Bengali script
| Bengali | ||
|---|---|---|
 ka in Bengali |
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| Font | Abugida | |
| languages | Bengali , Assamese , Sylheti , Meitei , Bishnupriya Manipuri | |
| Used in | Bangladesh , West Bengal , Assam , Tripura , Manipur | |
| ancestry |
Protosinaitic script → Phoenician script → Aramaic script → Brahmic script → Bengali |
|
| particularities | Belongs to the Indian font family. | |
| Unicode block | U + 0980 – U + 09FF | |
| ISO 15924 | Beng | |
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The Bengali script ( বাংলা লিপি , bāṁlā lipi ) is one of the Indian scripts . Like this, it is an intermediate form of the alphabet and syllabary , a so-called Abugida . It is used in parts of India as well as in Bangladesh , in it, among other things, the Bengali language is written. The Bengali script is similar to the Devanagari in many ways, the current differences to the Devanagari are mainly caused by the sound changes in the Bengali language.
history
Like many other Indian scripts, the Bengali script has its origin in the Brahmi script , which was first used in the 3rd century BC. Is occupied. Over the course of time, numerous regional variants developed from this font, some of which differ greatly.
The Bengali script initially developed together with the Devanagari from an eastern variant of the Gupta script , a descendant of the Brahmi script. From this, the Nagari script split off in the 7th century AD . After this also developed into regional variants, the Bengali script finally split off in the 12th century. The first printed text in Bengali was by Charles Wilkins and was published in 1778. A reform of the Bengali script took place at the end of the 19th century by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar , during which, among other things, the additional characters with Nukta were added to the alphabet.
use
The Bengali script is mainly used to write the Bengali language, it is the official language in Bangladesh and in the Indian state of West Bengal and one of the most widely spoken languages on earth. The Assamese language , the official language of the Indian state of Assam , uses a slightly different variant of the Bengali script. In addition, many minority languages in these areas, as well as in the Indian states of Tripura and Manipur, use the Bengali script. The writing of Sanskrit in Bengali script is possible, but is rarely practiced these days.
Working principle
Like the other Indian scripts, the Bengali script is an intermediate form of the alphabet and syllabary , a so-called Abugida . In an Abugida, any consonant that does not have a vowel sign has the inherent vowel a . This inherent vowel can be changed by adding vowel signs that are firmly associated with the consonant. The consonant ক is therefore a ka , while কি is a ki . The inherent vowel in Bengali is an o due to sound shifts from pronunciation, which is why the ô is used in some transcription schemes to represent the inherent vowel.
Vowels are only represented with their own, independent characters if they occur without associated consonants, for example at the beginning of a word. As in many other Indian scripts, a consonant without an associated vowel is represented by the addition of a small slash under the name Virama ( called হসন্ত hasanta in Bengali ). If such a vowelless consonant meets another consonant, the two usually combine to form a ligature. Like the other Indian scripts, the Bengali script is written from left to right; there is no distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters.
Vowel mark
The Bengali script has 11 vowel characters, which, however, do not fully correspond to the vowel phonology of Bengali. The distinction between short and long vowels has been lost in language, but it is still represented in writing. For this, there is no separate vowel signs for the vowel / æ / , so it must be presented in writing by other characters.
The independent vowel signs on the left are only used for vowels without associated consonants, for example at the beginning of a word or after another vowel. If, on the other hand, a vowel occurs together with a consonant, the combining vowel signs on the right are used, which combine with the consonant sign and form a fixed unit. The combining vowel signs are shown here using the consonant ক k as an example .
The characters ৠ ṝ , ঌ ḷ and ৡ ḹ as well as the associated combining vowel symbols are no longer used in the Bengali language. They only exist to enable the writing of Sanskrit in Bengali script.
The combining vowel signs e , ai , o and au take slightly different forms depending on whether they appear at the beginning or within a word.
| Independent vowel signs | COMBINING VOWEL SIGNS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| character | Transliteration | Sound value | character | Transliteration | Sound value |
| অ | a | [ ɔ ] , [ o ] | ক | ka | [ kɔ ], [ ko ] |
| আ | - | [ a ] | কা | kā | [ ka ] |
| ই | i | [ i ] | কি | ki | [ ki ] |
| ঈ | ī | [ i ] | কী | kī | [ ki ] |
| উ | u | [ u ] | কু | ku | [ ku ] |
| ঊ | ū | [ u ] | কূ | kū | [ ku ] |
| ঋ | ṛ | [ ri ] | কৃ | kṛ | [ kri ] |
| এ | e | [ e ] , [ æ ] | কে | ke | [ ke ], [ kæ ] |
| ঐ | ai | [ oi̯ ] | কৈ | kai | [ koi̯ ] |
| ও | O | [ o ] | কো | ko | [ ko ] |
| ঔ | ouch | [ ou̯ ] | কৌ | chew | [ kou̯ ] |
The combining vowel signs normally combine with the consonant sign in a regular manner, but special forms occur with certain consonant-vowel combinations.
| character | Transliteration |
|---|---|
| গু | gu |
| শু | śu |
| ন্তু | ntu |
| স্তু | stu |
| হু | hu |
| রু | ru |
| রূ | rū |
| হৃ | Mr |
Consonants
The Bengali script contains 35 consonant characters. The ক্ষ kṣ , actually a ligature made up of ক k and ষ ṣ , was not taken into account when counting , although many Bengali dictionaries regard it as a separate character in the alphabet. The transliteration is shown in this table without the inherent vowel a, which is normally always present when the consonant does not have a vowel sign or virama.
The consonant signs, like the vowel signs, in some cases represent sounds that have disappeared in the Bengali language. Thus, about every three sibilants in Bengal to / ʃ / collapsed, but they are still presented with separate characters.
The list of consonant characters contains three characters formed in the 19th century by adding a nukta from other characters. The য় ẏ can only occur after a vowel and, although it is a consonant sign , even stands for the vowel / e̯ /, whereby it forms a diphthong with the preceding vowel . If the sign is between two vowels, it is usually silent. The characters ড় R and ঢ় RH set both the volume / ɽ / is, which in Sanskrit merely an allophone of / ɖ / , but in Bengal is a phonologically of distinctive sound. However, the ঢ় ṛh is very rare, practically the only more common word in which it occurs is আষাঢ় āṣāṛh , the name of a month in the Bengali calendar .
The alphabet of the Assamese language differs from the Bengali alphabet in only two places. Instead of the র r , the alternative glyph ৰ is used in Assamese . There is also the character Zeichen v . This adjusts the sound / w / is who does not, but rather occurs in Bengal in Assamese.
| character | Transliteration | Sound value |
|---|---|---|
| ক | k | [ k ] |
| খ | kh | [ kʰ ] |
| গ | G | [ g ] |
| ঘ | gh | [ gʱ ] |
| ঙ | ṅ | [ ŋ ] |
| চ | c | [ tʃ ] |
| ছ | ch | [ tʃʰ ] |
| জ | j | [ dʒ ] |
| ঝ | century | [ dʒʱ ] |
| ঞ | ñ | [ n ] |
| ট | ṭ | [ ʈ ] |
| ঠ | ṭh | [ ʈʰ ] |
| ড | ḍ | [ ɖ ] |
| ঢ | ḍh | [ ɖʱ ] |
| ণ | ṇ | [ n ] |
| ত | t | [ t̪ ] |
| থ | th | [ t̪ʰ ] |
| দ | d | [ d̪ ] |
| ধ | ie | [ d̪ʱ ] |
| ন | n | [ n ] |
| প | p | [ p ] |
| ফ | ph | [ P ], [ f ] , [ PF ] |
| ব | b | [ b ] |
| ভ | bra | [ bʱ ] |
| ম | m | [ m ] |
| য | y | [ dʒ ] |
| র | r | [ r ] |
| ল | l | [ l ] |
| শ | ś | [ ʃ ] , [ s ] |
| ষ | ṣ | [ ʃ ] |
| স | s | [ ʃ ] , [ s ] |
| হ | H | [ h ] |
| য় | ẏ | [ e̯ ] |
| ড় | ṛ | [ ɽ ] |
| ঢ় | ṛh | [ ɽ ] |
Ligatures
Similar to the Devanagari, the Bengali script is also rich in ligatures that are used to represent clusters of consonants . These are often regular, but in many cases they can also be irregular, so that the individual components are not clearly recognizable. The pronunciation of the ligatures is usually not the same as the pronunciation of their individual components; there is, for example, the ligature ক্ষ KS from ক k / k / and ষ S / ʃ / , the ligature but / K / spoken.
In regular ligatures, all characters except the last character are shown in a reduced form; the last consonant of a cluster does not change its shape. Accordingly, the consonants খ kh and wird l become the ligature খ্ল khla . In addition, certain consonants take regular special forms within a ligature:
- If the র r is in the middle or at the end of a ligature, it forms a horizontal wavy line that is attached below the previous consonant, e.g. B. in the syllable খ্র khra . If the r appears at the beginning of a ligature, it becomes a small oblique line above the last consonant of a cluster, as in the syllable র্ক rka .
- If the য y occurs in the middle or at the end of a ligature, it becomes a vertical wavy line, for example in the syllable ক্য kya . The only exception is র্য rya . This special form can also be combined with an independent vowel sign.
special character
There are a number of special characters in the Bengali script. The former is an independent sign, the other three only appear together with a consonant or independent vowel sign. Accordingly, these cannot appear at the beginning of the word.
- The character ৎ, in Bengali খণ্ড ত khaṇḍa ta “broken Ta” is a special form of the consonant ত t . It always appears in the final syllable without a corresponding vowel and is used in certain words, e.g. B. উৎসব utsab "Festival".
- The Anusvara , which looks like a semicolon in the Bengali script , is, in contrast to the Devanagari, a full consonant, except that it cannot be at the beginning of a word and cannot be combined with a vowel sign. He adjusts the sound [ ŋ ] and qualifies among other things in the proper name of the Bengali language বাংলা bāṁlā ago.
- The Visarga represents different sounds according to its position in the word. If it occurs in the middle of the word, it mines the following consonant. At the end of the word it stands for a rough final voiceless h. Visarga is rarely used in the Bengali language. B. in the word দুঃখ duḥkha “worry”.
- The Chandrabindu is used to nasalize the preceding vowel . So the character কঁ would be pronounced as [ kɔ̃ ].
| character | Transliteration |
|---|---|
| কৎ | cat |
| কং | came |
| কঃ | kaḥ |
| কঁ | came |
Punctuation marks and symbols
The only punctuation mark in the Bengali script is a vertical line।. A single dash closes a sentence like a period. Two strokes together can be used to complete an entire section, as in Devanagari, but this is rarely used. In addition, the western punctuation marks are mostly used today.
The Bengali script also contains the symbol ৺. This is placed in front of the names of deceased people, similar to the western cross .
Alphabetical order
In contrast to the Latin alphabet, for example, the alphabetical order of the Bengali script is not arbitrary, but, as in the other Indian scripts, is sorted according to phonetic aspects:
- Vowels : অ a , আ ā , ই i , ঈ ī , উ u , ঊ ū , ঋ ṛ , এ e , ঐ ai , ও o , ঔ au
- Special characters: Anusvara ং, Visarga ঃ, Chandrabindu ঁ
- Consonants, first voiceless, then voiced (unaspirated and aspirated) and finally nasal , grouped according to articulation from back to front:
- Half vowels : য y , র r , ল l
- Sibilance : শ ¶ , ষ S , স s
- Aspirate : হ h
- other characters: য় ẏ , ড় ṛ , ঢ় ṛh
Digits
The Bengali script has its own numeric characters.
| Digit | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bengali Numeral | ০ | ১ | ২ | ৩ | ৪ | ৫ | ৬ | ৭ | ৮ | ৯ |
| Bengali numeral | শূন্য | এক | দুই | তিন | চার | পাঁচ | ছয় | সাত | আট | নয় |
Transcription
As an Indian script, the ISO 15919 standard provides a transliteration scheme for the Bengali script. Other transliteration systems, such as transliteration according to the National Library at Calcutta , are almost identical to the ISO 15919 standard. There are also some unofficial transcription schemes in circulation that focus on Bengali pronunciation.
There is also the Bharati Braille , with which the Bengali script can be converted into Braille in addition to other Indian scripts .
Bengali in Unicode
Unicode encodes the Bengali script in the Bengali Unicode block in the code range U + 0980 – U + 09FF.
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | A. | B. | C. | D. | E. | F. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 980 | ঀ | ঁ | ং | ঃ | অ | আ | ই | ঈ | উ | ঊ | ঋ | ঌ | এ | |||
| 990 | ঐ | ও | ঔ | ক | খ | গ | ঘ | ঙ | চ | ছ | জ | ঝ | ঞ | ট | ||
| 9A0 | ঠ | ড | ঢ | ণ | ত | থ | দ | ধ | ন | প | ফ | ব | ভ | ম | য | |
| 9B0 | র | ল | শ | ষ | স | হ | ় | ঽ | া | ি | ||||||
| 9C0 | ী | ু | ূ | ৃ | ৄ | ে | ৈ | ো | ৌ | ্ | ৎ | |||||
| 9D0 | ৗ | ড় | ঢ় | য় | ||||||||||||
| 9E0 | ৠ | ৡ | ৢ | ৣ | ০ | ১ | ২ | ৩ | ৪ | ৫ | ৬ | ৭ | ৮ | ৯ | ||
| 9F0 | ৰ | ৱ | ৲ | ৳ | ৴ | ৵ | ৶ | ৷ | ৸ | ৹ | ৺ | ৻ | ৼ | ৽ | ৾ | |
Script example
The following is the Bengali translation of the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights .
| Bengali script | Transcription (ISO 15919) | translation |
|---|---|---|
| সমস্ত মানুষ স্বাধীনভাবে সমান মর্যাদা এবং অধিকার নিয়ে জন্মগ্রহণ করে। তাঁদের বিবেক এবং বুদ্ধি আছে; সুতরাং সকলেরই একে অপরের প্রতি ভ্রাতৃত্বসুলভ মনোভাব নিয়ে আচরণ করা উচিৎ। | Samasta mānuṣa sbādhīnabhābe samāna maryādā ebaṁ adhikāra niẏe janmagrahaṇa kare. Tām̐dera bibeka ebaṁ buddhi āche; sutarāṁ sakalera: i eke aparera prati bhrātṛtbasulabha manobhāba niẏe ācaraṇa karā ucit. | All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should meet one another in a spirit of brotherhood. |
literature
- Elvira Friedrich: Introduction to the Indian Scriptures . Part. 2. Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Bengali, Oriya. Buske, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-87548-219-0 .
- William Radice : Teach Yourself Bengali . Hodder Education, London 2007, ISBN 0-07-141368-5 , pp. 1-56 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rakhal-das Vandyopadhyaya: The origin of the Bengali script . University of Calcutta, Calcutta 1919, p. 42 .
- ↑ Vandyopadhyaya, pp. 84 f.
- ↑ BS Kesavan, PN Venkatachari: History of Printing and Publishing in India . South Indian origins of printing. National Book Trust, New Delhi 1984, pp. 205 .
- ↑ Bengali Script and Spelling
- ↑ Radice, p. 9 f.
- ↑ a b George L. Campbell: Handbook of scripts and alphabets . Routledge, London 1997, ISBN 0-415-18344-8 , pp. 11 .
- ↑ Radice, pp. 19, 29 f.
- ↑ Julie D. Allen: The Unicode Standard, version 5.2 . The Unicode Consortium. The Unicode Consortium, Mountain View 2009, ISBN 978-1-936213-00-9 , Chapter 9: South Asian Scripts-I ( PDF, 2.5 MB ).
- ↑ Radice, p. 15
- ↑ Radice, p. 38
- ↑ a b Radice, p. 29
- ↑ Radice, p. 15 f.
- ↑ Radice, p. 33
- ↑ Radice, p. 45
- ↑ Radice, p. 37
- ↑ a b c Bengali character notes
- ↑ Radice, p. 35
- ↑ a b Radice, p. 39
- ^ The Unicode Standard, p. 282
- ↑ Radice, p. 45 f.
- ↑ Radice, p. 16
- ↑ Radice, p. 271 f.
- ↑ Radice, p. 22
- ↑ Radice, p. 13
- ↑ Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Bengali