Page:The history of the Bengali language (1920).pdf/105

Rh when we pronounce ইচ্ছা and ঈশ্বর. Since we cannot indicate by phonetic representations, the long or rather accented sounds of অ, আ, এ, and ও, and since ঈ has not got a long sound in Bengali, it is hardly correct to write কী for কি to indicate accent or emphasis; for example, when we put emphasis upon the word তুমি (you) in such a sentence as আমাকে কে মারবে? তুমি? no one can seriously think of spelling the word as তূমি.

I have shown under the heading আ how this sound is changed into এ; it is also to be noted that when as a general rule, the aforesaid change takes place in our pronunciation, one exception is observed in some parts of Eastern Bengal. In the district of Dacca, the ই sound without being changed into এ, a metathysis in the sound occurs; for example করিয়া becomes কইরা, বালিয়া becomes বাইলা (বেলে = sandy), etc. It is to be further noted, that this phenomenon also occurs when the compounded ই-অ sound which is represented by what is called য-ফলা is taken by a consonant after the অ or the আ sound, and so মধ্য and বাধ্য are pronounced in some eastern districts, as মইধ্&zwnj;ধ and বাইধ্&zwnj;ধ. As a letter with য-ফলা is pronounced in Bengali as a duplicated letter, the ই sound comes before a compounded letter, specially when there is an aspirate sound at the end of the compound letter; thus the word ব্রাহ্ম will be pronounced ব্রাইহ্ম in Dacca. I must point out in this connection, that we meet with the forms কইল and ধইল for করিল and ধরিল, in our old Bengali books which were composed in the Rāḍha country. I have shown in a preceding section, that the Punḍra people, who inhabited the Rāḍha-land, proceeded to North Bengal in early times, and a large number of them migrated also to the Sambalpur tract, during the time of the Kośala Guptas. There may be or may not be any causal relation between this fact and what I am going to state now; it is curious, that