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Shishir Bhattacharja

  • Linguist and Professor

Author: Linguist and Professor, Institute of Modern Languages, University of Dhaka.
No use at all levels, genuine hurdle of Bangla as language
No use at all levels, genuine hurdle of Bangla as language
Art and Culture

No use at all levels, genuine hurdle of Bangla as language

For the past few years, it has been stated in the written articles and audiovisual media of Bangladesh that the Bangla language has become as polluted as the rivers of the country. This pollution is reportedly mainly happening in three areas: 1. Standard Bangla pronunciation in English or dialectal style, 2. Using English-Hindi-dialectal words instead of Bangla words while speaking, and 3. Spelling distortion. The finger of blame has been pointed at various private media outlets including FM radio. The reality is that even though standard Bangla is spoken in the media with so-called pure pronunciation, speaking the Bangla language in an English accent or mixing English words in Bangla will not stop. People do not learn the language by listening to FM radio, FM radio wants to attract the attention of its customers and listeners by broadcasting programmes in the language they speak, in the interest of profit.

Sabyasachi Hazra's Primer to Press
Sabyasachi Hazra's Primer to Press
Events

Sabyasachi Hazra's Primer to Press

The epoch we live in, which started fourteen thousand years ago, is called the Holocene epoch while traces of the first village were found in Turkey some 10,000 years ago. Civilization is claimed to have started since the discovery of writing in the Sumer region of the Middle East some 6,000 years ago. Many famous nations of the world, such as English or French, do not have their own alphabet. Their language is written in Roman alphabet. We Bengalis are fortunate to have alphabet of our own. Just as no one values the luck that is found incidentally, Bengali alphabet also cannot be said to have received much attention from native researchers. Not many books or articles have been written about the Bengali alphabet in Bangladesh, known as the 'Land of Language Movement'.

Suranjana's ‘Stitched Collage’ in tradition of modern art
Suranjana's ‘Stitched Collage’ in tradition of modern art
Art and Culture

Suranjana's ‘Stitched Collage’ in tradition of modern art

In the first two decades of the 21st century, amid the backdrop of the emergence and prominence of cubism, futurism, collage, and dada in the continuum of modern art, Suranjana Bhattacharja (1969) has ventured into a new art form called "‘Stitched Collage’," in Dhaka and Montreal. Since 2007, after being afflicted by the debilitating disease dystrophy, she has been utilizing this new artistic medium to overcome perpetual pain and solitude.

Desirable multilingual education in Bangladesh
বাংলাদেশের কাম্যতম বহুভাষী শিক্ষা
Special Content

Desirable multilingual education in Bangladesh

In the 1950s, Sapir-Whorf hypothesis claimed that each language shapes and describes life and the world differently. If true, multilingual education could be more effective and complete than monolingual education. Multilingual education can be either natural or organic, like the Latin-based system in ancient Rome when Latin was alive, or artificial, like the Latin-based system in the Middle Ages when Latin was a dead language. The argument posits that natural multilingual education ensures general and effective education, while artificial multilingual education fails in both aspects. In Bangladesh, a Bengali language-based multilingual education system would be natural and effective since Bengali is the language of the masses. Conversely, an English-based multilingual education system would be artificial because English is not the language of the masses in Bangladesh. Moreover, it might undermine the use of the Bengali language, causing ultimate harm.

The politics of language
The politics of language
Special Content

The politics of language

Let's imagine a situation where a cake would be cut on an occasion. The cake is small and not enough for the guests. I would feel good if most portion of the cake is served on me or my children, my relatives and people from my side. My opponent would feel the same if the lion's share of the cake goes to him. If each guest gets equal share, everyone would be happy. Popular Bangla proverb 'Chacha Apan Pran Bacha!' fits in this situation. In that case, the question will arise whether sharing the cake with the opponent or everyone else will ensure my own nutrition. Self-preservation is the first law of nature. So, deciding which decision in distributing the cake is better for the individual, group and social level is politics.