Is there a "V" sound in Bengali?
Thread poster: Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.
Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.
Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.  Identity Verified
Bangladesh
Local time: 21:21
Member (2004)
English to Bengali
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Dec 4, 2015

Hello Everyone,

I am having a conversation with a client. One of their Bengali linguist informed them, "the Bengali Alphabet does not have a “V” – “B” is used instead. There is a tendency to pronounce English words spelt with a “V” as being spelt with a “B”"

In response I wrote, "...Bengali of course have an alphabet for "V" and it comes just after the alphabet for "B". In Bengali we have "ব" for "B" and "ভ" for "V". There are thousands of Bengali
... See more
Hello Everyone,

I am having a conversation with a client. One of their Bengali linguist informed them, "the Bengali Alphabet does not have a “V” – “B” is used instead. There is a tendency to pronounce English words spelt with a “V” as being spelt with a “B”"

In response I wrote, "...Bengali of course have an alphabet for "V" and it comes just after the alphabet for "B". In Bengali we have "ব" for "B" and "ভ" for "V". There are thousands of Bengali words with "ভ" ("V") and you can find a list of some of the words Starting with "ভ" ("V") at this dictionary site: http://www.banglacode.com/Bengali-English/index.php?q=ভ&B1=Get%20Meaning
There are thousands and thousands of Bengali words where "ভ" ("V") is present inside the word (not at the beginning)."

Then the client replied to me, "We have checked again with other copywriters and since they confirmed there isn’t a “v” in the Bengali alphabet, we decided to include the below sentence in the statement [... since the Bengali alphabet does not have the sound 'v'...]. Unfortunately in such cases we have to listen to the majority when there are opposite opinions."


Hmm... Then there are a lot of people who think there isn’t a “v” in the Bengali alphabet!!!

What to you think?

Please reply in English.



[Edited at 2015-12-04 15:35 GMT]

[Edited at 2015-12-04 15:36 GMT]
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Kaspars Melkis
Kaspars Melkis  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:21
English to Latvian
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I can understand what the client is aiming at Dec 5, 2015

While the letter is there as the legacy from Sanskrit, I think that you guys actually don't pronounce [v] and it is always pronounced as [b]. The confusion is probably that non-linguistic people don't understand the difference between phonemes and letters.

 
Kaspars Melkis
Kaspars Melkis  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:21
English to Latvian
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is ভ really v? Dec 5, 2015

I opened that link you gave and it says that ভ is bh not v.

The client is right.


 
Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.
Saleh Chowdhury, Ph.D.  Identity Verified
Bangladesh
Local time: 21:21
Member (2004)
English to Bengali
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How to write "Microwave Oven" with Bengali alphabet and how to pronounce it in Bengali? Dec 5, 2015

Hi Kaspars,

As you gave the verdict, "The client is right." could you please tell me -

1. How to write "Microwave Oven" with Bengali alphabet and

2. How to pronounce "Microwave Oven" in Bengali? Will you use a "b" sound or a "v" sound to pronounce it in Bengali?

3. Also, could you please explain how Bengali speaking people pronounce everyday words like: ভাত, ভয়, ভয়ংকর, ভিতরে, ভাগ, ভগ্নাংশ, ভ�
... See more
Hi Kaspars,

As you gave the verdict, "The client is right." could you please tell me -

1. How to write "Microwave Oven" with Bengali alphabet and

2. How to pronounce "Microwave Oven" in Bengali? Will you use a "b" sound or a "v" sound to pronounce it in Bengali?

3. Also, could you please explain how Bengali speaking people pronounce everyday words like: ভাত, ভয়, ভয়ংকর, ভিতরে, ভাগ, ভগ্নাংশ, ভাই, ভক্ত, ভক্তি, ভূগোল, ভাঁড়, ভদ্র, ভবন, ভবিষ্যৎ, ভূমি, ভরসা, ভাগ্য, ভাড়া, ভাব, ভাবনা, ভারত, ভারী, ভাষা, ভালো, ভিক্ষা, ভিজা, ভিন্ন etc. Do they use a "b" sound or a "v" sound for these and other words written with "ভ"?

[Edited at 2015-12-05 19:25 GMT]
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chatterjee88
chatterjee88
India
Local time: 20:51
English to Bengali
"V" sound Feb 12, 2016

বাংলাতেই উত্তর দিচ্ছি তার জন্য মাফ করবেন। আপনাদের কথাশুনে যতদূর বুঝলাম একটা ভুল হয়েছে। বিষয়টা হচ্ছে যে বাংলাতে ভ। কিন্তু ভ দিয়ে কোনো শব্দ ইংরেজিতে লিখলে সেটা যে V দিয়ে শুরু হবে এমন নয়। আপনি এটা ক্লায়েন্টকে বলতে পারতেন।

ধন্যবাদ।


 
Partha Sarathi Satpathy
Partha Sarathi Satpathy  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 20:51
English to Hindi
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আমি যেটা মেনে চলি... Aug 1, 2016

১। যদি কোন বাংলা শব্দ ইংরাজিতে লিখতে হয়, তাহলে "ভ" এর জন্য "bh" ব্যবহার করি, "v" নয়। উদাহরণ- "ভারত" বা "ভাগ্য" লেখা হয় যথাক্রমে "Bharat" বা "Bhagya", এবং "Varat" বা "Vagya" নয়। তাই এই ক্ষেত্রে আমি আপনার ক্লায়েন্টকে সমর্থন কর... See more
১। যদি কোন বাংলা শব্দ ইংরাজিতে লিখতে হয়, তাহলে "ভ" এর জন্য "bh" ব্যবহার করি, "v" নয়। উদাহরণ- "ভারত" বা "ভাগ্য" লেখা হয় যথাক্রমে "Bharat" বা "Bhagya", এবং "Varat" বা "Vagya" নয়। তাই এই ক্ষেত্রে আমি আপনার ক্লায়েন্টকে সমর্থন করব।
২। যদি কোন ইংরাজি শব্দ বাংলাতে লিখতে হয়, তাহলে "V" এর জন্য "ভ" ব্যবহার করি, "ব" নয়। উদাহরণ- "Very" বা "Lever" লেখা হয় যথাক্রমে "ভেরি" বা "লিভার", এবং "বেরি" বা "লিবার" নয়।
আর একটা গুরুত্বপূর্ণ কথা, ইংরাজির “V” কে বাংলা “ভ” এর মত উচ্চারণ করা হয় না, পরিবর্তে সেটা হিন্দির “व”, অসমিয়ার “ৱ”,বা ওড়িয়ার “ୱ” এর মত উচ্চারণ করা হয়। অবশ্য কিছু ক্ষেত্রে, যখন “ব” কে যুক্তাক্ষরের মত ব্যবহার করার হয়, তখন তার উচ্চারণ বাংলার “ব” না হয়ে অসমিয়ার “ৱ” এর মত হয়। উদাঃ “হর্স্ব”, “অশ্ব” ইত্যাদি।

এটা আমার সম্পূর্ণ নিজস্ব মতামত, এবং এখানে প্রকাশ করার মাধ্যমে অন্য কাউকে সেটা মেনে চলতে উপরোধ বা বাধ্য করি না।


[Edited at 2016-08-01 11:15 GMT]
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Is there a "V" sound in Bengali?






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