadhī Prakrit. As you all know, appearance and attire are always not necessarily the same, and the same goes for me! In appearance I am Bengali and in attire I use Brahmi Script, the same one that the Ashokan inscriptions were inscribed in back 1 A.D.
আশাকরি আমাকে জেনে আপনাদেরভাল লাগবে. I hope you will like to know me.
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You all have already come in to good terms with my ancestral family Indo-European and the other sisters - relative languages by now, I see. So not to stir the spilt milk let me come directly to my "itihāskathā" (past tale). Since the Century of iconic separation (1500 BC) between my great grandmother Indo-Aryan and Iranian, my ancestors had come a long way through remarkable generations of Sanskrit, Pali-Prakrit, Apabhrangsa and Abahatta (1500 BC - 1000 AD) chronologically. The last two are my immediate pre-mature stages respectively. But the family dispute started to thicken when we, the New Indo Aryan languages came into existence. It was then, what is called a linguist, George Grierson came to our help and classified us, the descendants of various Prakrits into Inner-Outer groups and I, one of the daughters of Māgadhī Prakrit, happened to fall under the Outer group.
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Like any other languages, I also have my evolutionary stages - Old Bengali, Middle Bengali & New Bengali. The earliest evidence of my existence is the documents of Charyapada (1400 AD). With 8.03% of total population of India I am scheduled as one the Scheduled Languages in India and to add a jewel in my crown I am also the National and official language of Bangladesh.
I'm also spoken in the province of South Asia, Nepal, and Bhutan, Srilanka, Thailand etc. But is it possible that an enigma as I am to have no mien, no metamorphosis at all? The answer is simply no. So here they are - While the dialects - Rāḍhī, bangāli, varendrī, rājshāhī etc. make me humble, the standard colloquial variation of Bengali stands out tall and vibrant; In analogy to the parallel banks of the sacred Ganges the two varieties of me also remain parallel - Sādhu and Chalit Bānglā, the first one i.e. more literary when the other is vulgar, spoken variety.
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Just like humans, we languages also cannot live in isolation. Contact, adaptation and borrowing are what make us live. In spite of inheriting words from Sanskrit, Pali & Prakrit, some such borrowed words are - Ālmāri, ādālat: From Persian 'Almirah', "Court" āwoāj, ājab, kharach: From classical Persian 'Awaaz', "Sound", "weird", "expenditure" aphis, piano: From English "Office", "Piano" hartāl: From Gujrati "Strike" panchayet: From Hindi 'panchayat' - "A village council" chā: From Chinese "Tea" bālti, kedārā, pistal: From Portuguese "bucket", "chair", "pistol" churut: From Tamil "cigar" Now, enough of my introductory monologue. It is time for some conversation.
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Wanna learn me? Let's start.
✨কেমন আছ?✨ kemonacho? How are you?
✨ভালো আছি✨ Bhālo achi I am good
✨তোমার নাম কি?✨ Tomar naam ki? what is your name?
✨আমার নাম বাংলা✨ Amar naam Bangla My name is Bangla
✨নয়নের মণি✨ Nayaner moni an apple of the eye
✨কষ্ট না করলে কেষ্ট মেলে না✨ Kos̥t̥onā korle kes̥t̥o mele nā no pain, no gain
✨অসময়ের বন্ধু ই প্রকৃত বন্ধু✨ asomayer bondhu i prakrito bondhu A friend in need is a friend indeed
✨আমার তোমাকে ভাল লাগে✨ āmar tomake bhālolāge I am fond of you
✨তোমার সাথে দেখা হয়ে ভালো লাগলো✨ tomārsāthedekhā hoye bhāalolāglo It is nice meeting you
✨ভালো থেকো✨ Bhālotheko Stay blessed
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So friends! Here was a brief intro about me. It is fun to let the world have a peek inside me at times. Ahhh! Now that calls up another vulnerable issue. You know, as any other animate objects we, languages, too are enslaved to the endless cycle of birth, growth, evolution and death. We die when our children (i.e. you speakers) forget us. I am not exactly endangered yet though but I find myself insecure more than ever now when the new generation of my own children, educated in foreign languages, refuses to recognize the simplest and most common habits/forms of mine... when they casually shrugs saying "bānglā t̥ā ̥t̥hik āsenā āmār ("I am not comfortable in speaking in Bengali").
Is it too much to wish to remain alive, to expect our children to carry me through generations as their own? I hope I get some answers soon..... real soon!
I wish all of you a great day! Stay blessed! Bhalo theko.
