Page:Bengali Grammar.djvu/18

 PRONUNCIATION. O 1? ty ly^e t in tahe ; as, ^T^, t^hd, a rupee. To distinguish this and the next four letters from the five following ones, a dot is placed below the Boman letter : it is placed under these in preference to the others, because these are used much less frequently. i thy like t-h in fat-hen; as, it^, thdkwTy a god or chief. ^ 4, like d in do ; as, ^5t^, ^ai, a branch or bough. 15 4K like dr-h in bad-handy old-house ; as, Ft^, 4hal^ a shield. This letter and the preceding one, with a dot under them, are pronounced like the French r ; as, ^, haray great ; ^, murhay a fool. c| 9, like n in can ; as, ^«&^, kanfaky a thorn. ^ ^, as, ^t^, tardy a st^r. In pronouncing this and the next four letters, to which no English sound corresponds, the tongue should not touch the gum, but the edge of the upper teeth. When is without the inherent vowel, it takes the form  dantay tooth. ^ dhy (the preceding aspirated) as, ^KT, dhdriyay unhusked rice. ^ n, like n in panther ; as, ^rft, nadiy a river. ^ |) like p in jnii ; as, ^TT^f, pdtray a vessel. ^ pA, like jJ-A in up-hilly hap-hazard j as, ^s^Tj pAa^, fruit. It is often carelessly pronounced like/. ^ 6, like h in feoofe ; as, ^9f^, 5aiafc, a boy. ^ bhy like 6-A in cab-horse ; as, ^t^> bhdluk, a bear. i( m, like m in mmd ; as, ^^T^Sl, maw, a mother. When com- bined with % If, or ^, it is not distinctly pronounced, but only gives a peculiar nasal sound to these consonants, which cannot be expressed in print. Examples : ^Kl, dtmdy spirit ; ^, padmay a lotus ; ^^, bhasmay ashes. ^ y, j. This is properly the consonant y, but is pronounced