The New Nation - Internet Edition

Mizanur Rahman

Bangla is my language. To me it is the sweetest one. I am to articulate all my senses through this language. It is my mother tongue. I love it as I love my mother. Even if I speak any other language or write it, I got to have it translated into my mind. It automatically blends and melts inside my heart. Even if I sing any song, Bangla tone catches me at earnest. It is equally natural throughout the world for every individual that speaks any language. Every individual that may remain at any place or region utters the same language in different tone. That is speech variation. The sound of the language varies from childhood to boyhood and from young age to old age along with the growth of the physical feature of the body. That time takes every one of us on its wing anyway without any discrimination. We cannot hold the gallop of the horse of time. The language of age sounds the language of our tongue. Since I am born and brought up my education has been started naturally but our caretaker mother or teacher taught us to carry on life's journey. Its not likely that everybody will get the opportunity of schooling though every child should avail of it as a matter of human right.

I can hardly expect any fruit from my tree unless I take care of it properly.

The tree wants to grow up with proper treatment and care with light, air and water. That will bear the sweet fruits for me. This applies almost in all cases. If you want to make your language sweet you have to know and learn it. It has its grammar and syntax. Your sentence must be grammatically correct with appropriate words and phrases.

Our Bangla language might be as old as Bangalee people are living in Bengal. Now this Bengal had already been politically partitioned in 1947. But this language had been chastened at the advent of British rule in India long before Bengal's partition. Some European missionaries came to Bengal during eighteenth century and endeavoured to propagate and preach the religion of Christianity among the people of the region. They probably felt that knowledge of Bengali would require convincing the Bengali people about their tenet or faith in the language of the land. Not only that, they ventured also to bring out a newspaper for wide publicity of Christian faith in Bengal. So they made up their mind to establish a printing press. Manoel de Assumcam and Dom Antonio had developed Bengali in their credit with the works in Bengali prose in 1743 e.g., "Brahman-Roman Catholic Sambad" and Crepar Xaxtrar Ortho, Bhed 1743 and "Yocabolario em idioma Bengallae Portuguez in Sree Rampur Mission. They appeared to be the pioneers developing Bengali prose for both Textbook and Newspaper. Long after their works done Sir G.A. Grierson researched them out in 1943. The typical Bengali grammar and its linguistic approach of medieval form that Manoel had to make in Roman transcription in which dialects of Faridpur and Dhaka regions were unveiled. Only after Manoel, N.B. Halhed, a writer of the East India Company, published "A Grammar of Bengal Language (Hooghly, 1778). Later Lebedeff (1801), Ram Mohan Ray (1826), and Father William Carey, D.D. (1827) made Bengali grammar more systematic and comprehensive. Carey's works on Bengali grammar and Bengali-English dictionary were commendable in his time.

Since Bengali language and literature has been proceeding on the path to progress. Dr. Shahidullah had arduous efforts gathering rich Bengali vocabularies to improve our Bengali language.

Traditionally I have been trading a long trailed-path of rich language called Bengali.

Tagore, Rabindranath and Kazi Nazrul Islam had enriched and formed Bengali language in such a way that there seems no loophole through which someone can put his/ her mouth and nose to fork anything waste. It was earnest perseverance on the part of our great poet and litterateur. I should not confine myself talking about our great men. There are many other writers and poets whose contributions cannot be ignored. When I speak of them I count their endless qualities. But I do not have so much space at my heart to embrace them all together. I pay them my sincerest respect. They are our guides, friends and philosophers. We salute them.

When I recite a Bengali poem, I feel joyous, and then my heart exerts elixir of pleasure. When I speak my words that must express the voice of love and friendship. I must shun a thing that percolates bad smell. Why shall I not have the smell of the fragrant rose or any other scented flower? A thing of pleasure cannot be left aside however insignificant that seemed to be.

I must be careful before my words come out of my lips whether I speak anything wrong. If I set my spoken Bengali words correctly and in proper way, I think there is no harm for anybody in it. It might attract my listeners.

The valiant sons of this land had shed their blood and laid down their lives for the preservation of the sweetest form of our Bengali language. I must pay my proper respect to those heroic Bengali language-heroes. So why should I not speak Bengali correctly and avoid all vulgar terms to smoothen the language itself?

The people of almost every district of Bangladesh have some separate spoken Bengali linguistic dialects, accents, and pronunciations that cannot be changed overnight. At least we can teach our pupils the common form of lucid Bengali language accurately, then our next generation can be set free from anomalous and erroneous speech variations. It does not mean we shall imitate West Bengal, Bharat to avoid speech variations. No, we have our own form of sweet Bengali colloquials. That will make the distinction between the west and the east. Bengali grammar, spelling and formation of speech, narration, voice seem to be highly simplified by the savant educationists under the aegis of our Bangla Academy which require immediate implementation.

Let me love my language, let me speak it correctly and let me do well for it.

Now I am a free person of a free country and I must remember my mother language Bangla that brought freedom for me through a bloody War of Liberation. Ours is a nation-state based on state language Bangla.

One thing is not to be forgotten that the birth-chamber of modern Bengali language is West Bengal (now an Indian state). Some of the orientalist academicians like F.E. Pargitar (1886), W. Sutton Page, John Beames, and Hoemla took interest in researching in Bengali spoken language i.e. colloquials, grammar of classical nature. In their studies some of the places of Eastern Bengal (now Bangladesh) and its colloquials were included. According to a Bengali research scholar and exponent Sunity Kumar Chatterjee, " t the first Bengali with a scientific insight to attack the problems of the language was the poet Rabindranath Tagore t The work of Rabindranath is in the· shape of a few essays on Bengali phonetics, Bengali onomatopoesis, Bengali nouns and other essays collected now in one volume that is "Sabda Tattwa" and another is "Bangla Bhasha Parichaya". Another Bengali poet Mozammel Hoque (1860-1933) of Santipur, Nadia (now India) was an exponent of Bengali Language and an eminent Bengali examiner of Calcutta University, who authored, "Sisurabjan Barna Sikhwa" "Prathomic Rachana Sikhwa", intended for the students of High and Middle English Schools, "Sahitya Sikhwa "and "Maktaber Bangla Sikhawa, put a considerable impact on Bengali Education in Bengal (undivided) of his time. Modernism in Bengali Language and Literature had been started since 19th century and proceeded onward with the standard of eminence whereas the western world influence of classics got enough space on the firmament of Bengali literary sphere. Translation works of western and oriental literature in Bengali gave vent to ideas preferring to Bengali minds. It bridged the gap where we were lagging behind in Bangladesh.

Towards the development of Bengali language and literature hence many hands had to work together and the future prospect of it seemed brighter one. Our literary circle in Bangladesh is, however, no less adventurous. We are of course marching forward.

I am happy to see my country Bangladesh of language heroes is marching towards peace and prosperity upholding the standard of my sweet Bangla language. I love it as I love my mother forever.

(The writer of this article M. Mizanur Rahman is a poet, essayist, translator and columnist.)