Bengali: English transcription of Bengali word –> how to determine the original form in Bengali script?

[ladychim]

Hi,

I have some words in English (it's just a transcription of Bengali words) and I'm wondering how I should determine what they look like in Bengali script. I have some knowledge of Bengali but not that great that I could easily guess the correct form of the original word in Bengali script. I tried typing the English form into Google Translator (which gives you the word in Bengali script) and checking with Google whether the word actually means what I think it should (based on the text in English that I have) but I found out that my skills in Bengali aren't quite sufficient for checking the results Google gives me (and my dictionary doesn't even know the words most of the times).

F. e. some of my words are hanria bhanga and chaura. I'd say that bhanga could be ভাঙা but what about hanria? Could it be হাঁড়িয়া? But how should I make sure that this is correct? And chaura would be চৌরা or চাউর?

I have even more words to transcribe, so the thing I'm actually asking probably would be – is there any easy way to determine what do words transcribed into English look like in the Bengali original? Or any easy way to check whether I'm right?

Thanks a lot!

 

[MonsieurGonzalito]

If the words are not inflected (I don't know Bengali), I would start by using a dictionary

Samsad Bengali-English dictionary

The dictionary above has auto-filling word suggestion, and the word চাউর is suggested automatically, unlike চৌরা.

There are more Bengali dictionaries in the University of Chicago website.

 

[Dib]

If they are in a connected text, then it should be possible to transliterate them based on the larger context provided by the text. But if it is just a few unconnected words, I am afraid, it is not really possible to transliterate them confidently.

F. e. some of my words are hanria bhanga and chaura. I'd say that bhanga could be ভাঙা but what about hanria? Could it be হাঁড়িয়া? But how should I make sure that this is correct? And chaura would be চৌরা or চাউর?

Indeed, I have no better suggestions. bhanga can also stand for ভঙ্গ; chaura for চওড়া or চৌর, etc. They may also be dialectal forms rather than standard Bengali. So, really, unless there is a larger context to go by, isolated words cannot really be transliterated back with any confidence.

 

[ladychim]

If they are in a connected text, then it should be possible to transliterate them based on the larger context provided by the text. But if it is just a few unconnected words, I am afraid, it is not really possible to transliterate them confidently.



Indeed, I have no better suggestions. bhanga can also stand for ভঙ্গ; chaura for চওড়া or চৌর, etc. They may also be dialectal forms rather than standard Bengali. So, really, unless there is a larger context to go by, isolated words cannot really be transliterated back with any confidence.

I actually do have more context regarding the words but I am not able to transliterate them nevertheless because I don't know the language that well. For example:

Hanria bhanga means ‘the breaking away of the soil as if it is a clean sweep down to the bottom of a hanri [a round cooking pot].’ In hanria bhanga, the strong, speedy, and sharp undercurrent of the river cuts through the soft, sandy layer and reaches two to three kilometers inland from the bank. At one stage in a riverbank experiencing hanria bhanga, a big mass of land can hang above without any support and may suddenly come down without any warning. Local communities have little opportunity to survive or to save their belongings in hanria bhanga.

So you think that there is no chance that I could transliterate these words myself without knowing the language a bit better (because then I would be able to check with Samsad if I'm right)? Thanks.

 

[Shounak]

Hello,

Bengali being my mother tongue, I think I can help you.
হাঁড়ি is a clay pot, mostly used for cooking rice, meat etc. Earlier in India we used clay pot, now it is all stainless steel or made of iron
ভাঙিয়া is actually a verb, ভেঙে (bhenge) means broken.

চওড়া is the word (choura) means wide or bread. Send me the entire sentence...

Any help regarding Bengali, feel free to ask me or else contact me personally.

 

[ladychim]

Hello,

Bengali being my mother tongue, I think I can help you.
হাঁড়ি is a clay pot, mostly used for cooking rice, meat etc. Earlier in India we used clay pot, now it is all stainless steel or made of iron
ভাঙিয়া is actually a verb, ভেঙে (bhenge) means broken.

চওড়া is the word (choura) means wide or bread. Send me the entire sentence...

Any help regarding Bengali, feel free to ask me or else contact me personally.

So ভাঙা would have long As? Or short (as Samsad is telling me)? Because the English word I have is just "bhanga" (and it regards the breaking away of the soil from the riverbank).

Regarding chauras the context is:

I have been carrying out research in the middle of the Jamuna River in northern Bangladesh on a char (silt island/sand bar) for over five years now. These chars are temporary formations. [...] Sometimes I feel that the chauras (those who live on such formations) keep the river in perspective but [...]

Thanks for your help, I'll probably contact you personally if you don't mind.

 

[Shounak]

Not clear. Check your inbox of this forum. You need to send me the original text. I will clear it out.

Please contact me. No problem.

 

[Dib]

Hi ladychim, thank you very much for providing the context. I think, Samsad won't really be helpful, because the words, you have shared so far, seem to be specifically from some dialects of Bangladesh, rather than standard Bengali. Here are the explanations:
Hanria bhanga : হাঁড়িয়া ভাঙ্গা. The corresponding standard Bengali form would be হেঁড়ে ভাঙা, but I am not aware of any such phrase in actual use. The term, I'd use in standard Bengali for this phenomenon, is simply (নদীর) ভাঙন.
char : চর (same also in standard Bengali)
chaura : চউরা. If this word existed in standard Bengali, it would look like চ'রো (i.e. চোরো in pronunciation) or less probably চরুয়া (চোরুআ in pronunciation). I would readily understand if I heard or read any of these forms in the correct context, but I don't find any of them in Samsad.

This means, unfortunately, I don't think, you can transliterate the words yourself without knowing the language better, including a bit about how non-standard dialects differ from the standard. My suggestion would be to post a separate thread/question for each word/phrase along with the context. Usually, asking questions about multiple words in a single thread is frowned upon in the wordreference forum.

 

[ladychim]

Hi ladychim, thank you very much for providing the context. I think, Samsad won't really be helpful, because the words, you have shared so far, seem to be specifically from some dialects of Bangladesh, rather than standard Bengali. Here are the explanations:
Hanria bhanga : হাঁড়িয়া ভাঙ্গা. The corresponding standard Bengali form would be হেঁড়ে ভাঙা, but I am not aware of any such phrase in actual use. The term, I'd use in standard Bengali for this phenomenon, is simply (নদীর) ভাঙন.
char : চর (same also in standard Bengali)
chaura : চউরা. If this word existed in standard Bengali, it would look like চ'রো (i.e. চোরো in pronunciation) or less probably চরুয়া (চোরুআ in pronunciation). I would readily understand if I heard or read any of these forms in the correct context, but I don't find any of them in Samsad.

Thank you very much, this is really helpful! And also thanks for the advice regarding the posting of multiple threads, I had no idea.

 

[Dib]

Normally, the wordreference forum policy is to allow one word/phrase per thread. But since it's all about river ভাঙন, I guess, we can do them in one thread as well.

First of all, I must give a disclaimer. I come from the mature delta region of West Bengal, where ভাঙন is not a part of our everyday life. We know of this phenomenon from other parts of Bengal (active delta region) through hearsay and school Geography lessons. As a result, even though I am aware of all the processes described in the typology, I don't know the separate terms for them. So, I am just working them out, based on the accompanying explanations to their meanings. The second barrier is the dialect. The dialects, I am best familiar with are all spoken around the lower reaches of the Hoogly river in Kolkata and to its south, a couple hundred kilometres away from the Jamuna river in Bangladesh, where the dialect in question seems to be spoken. My idea of these dialects is certainly more stereotypical than accurate. So, that introduces a second level of uncertainty, e.g. I assume bhanga to stand for ভাঙ্গা, the stereotypical form of the normal word for "breaking" in my mind. But I don't really know!

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, here is what I can make of the remaining terms:
chapa bhanga : চাপা ভাঙ্গা
nishi bhanga : নিশি ভাঙ্গা

chechra bhanga is a difficult one, because its intended litteral meaning has not been explained. It may be, somehow, a derivative of the verb root চাঁচ্- or চাঁছ্-, which means "to scrape". There is also a noun - চাঁচ, চাঁচাড়ি, চেঁচাড়ি - maybe ultimately from the same verb root, which means thin strips of bamboo, which can be woven into a material for temporary or make-shift walls. The next possibility is the verb stem ছেঁচড়া-, which means "to be dragged on the ground". Then there is the noun - not a real candidate in this sense, I'd think - ছেঁচড়া, meaning a "cheat, conman" but also "a kind of vegetable dish". So, "ছেঁচড়া ভাঙ্গা" (from the verb) seems to fit both the meaning and the form the best, but this is really nothing more than a speculation from my side.

 

[ladychim]

Normally, the wordreference forum policy is to allow one word/phrase per thread. But since it's all about river ভাঙন, I guess, we can do them in one thread as well.

First of all, I must give a disclaimer. I come from the mature delta region of West Bengal, where ভাঙন is not a part of our everyday life. We know of this phenomenon from other parts of Bengal through hearsay and school Geography lessons. As a result, even though I am aware of all the processes described in the typology, I don't know the separate terms for them. So, I am just working them out, based on the accompanying explanations to their meanings. The second barrier is the dialect. The dialects, I am best familiar with are all spoken around the lower reaches of the Hoogly river in Kolkata and to its south, a couple hundred kilometres away from the Jamuna river in Bangladesh, where the dialect in question seems to be spoken. My idea of these dialects is certainly more stereotypical than accurate. So, that introduces a second level of uncertainty, e.g. I assume bhanga to stand for ভাঙ্গা, the stereotypical form of the normal word for "breaking" in my mind. But I don't really know!

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, here is what I can make of the remaining terms:
chapa bhanga : চাপা ভাঙ্গা
nishi bhanga : নিশি ভাঙ্গা

chechra bhanga is a difficult one, because its intended litteral meaning has not been explained. It may be, somehow, a derivative of the verb root চাঁচ্- or চাঁছ্-, which means "to scrape". There is also a noun - চাঁচ, চাঁচাড়ি, চেঁচাড়ি - maybe ultimately from the same verb root, which means thin strips of bamboo, which can be woven into a material for temporary or make-shift walls. The next possibility is the verb stem ছেঁচড়া-, which means "to be dragged on the ground". Then there is the noun - not a real candidate in this sense, I'd think - ছেঁচড়া, meaning a "cheat, conman" but also "a kind of vegetable dish". So, "ছেঁচড়া ভাঙ্গা" (from the verb) seems to fit both the meaning and the form the best, but this is really nothing more than a speculation from my side.

Thanks a lot, you're great. It doesn't matter that you can't be 100 % sure about these terms, the purpose of me finding them is to be able to discuss this topic with my teacher, who speaks Bengali but isn't a native speaker. He probably won't know more about this than you, so we might just take your word for it, it's the best option we have I think

So once again, thank you!

 

[Dib]

You are welcome. It will be great if someone from Bangladesh would chip in here, since they would likely be more directly familiar with the dialect as well as the natural phenomenon. Shounak and I are both from West Bengal.