#nlk

The systems I have chosen for this example are: National Library at Kolkata (NLK), Hanne-Ruth Thompson (HRT), Wikipedia (WIKI), and the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). I have selected words that are similar to highlight the differences in how each system approaches romanization.

1. SNAKE vs. CURSE: In the comparison between “snake” and “curse” we see that NLK and HRT have different characters for the ‘sh’ sound (like in “shallow”), which matches how the words are written in Bangla --with two different characters for the same sound. This is super important because in the case of “snake,” the Bengali character representing ‘sh’ (স) can sometimes be pronounced as an ‘s’ like in “sun,” especially between varying dialects, so the distinction between characters might be significant in some cases. These systems aim to accurately convey the fact that in Bangla these words are meant to be spelled differently. However, they do not straightforwardly indicate sounds. As mentioned, depending on context sounds can change, and these systems do not account for this.

WIKI and IPA appear to focus more on how the words are meant to sound instead of how they appear on paper. They teach the reader exactly how to pronounce the words, but they fail to inform the reader of how the words would be spelled in Bangla, so making an accurate letter-to-letter transcription would be difficult, and this also does not provide the bridge between alphabets to aid those learning to read Bangla.

2. OPINION vs. LIKE: The Bengali words for “opinion” and “like” are spelled the same. NLK loyally follows the characters as they are meant to be transcribed, allowing the reader to be able to guess which Bengali characters would spell these words. But when we observe how the other systems romanize these words we find that NLK does not accurately tell us how to pronounce them. WIKI, IPA, and HRT all indicate the omission of the last inherent vowel in the word for “opinion,” which tells a listener which word the speaker is using. So despite the words being spelled the same, they are pronounced differently. Trying to read out loud based solely on NLK can make you sound pretty confusing if you don’t know how to properly pronounce things.

3. SUMMARY: 

NLK is probably the most true to Bengali writing, but as a result, it doesn’t do very well at teaching pronunciation.

WIKI and IPA focus solely on how a word sounds rather than how it’s supposed to be spelled. They’re more useful at introducing words to learners than NLK would be.

HRT has managed to balance a little bit of both by indicating difference in character usage while staying true to pronunciation as much as possible. In my opinion, this is most ideal when you need to learn how to read and speak. However, you still have to be aware of the rules for those letters that may change pronunciation depending on context. Thankfully, she has graciously provided these in the beginning of her dictionary. Unfortunately this still doesn’t account for dialectical differences nor does it help you identify the exceptions to the rules.

4. CONCLUSION: I feel that HRT’s method of romanization gives you the most bang for your buck as it teaches you both how to read and how to speak. The gaps regarding exceptions and pronunciation changes with certain letters can be filled by consulting IPA if you aren’t entirely sure.

This post was constructed with the help of Hanne-Ruth Thompson’s Bengali-English dictionary and Wikipedia.