Consonant clusters in Bengali are very common word-initially due to a long history of borrowing from English and Sanskrit, two languages with a large cluster inventory. A smaller number of words with word-final clusters have also been borrowed from English, Urdu, and Persian. A handful of words from non-standard dialects of Bengali include native clusters. In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. ... Bengali or Bangla (বাংলা, IPA: ) is an Indo-Aryan language of East South Asia, evolved from Prakrit, Pāli and Sanskrit. ... A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one language from another with little or no translation. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Sanskrit language (Skt. ... The phrase Zaban-e Urdu-e Mualla written in Urdu Urdu () is an Indo-European language of the Indo-Aryan family that developed under Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, and Sanskrit influence in South Asia during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire (1200-1800). ... Persian, (local name: Fārsī or Pārsī), is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ...

Syllable-initial clusters

Native Bengali (তদ্ভব tôdbhôb) words do not allow initial consonant clusters;^[1] the maximum syllabic structure is CVC (i.e. one vowel flanked by a consonant on each side). Many speakers of Bengali restrict their phonology to this pattern, even when using Sanskrit or English borrowings, such as গেরাম geram (CV.CVC) for গ্রাম gram (CCVC) "village" or ইস্কুল iskul (VC.CVC) for স্কুল skul (CCVC) "school". A syllable (Ancient Greek: ) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. ... In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. ...

Sanskrit (তৎসম tôtshôm) words borrowed into Bengali, however, possess a wide range of clusters, expanding the maximum syllable structure to CCCVC. Some of these clusters, such as the mr in মৃত্যু mrittu "death" or the sp in স্পষ্ট spôshţo "clear", have become extremely common, and can be considered legal consonant clusters in Bengali.

English and other foreign (বিদেশী bideshi) borrowings add even more cluster types into the Bengali inventory, further increasing the syllable capacity to CCCVCCCC, as commonly-used loanwords such as ট্রেন ţren "train" and গ্লাস glash "glass" are now even included in leading Bengali dictionaries.

Syllable-final clusters

Final consonant clusters are rare in Bengali.^[2] Most final consonant clusters were borrowed into Bengali from English, as in লিফ্‌ট lifţ "lift, elevator" and ব্যাংক bêņk "bank". However, final clusters do exist in some native Bengali words, although rarely in standard pronunciation. One example of a final cluster in a standard Bengali word would be গঞ্জ gônj, which is found in names of hundreds of cities and towns across Bengal, including নবাবগঞ্জ Nôbabgônj and মানিকগঞ্জ Manikgônj. Some nonstandard varieties of Bengali make use of final clusters quite often. For example, in some Purbo (eastern) dialects, final consonant clusters consisting of a nasal and its corresponding oral stop are common, as in চান্দ chand "moon". The Standard Bengali equivalent of chand would be চাঁদ chãd, with a nasalized vowel instead of the final cluster.

A waqf (Arabic: وقف, plural awqāf) is an inalienable religious endowment in Islam, typically devoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. ...

See also

Bengali or Bangla (বাংলা, IPA: ) is an Indo-Aryan language of East South Asia, evolved from Prakrit, Pāli and Sanskrit. ... Bengali grammar is the study of grammar in the Bengali language. ... Due to centuries of contact with various languages, the origins of words in the Bangla language are numerous and diverse. ... The dialects of the Bengali language are part of the Eastern Indo-Aryan language group of the Indo-European language family. ... The Bengali script (Bengali: বাংলা লিপি Bangla lipi) is an Abugida system of writing belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts whose use is associated with the Bangla, Assamese, Manipuri and Sylheti languages. ... It has been suggested that History of Bengali literature be merged into this article or section. ... Shaheed Minar, or the Martyrs monument, located near Dhaka Medical College, commemorates the struggle for Bangla language The Language Movement was a cultural and political movement in the erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1952. ... There is a disputed proposal that this article should be merged with Language Martyrs Day 21st February has been proclaimed the International Mother Language Day by the UNESCO in 2000. ...

Notes

1. ^ (Masica 1991, pp. 125)
2. ^ (Masica 1991, pp. 126)

References

• Masica, C (1991), The Indo-Aryan Languages, Cambridge Univ. Press.