Difference between Bengali and Bangla
Bengali and Bangla languages refer to same language with minor variations, as they are just altered versions of the same language. The one spoken in West Bengal, India, is generally referred to as Bengali by Indians while the same in Bangladesh is called Bangla. The differences are mostly due to Hindu cultural influences in West Bengal where as Muslim is the predominant culture in Bangladesh. There is a Perso-Arabic influence in Bangla due to Islam. Otherwise, the alphabet and basic grammar are the same.
Vocabulary
Influences due to the Islam and Hindu cultures is evident in greetings. People in Bangladesh mostly use Salaam Aleykam and Wa Aleykumas-salaam which means ‘Peace be unto you’ and ‘Unto you also peace in return’. Birth names given are mostly Islamic such as Muhammad, Fatima, Tanvir and so on. Abba is used to address father and Ammi for mother. In the case of Bengali of West Bengal, Nomashkar is used as the greeting. Ma is used for mother and Baba or Pita is used for father. “Dada” refers to paternal grandfather in Bangla whereas in case of Bengali it is used to address elder brother. Some other examples are pani in Bangla and jol in Bengali for water and lobon and nun for salt.
Literature
As far as literature is concerned there is not much difference. Bangla and Bengali literature dates back to 12th century. Rabindranath Tagore was the first novelist from Asia to win the Nobel Prize in literature. The award was for his mystical poem – Gitanjali. KaziNazrul Islam with his revolutionary poetry, made great contributions in the Bengali movement in the 1950’s which ultimately resulted in the establishment of Bangladesh. Jasimuddin’s inspiration was derived from peasants, fishermen and wandering gypsies.
Alphabet
As mentioned, the alphabet as well as grammar of Bangla and Bengali are identical. The alphabet is arranged in a more logical fashion than Roman and Greek alphabets. It begins with the vowels which are followed by the consonants, semivowels and diphthongs. There are eleven vowels with seven sounds (long and short). There are thirty-nine consonants with twenty-nine sounds.
Similarities and Differences
- Bengali and Bangla languages refer to the same language with minor variations.
- The one spoken in West Bengal (India) is generally referred to as Bengali by Indians while same in Bangladesh is called Bangla.
- There is a Perso-Arabic influence in Bangla due to Islam.
- People in Bangladesh mostly use Salaam Aleykam and Wa Aleykumas-salaam whereas Nomashkar is used for greetings in the case of Bengali.
- Abba is used to address father and Ammi for mother in Bangla whereas Ma is used for mother and Baba or Pita is used for father in Bengali.
- “Dada” refers to paternal grandfather in Bangla whereas in case of Bengali it is used to address elder brother.
- Rabindranath Tagore was the first novelist from Asia to win Nobel Prize in literature.
- KaziNazrul Islam with his revolutionary poetry, made great contribution in Bengali movement in 1950’s which ultimately resulted in the establishment of Bangladesh.
- The alphabet is arranged in logical fashion - first come vowels then consonants, semivowels and diphthongs.
