Update:
2016-01-20 05:17 PM -0500
TIL
Bengali script
bing.htm
by U Kyaw Tun (UKT) M.S. (I.P.S.T., U.S.A.) Based on Unicode Consortium,
Not for sale. No copyright. Free for
everyone. Prepared for students and
staff of TIL Research Station,
Yangon, MYANMAR :
http://www.tuninst.net ,
www.romabama.blogspot.com
A supportive source is Allan Wood's
Unicode Resources:
http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/bengali.html 140612,
and an online dictionary such as
http://bengali.indianlanguages.org/dictionary/ 140612
UKT 140611: The speech (spoken language)
is spelled in Bur-Myan:
{Bïn~ga.la:} with a
{king:si:} and not with a
{þé:þé:tïn}. I have colour-coded
the word to show how it is to be read:
first syllable in red, second green, and
third brown. The Ban-Ben script (written
language) has split vowels similar to
those in Bur-Myan, which calls for a
change in font face from Arial Unicode MS
to Lucida Sans Unicode.
Caveat:
However Lucida does not support IAST
transliterations such as ṇ &
ḍ , and "font variant
small caps" which is used by
Unicode, and so
change font to:
Lucida Sans Unicode only when
necessary.
index.htm |
Top
BHS-indx
Bengali
Virama
Split vowels :
UKT 140612: Sometimes I get bored with
what many would call boring, then
its time to watch children's videos.
Here are two on Split vowels in English:
<not> --> <note>
where <t> in <note> goes
between <o> and <e>
Watch a children's videos on Magic-E & Silent-E:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZhl6YcrxZQ 140612
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnanlcyRuuI 140612
Special characters
Horizontal conjuncts
Khanda Ta
Zero-width space : ZWSP
Ya-phalaa
Rendering behavior
Punctuation
UKT notes
Contents of this page
(pdf 17/4)
The Bengali script is a North Indian
script closely related to Devanagari.
It is used to write the Bengali language
primarily in the West Bengal state and
in the nation of Bangladesh. It is also
used to write Assamese in Assam and a
number of other minority languages, such
as Daphla, Garo, Hallam, Khasi, Manipuri,
Mizo, Munda, Naga, Rian, and Santali,
in northeastern India.
Contents of this page
UKT 140612: Viram (Virama) is Bur-Myan
{a.þût}. Whilst Bur-Myan sign or
"Flag"
{tän-hkwun} is on top of the character,
,
the Ban-Ben sign, similar to that of
Skt-Dev, is shown below the character.
(pdf 17/4 cont)
The Bengali script uses the Unicode virama
model to form conjunct consonants. In
Bengali, the virama is known as hasant .
Contents of this page
UKT 140612: Refer to BEPS Vowels -
BHS-indx.htm / BEPS Vowels
Notice how the mid back-vowel /o/ is
creating trouble in transcribing
Bur-Myan and Indic languages. It has
led Edgerton to write: "in Pali
the notorious substitution of
e {É} for o
{AW} aṃ
{än} " on page 4 footnote 11 of his Introduction --
i02original.htm
UKT 140612: Based on history and geography,
we should expect Bur-Myan to be close to
Ban-Ben (Bangla speech written in Bengali
script). Since I no longer have faith in
the descriptions and transcriptions given
by Western philologists and phoneticians,
the only recourse that I have is instrumental
analysis. Back in 2008, I came across the
"Six Vowels of Bangla Vowel
System" in Acoustic
Classification of Bangla Vowels by
S.A. Houssain, M.L. Rahman & F. Ahmed,
International J. of Appl. Math. and
Computer Sc., 4(2), 2007, which I
am reproducing on the right. Some time
later, on his trip to Bangladesh, my son
Dr. Zin Tun, National Research Council of
Canada, tried to contact the authors on
my behalf. But he could not contact any
of them.
See also my work on Human Voice -
indx-HV.htm (link chk 140612)
and included articles on
¤ Wave nature of sound [former hv5.htm] -
snd-wav.htm (link chk 140612)
¤ How sound is produced and heard
[former hv6.htm] -
snd-hear.htm (link chk 140612
(pdf 17/4 cont)
The Bengali script, along with a number
of other Indic scripts, makes use of
two-part vowel signs; in these vowels
one-half of the vowel is placed on each
side of a consonant letter or cluster
— for example [UKT ¶],
U+09CB BENGALI VOWEL SIGN O ো
Bur-Myan vow-sign:
U+09CC BENGALI VOWEL SIGN AU ৌ
Bur-Myan vow-sign:
UKT 140612: Though the above two show
only a difference in the absence of
a flag or its presence, the two
are not allophones: they are separate
vowels which are depicted in Bur-Myan
as vow-let {AW} & {au}. They look
like allophones when coupled to
consonants, e.g.
{kau:} &
{kau}.
(pdf 17/4 cont)
The vowel signs are coded in each case
in the position in the charts isomorphic
with the corresponding vowel in Devanagari.
Hence [UKT ¶] [the following are
isomorphic]
U+09CC BENGALI VOWEL SIGN AU
- ৌ
U+094C DEVANAGARI VOWEL SIGN AU
- ौ
Bur-Myan vow-sign:
UKT 140612: Note the split-vowel in
both Bur-Myan & Ban-Ben which is a
problem for rendering engines. However
do not think that split vowels are
confined to Bur-Myan & Ban-Ben only.
Eng-Lat have split vowels in what they
call "magic-E" aka
"silent-E": e.g.
<not> --> <note>
where <t> in <note> goes
between <o> and <e>
Watch a children's videos on Magic-E
& Silent-E:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZhl6YcrxZQ
140612
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnanlcyRuuI
140612
(pdf 17/4 cont)
To provide compatibility with existing
implementations of the scripts that use
two-part vowel signs, the Unicode Standard
explicitly encodes the right half of
these vowel signs; for example,
U+09D7 BENGALI AU LENGTH MARK represents
the right-half glyph component of
U+09CC BENGALI VOWEL SIGN AU.
Contents of this page
(pdf 17/4 cont)
U+09F2..U+09F9 are a series of Bengali
additions for writing currency and fractions.
Contents of this page
UKT 140612: Readers-writers of Bur-Myan
are familiar with
{paaHT-hsing.}. See MLC MED2006-272
for its definition.
{paaHT-hsing.} is a vertical conjunct:
one consonant (killed) above another, e.g.
{k~ka.} - they are generally mute. Its
equivalent in Skt-Dev is
क्क «kka». The first
(upper) consonant has its vowel removed
by the viram which is not shown in the
conjunct.
However most of us are not aware of
the horizontal conjunct such as
{þ~þa.}. It is known as Tha'gyi and
many (including myself at one time)
think it to be a basic consonant like
its name-sake
{þa.}.
{þ~þa.} being a conjunct is mute.
It is made up of two
{þa.} with a viram in the centre.
The viram is hidden in the conjunct.
Ban-Ben Khanda Ta, discussed below
is a horizontal conjunct.
Contents of this page
(pdf 17/4 cont)
The Bengali syllable “tta” is notable.
It is encoded with the following
sequence:
U+09A4 BENGALI LETTER TA ত
U+09CD BENGALI SIGN VIRAMA
(= hasant) ্
U+09A4 BENGALI LETTER TA ত
UKT 140612: My analysis of Bengali word
Khanda Ta is as follows:
First from Online Bengali to English
Dictionary:
http://bengali.indianlanguages.org/dictionary/
140612
Note to TIL editor: I have to use
Lucida Sans Unicode to get the correct
rendering in Ban-Ben. I then change the
font face to Arial Unicode MS to get
the IAST transliteration which gives me
«khaṇḍa». From it, I get
{hkûN~d³a.}. Bur-Myan does not have
this word: what it has is
{kûN~d³a.} - MLC MED2006-018.
Ban-Ben to English -
n a part; a fragment; a portion,
a region
Bur-Myan to English -
n. section (Pal:
)
However, it could also be,
{hkûn~Da} 'aggregate'. - MLC MED2006-064
খণ্ড
-->
খণ্ড -
khanda -
«khaṇḍa»
I have analyzed the Khanda Ta as
follows. It is a horizontal conjunct
analogous to Bur-Myan
{T~HTa.}. Bur-Myan uses the r3
retroflex-aksharas whereas the Ban-Ben
(Bangla-Bengali) uses r4 dental-aksharas.
In both cases, the respective viram
{a.þût} is not shown. A minor difference
is in the second akshara: Bur-Myan
uses r3c2, whereas Ban-Ben uses r4c1.
Bur-Myan uses retroflex :
{Ta.} +
viram-sign +
{HTa.} -->
{T~HTa.}
Ban-Ben uses dental :
ত « ta »
+ ্ viram-sign + ত « ta »
--> ত্ত
«tta»
I contend that Ban-Ben had belonged to
the Tib-Myan linguistic group, the same
group as Bur-Myan. However, it has
fallen under the the influence of IE
(Indo-European) Skt-Dev primarily due
to the suppression Buddhism by the
Brahmin-Poannas
{brah~ma.Na. poaN~Na:}.
The political change was brought about
by the assassination of the Buddhist
grandson of Asoka by his own Hindu (in Bur-Myan
{brah~ma.Na.}) general, followed by the
suppression of Buddhism. However it lasted
only a relatively short period, when the
Gupta (Hindu) dynasty came into power. The
Hindu Guptas promoted many faiths including
Buddhism, science, astronomy & mathematics,
and literature in the Nalanda University
which they patronized.
The complete route of Buddhism came
about with the conquest of the Muslims,
when Nalalnda University was completely
destroyed, and thousands of Buddhist
monks were killed, and manuscripts were
burnt. It is said that because of many
manuscripts, the burning lasted a whole
month or so.
And so now Ban-Ben is being thought to be
an IE (Indo-European). However,
because, it is used by many ethnic groups,
the languages of some might still be
considered belonging to Tib-Bur.
UKT note 140615: The above is a short
historical account of why Theravada
Buddhism had almost completely
disappeared in Bengal (a part of which
has come to be Bangladesh - a separate
nation with Islam as the state religion).
As a scientist, I have tried to be as
objective as possible. However, many
points could be disputed. How to
determine whether Ban-Ben is Tib-Bur
or IE can be done by a study of its
vowels in terms of formants, F1 & F2,
and comparing it to Bur-Myan. Written
historical accounts including inscriptional
are never reliable as history is being
rewritten again and again. You can
read about this period in many Wikipedia
articles which had been my sources among
others. I am just trying to look into
the influence it had had on the
neighbouring Myanmarpré during the Pyu
kingdom of Sri Ksetra and its
successor the Pagan kingdom.
(pdf 17/4 cont)
The sequence will normally be displayed
using the single glyph «tta» ligature t.
It is also possible for the sequence to be
displayed using a khanda «ta»
glyph followed by a full «ta» glyph
,
or with a full «ta» glyph combined with a
virama glyph and followed by a full ta glyph
.
The choice of form actually displayed
depends on the display engine, based
on availability of glyphs in the font.
Contents of this page
UKT 140613: You can encode the viram
by using what are known as
"zero-width space". .
However, the character maps of both
Arial Unicode MS and Lucida Sans Unicode
do not provide either the "joiner"
or "non-joiner", and I cannot
show how to use them on this computer
using my copy-paste from the character map.
However, if you switch the Microsoft
FrontPage (which I am using) from the
"Design" view to "Code view"
and use decimal numbers, you can still
encode as I have done below.
Of course you would have know the decimal
number equivalent of hexadecimal (hex)
number used by Unicode. Use the calculator
of your computer, Type in your hex number,
and switch on to decimal number display.
(pdf 17/4 cont)
The Unicode Standard provides an explicit
way to encode a half-letter form. To do
this, a ZERO WIDTH JOINER is inserted after
the virama:
U+09A4 BENGALI LETTER TA
- (decimal: ত)
U+09CD BENGALI SIGN VIRAMA (= hasant)
- (decimal: ্)
U+200B ZERO WIDTH SPACE
- (decimal: ​)
U+09A4 BENGALI LETTER TA
- (decimal: ত)
UKT 140613: Using decimal numbers instead
of hexadecimal numbers used by Unicode,
you can still encode:
ত + ্ + ​ + ত
--> ত্ত
Remember to remove the + signs in the code view.
This sequence is always displayed as a
khanda «ta» glyph followed by a full «ta»
glyph. Even if the consonant “ta” is not
present, the sequence U+09A4, U+09CD,
U+200D is displayed as a khanda «ta» glyph
.
The Unicode Standard provides an explicit
way to show the virama glyph. To do this,
a ZERO WIDTH NON-JOINER is
inserted after the virama:
(p232
pdf 17/4 end)
(pdf 17/4 begin
U+09A4 BENGALI LETTER TA
U+09CD BENGALI SIGN VIRAMA (= hasant)
U+200C ZERO WIDTH NON-JOINER
U+09A4 BENGALI LETTER TA
This sequence is always displayed as a
full «ta» glyph combined with a virama
glyph and followed by a full «ta» glyph
.
A summary image of various sequences is
shown in Figure 9-10.
Contents of this page
(pdf 17/4 cont)
Ya-phalaa (pronounced jo-phola in Bengali)
is a presentation form of U+09AF য
BENGALI LETTER YA . [UKT ¶]
UKT 140613: The equivalent of Ban-Ben
য «ya» in Skt-Dev is य «ya»,
and in Bur-Myan
{ya.}. Its IPA transcription is /j/ and
is classified as a palatal approximant.
However, I have shifted it to the velar
position to make way for
{Ña.} which is a basic akshara in Bur-Myan
and is classified a palatal. Skt-Dev
does not have
{Ña.} as a basic akshara, and treats it
as a horizontal conjunct of two
{ña.}. However, a study of killed
{ý} & killed
{Ñ} in Bur-Myan shows that it is a
true basic akshara (even though it is
present only in Bur-Myan among the
BEPS languages.
(pdf 17/4 cont)
Represented by the sequence <U+09CD
् BENGALI VIRAMA + U+09AF য
BENGALI YA >, ya-phalaa has a special form
.
[UKT ¶]
UKT 140613: I am wondering if
is killed
{ý}. However, the sequence is not the same.
When combined with U+09BE ा
BENGALI VOWEL SIGN AA , it is used for
transcribing [the English short a ]
[æ] as in the “a” in the English word
<bat>. [UKT ¶]
UKT note: Because, I cannot show Ban-Ben
ā (long vowel), I have
shown Skt-Dev equivalent for (U+09BE)
Ya-phalaa can be applied to
initial vowels as well:
0985 + 09CD + 09AF + 09BE
অ +
্ +
য
+ া
--> অ্যা
(a-hasant ya-aa)
098F + 09CD + 09AF + 09BE
এ +
্ + য
+ া
--> এ্যা
(e-hasant ya-aa)
If a candrabindu or other
combining mark needs to be added in
the sequence, it comes at the end of the
sequence. For example:
UKT 140613: I tried to write the above
on my own. However, the chandra bindu
moves forward:
অ +
্
+ য
+ া + ঁ
-->
অ্যাঁ
Further examples:
Contents of this page
(pdf 17/4 cont)
Like other Asokan Brahmic
scripts in the Unicode Standard, Bengali
uses the virama to form conjunct characters.
For example,
U+0995 ক BENGALI LETTER KA +
U+09CD ্ BENGALI VIRAMA +
U+09B7 ষ BENGALI LETTER SSA
--> the conjunct
KSSA pronounced "khya" in Assamese
ক + ্ + ষ --> ক্ষ
UKT 140613: Assam, lying on the hills
between India and Myanmarpré shares
many cultural and linguistic roots with
Myanmarpré. Of course the pronunciation
"khya" is not surprising. We
find the same conjunct in
Skt-Dev, क + ् + ष
--> क्ष
«kṣa». This is what I have been
calling "Pseudo-Kha" because
many words spelled in Pal-Myan with
{hka.} are spelled with
क्ष «kṣa»
in Skt-Dev. I cannot say that for Ban-Ben -
unless I know the language.
For general principles regarding the
rendering of the Bengali script, see
the rules for rendering in Section 9.1,
Devanagari.
Contents of this page
Danda
{poad hprût} and double danda
{poad-ma.} marks as well as some other
unified punctuation used with Bengali
are found in the Devanagari block; see
Section 9.1, Devanagari.
Contents of this page
Contents of this page
End of TIL file