Page:The history of the Bengali language (1920).pdf/310

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288
BENGALI AND ALLIED VERNACULARS

that the causative forms of the verbs to see and to hear, have been idiomatic in such a case in Bengali; in Oriya in such cases we get সুব্ and দিশ্ for ordinary শুনা and দেখা respectively, but they are not causative forms; in some ordinary cases too দিশ্ and সুব্ occur optionally in Oriya, e.g., গোটিএ শব্দ সুবুছি or শুনা যাউ অছি (একটা শব্দ শুনা যাচ্চে) and, খণ্ডিএ নৌকা দিশুছি or দেখা যাউ অছি (এক খানা নৌকা দেখা যাচ্চে). According to special Bengali idiom, such honorific expressions as আপনার আসা হলো, and তাঁহার যাওয়া হবে, are very common. As for special peculiarities of Bengali voice, the above examples will quite do.

Some particles and indeclinables.—The scope of these lectures does not allow me to deal with all the parts of speech and with all primary and secondary suffixes; it is not to write a regular grammar, but to trace the history of our language, that these lectures are intended. I pro­ceed now to deal with those particles and indeclinables, which being peculiar to the Bengali language, differentiate Bengali from the allied Vernaculars, and which have to disclose to us the interesting history of their origin.

(1) আই. This peculiarly Bengali interjection is no longer in use; we get it, for example in the অন্নদামঙ্গল, "আই আই আই! অই বুড়া কি এই গৌরীর বর লো?"; in some Eastern districts however, it survives in the form of আউ as an interjection expressing disgust, and is often heard with ছি at the end of it, as আউ ছি?

(2) আজ্ঞা in respectful response to a call, is not much in use in the sea-board districts of Orissa, where the Hindi word জি is much in vogue, but this Bengali form is fully in use in the Sambalpur tract.

(3) আবার, আর, আর-উ and ও—from অপর we got অবর and this অবর is আবর in Hindi and Oriya and is আবার in Bengali; in Hindi the pronunciation is আউ-অর, but in Oriya it is pronounced with 'b' and not with 'v.' We