Page:The history of the Bengali language (1920).pdf/130

108 of accent in Bengali. Cf. আটা (flour) and আটা (gum), কড়ি (beam) and কড়ি (shell), কানা (blind) and কানা (edge), খোলা (open) and খোলা (tile), ছোঁড়া (boy) and ছোঁড়া (to throw), গেরো (a knot) and গেরো (as derived from গ্রহ signifying ill luck), চান (a bath, derived from স্নান) and চান্ (he wants), ঘাট (bathing place) and ঘাট (dereliction of duty), etc. Notice again, a case of accent where gesture becomes partly prominent. If a smell be pleasing, the word for our agreeable sensation will be normally accented, and the word গন্ধ will be accented on the first syllable, but our feeling of disgust about bad smell, will be expressed by putting a long accent upon the last letter, without any qualifying adjective being added: the utterance গন্ধ-অ-অ is sufficiently expressive. To express agreeableness, the particles of interjection in Bengali, are accented closely on the letter when the particle is of one letter, and on the first syllable, when the word is of more than one syllable; while on the other hand, in expressing our painful feeling or feeling of disgust, the accent is on the last syllable, and when the interjection is of one letter, the accent is put in such a manner on the letter, as to generate an additional syllable with a drawl sound upon it. For example, in expressing the feeling of admiration, the first syllables of বাহবা and বাপ্&zwnj;রে will be accented, and a close accent will be put upon the letter বা; on the other hand বাপ্&zwnj;রে (not as exclamation of admiration), is accented on the last syllable, to express the feeling of pain. Similarly আ! gets a broad accent, generating a drawl, to express pain or disgust. It may again be noted, that বাহবা! will be something like বা-হাও-বা, with accent on the second syllable, when there is a banter in the tone; to signify such a sentiment, the interjection বা will be so modulated, as to make it a word of three syllables, with two আ sounds. This is difficult to express in script. We may consider