User:Zahiniya/sandbox

Phonology
Eastern Bengali is characterised by a considerably smaller phoneme inventory when compared with Standard Bengali.

Metathesis
Eastern Bengali notably preserves metathesis (অপিনিহিতি) from an earlier stage of Bengali. Thus, the equivalent of Sādhu Bhāṣā করিয়া (ISO-15919: kariẏā) 'having done' in Typical East Bengali is [kɔ̝i̯ɾa̟], having gone through the medial phase of *[kɔi̯ɾiä]; by comparison, the Standard Bengali equivalent is [kore], as the standard language has undergone the additional phonological processes of syncope and umlaut, unlike most Eastern Bengali dialects. Similar occurrences of metathesis occur in the case of consonant conjuncts containing ‍্য jôphôla, due to the fact that it had, in earlier Bengali, also represented the addition of the semivowel [i̯] at the end of a conjunct containing it in addition to its current standard usage of simply geminating the previous consonant in the conjunct. সত্য (ISO-15919: satya, 'truth'), for example, pronounced [ʃɔt̪ːi̯ɔ] in earlier Bengali, is pronounced [ʃɔ̝i̯t̪ːo] in Eastern Bengali and [ʃot̪ːo] in Standard Bengali. Metathesis also occurs in the case of consonant conjuncts which were once pronounced with [i̯] as a component even if they do not contain ‍্য jôphôla itself, such as ক্ষ (ISO-15919: kṣa), whose value in earlier Bengali was [kːʰi̯]. Hence রাক্ষস (ISO-15919: rākṣasa, 'rakshasa'), with the earlier Bengali pronunciation of [räkːʰi̯ɔʃ], is pronounced [räi̯kʰːɔ́ʃ] or [räi̯kːɔ́ʃ] in Eastern Bengali and [räkːʰoʃ] in Standard Bengali. Such is also the case for the conjunct জ্ঞ (ISO-15919: jña), which had the value of [gːĩ̯] in earlier Bengali. Hence, আজ্ঞা (ISO-15919: ājñā, 'order'), with the earlier Bengali pronunciation of [ägːĩ̯ä], has the Typical East Bengali pronunciation of [äi̯gːa̟] and the Standard Bengali [ägːä̃]. There is also a tendency to hypercorrect, leading to the frequent diphthongisation of vowels with [i̯] if they precede any consonant cluster, even when there is no etymological basis to do so. For example, ব্রাহ্ম (ISO-15919: brāhma, 'Brahmo') has the Standard Bengali pronunciation of [bɾämɦo], or, more commonly, [bɾämːo], but may be pronounced [bɾäi̯mːɔ̝] in Eastern Bengali as if it were spelt ব্রাম্য (ISO-15919: brāmya).

Vowels
Although Western Bengali features distinct nasalised forms of each of its vowels, nasalisation is absent in most dialects of Eastern Bengali with the notable exception of Southeastern Vaṅga, where phonetic nasalisation has arisen from intervocalic /m/. The general lack of nasalisation also characterises the Standard Bengali of Bangladesh.

Consonants

 * Like Standard Bengali, Eastern Bengali lacks true retroflexes. However it further fronts the apical postalveolar stops of the standard language to apico-alveolar.
 * Voiceless stops—/k/, /t/, and /p/—undergo lenition in most varieties.
 * The voiceless labial and velar plosives also undergo lenition into spirants, such that [p] becomes [ɸ] and [k] becomes [x] or [ɦ], especially intervocalically. Hence পাকা (ISO-15919: pākā, 'ripe'), pronounced [päkä] in Standard Bengali, may variably be pronounced [päɦä], [ɸäɦä], or [ɸäxä] in Eastern Bengali dialects. [k] is often deleted entirely instead of simply being spirantised, especially when in proximity of [i]. For example, বিকাল (ISO-15919: bikāla, 'afternoon'), pronounced [bikäl] in Standard Bengali, is frequently pronounced [biäl] in Eastern Bengali.
 * When followed by a rounded vowel, [ɸ] and [ɦ] are interchangeable in most dialects of Eastern Bengali. For example, কাঁকই (ISO-15919: kām̐kai, 'comb') [käɦɔi̯] may often be pronounced [käɸɔi̯] and ফকীর (ISO-15919: phakīra, 'beggar') [ɸɔɦiɾ] may often be pronounced [ɦɔɦiɾ]. This merger is expanded upon in the Noakhali dialect, where all word-initial [ɸ] (and, by extension, [p]) are pronounced [ɦ], e.g. পাগল (ISO-15919: pāgala) 'madman' [pägɔl] → [ɸägɔl] → [ɦägɔl], and by some speakers of the Mymensingh and Comilla dialects, who pronounce all [ɸ] as [ɦ], e.g. ঢুপি (ISO-15919: ḍhupi) [d̠ʱupi] → [dúɸi] → [dúɦi] 'dove'.
 * Intervocalic /t/ lenites to a voiced allophone [d] in most Eastern Bengali dialects. For example, মাটি (ISO-15919: māṭi, 'soil') is pronounced [mät̠i] in Standard Bengali but [mädi] in Eastern Bengali. However, this does not occur in geminates, so টাট্টি (ISO-15919: ṭāṭṭi, 'latrine') remains relatively unchanged across varieties, being [t̠ät̠ːi] in Standard Bengali and [tätːi] in Eastern Bengali.
 * The voiced retroflex flap found in Standard Bengali is almost always merged with /ɾ/ in Eastern Bengali, though it may occur in a minute number of speakers. This merger of /ɽ/ and /ɾ/ also characterises the Standard Bengali of Bangladesh.
 * Eastern Bengali dialects tend to spirantise the Standard Bengali palato-alveolar affricates /t͡ʃ/, /t͡ʃʰ/, as well as /d͡ʒ/ and /d͡ʒʱ/ into [t͡s], [s], and [z], respectively. For example, চোর (ISO-15919: cōra, 'thief'), ছয় (ISO-15919: chaẏa, 'six'), and জাড় (ISO-15919: jāṛa, 'cold') are respectively pronounced [t͡ʃoɾ], [t͡ʃʰɔe̯], and [d͡ʒäɽ] in Standard Bengali but [t͡suɾ], [sɔe̯], and [zäɾ] in Typical East Bengali. /t͡s/ in tends to merge with /s/ as the areas of Eastern and Southeastern Vaṅga are approached, such that চা (ISO-15919: cā, 'tea'), pronounced [tʃä] in Standard Bengali, is pronounced [t͡sä] in farther western varieties and [sä] in farther eastern varieties of Eastern Bengali. [d͡z] is an allophone of /z/ that more frequently occurs in Southwestern Vaṅga. [t͡ʃ] occurs as an allophone of /t͡s/ and /s/ while [d͡ʒ] occurs as an allophone of /z/ in geminates and consonant clusters, e.g. বাচ্চা (ISO-15919: bāccā, 'child') /bat͡sːa ~ basːa/ [bäi̯t͡ʃːa̟], ইঞ্চি (ISO-15919: iñci, 'inch') /int͡si ~ insi/ [int͡ʃi], ইজ্জৎ (ISO-15919: ijjat, 'honour') /izːɔt̪/ [id͡ʒːɔt̪].
 * /ʃ/ has a tendency to debuccalise to [ɦ] in word-initial position, e.g. শালা (ISO-15919: śālā) /ʃälä/ → [ɦälä] 'brother-in-law', be deleted entirely in word-medial position, e.g. উশাস (ISO-15919: uśāsa) /uʃäʃ/ → [uäʃ] 'breath', and be either retained or deleted in word-final position, e.g. মানুষ (ISO-15919: mānuṣa) /mänuʃ/ → [mänuʃ ~ mänu] 'people'.