Eastern Bengali

Eastern Bengali notably preserves metathesis (Bengali: অপিনিহিতি, romanized: ôpinihiti) from an earlier stage of Bengali.[22] Thus, the equivalent of Sādhu Bhāṣā করিয়া (ISO-15919: kariẏā) 'having done' in Typical East Bengali is [koi̯ɾä], 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.[23] 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.[24] সত্য (ISO-15919: satya, 'truth'), for example, pronounced [ʃɔt̪ːi̯ɔ] in earlier Bengali, is pronounced [ʃoi̯t̪ːo] 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].[25] Hence রাক্ষস (ISO-15919: rākṣasa, 'rakshasa'), with the earlier Bengali pronunciation of [räkːʰi̯ɔʃ], is pronounced [räi̯kːʰɔʃ] 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.[26] Hence, আজ্ঞা (ISO-15919: ājñā, 'order'), with the earlier Bengali pronunciation of [ägːĩ̯ä], has the Typical East Bengali pronunciation of [äi̯gːä] 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 [bɾäi̯mːo] in Eastern Bengali as if it were spelt ব্রাম্য (ISO-15919: brāmya).[27][28]

• The vowels [e] and [o] in the standard language are frequently changed to [ɛ] and [u], respectively.[29][30][31] For example, দেশ (ISO-15919: dēśa) 'country' and দোষ (ISO-15919: dōṣa) 'blame' are respectively pronounced [d̪eʃ] and [d̪oʃ] in Standard Bengali and [d̪ɛʃ] and [d̪uʃ] in Typical East Bengali. The vowel [e] is still often retained as an allophone of [ɛ] that occurs when in the presence of a close vowel such as [i] or [u].[32]
• Although Standard 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.[33]

• Like Standard Bengali, Eastern Bengali lacks true retroflexes.[34][35] However it further fronts the apical postalveolar plosives of the standard language to apico-alveolar.
• Most Eastern Bengali dialects have a tendency to voice the intervocalic unvoiced apical postalveolar stops of Standard Bengali. For example, মাটি (ISO-15919: māṭi, 'soil') is pronounced [mät̠i] in Standard Bengali but [mädi] in Eastern Bengali.[36] However, this does not occur in geminates,[37] 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 of Standard Bengali is usually merged with [ɾ] in Eastern Bengali, such that the two phonemes become indistinguishable and allophonic to most speakers.[38]
• Dialects of Eastern Bengali tend to spirantise the Standard Bengali palato-alveolar affricates [t͡ʃ], [t͡ʃʰ], and [d͡ʒ ~ d͡ʒʱ] into [t͡s], [s], and [z], respectively.[39] 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 [tsä] in farther western varieties and [sä] in farther eastern varieties of Eastern Bengali.[40] [d͡z] is an allophone of [z] that more frequently occurs in Southwestern Vaṅga. [t͡ʃ] and [d͡ʒ] occur respectively as allophones of [t͡s ~ s] and [z] in geminates and consonant clusters,[41] e.g. বাচ্চা (ISO-15919: bāccā, 'child') /bät͡sːä ~ bäsːä/ [bäi̯t͡ʃːä], ইঞ্চি (ISO-15919: iñci, 'inch') /int͡si ~ insi/ [int͡ʃi], ইজ্জৎ (ISO-15919: ijjat, 'honour') /izːɔt̪/ [id͡ʒːɔt̪].
• The voiceless labial and velar plosives are often spirantised, such that [p] often becomes [ɸ] and [k] often becomes [x] or [ɦ], the latter transformation chiefly occurring intervocalically.[42][43] Hence পাকা (ISO-15919: pākā, 'ripe'), pronounced [päkä] in Standard Bengali, may variably be pronounced [päɦä], [ɸäɦä], or [ɸäxä] in Eastern Bengali dialects.[44] [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.[45]
• When followed by a rounded vowel, [ɸ] and [ɦ] are treated as allophones 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].[46] 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],[47] 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'.
• Standard [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'.[48]

The aspiration and breathy voice present in Standard Bengali is notably mostly if not entirely absent in Eastern Bengali. The West Bengali linguists Chatterji and Sen described the deaspirated voiced consonants present in Eastern Bengali as being implosive consonants,[49] such that the Standard Bengali phonemes /bʱ/, /d̪ʱ/, /ɖʱ/, /dʒʱ/, and /ɡʱ/ would respectively correspond to /ɓ/, /ɗ̪/, /ᶑ/, /ɗʒ/, and /ɠ/ in Eastern Bengali. However, Animesh K. Pal, a native speaker of Eastern Bengali from Narayanganj, disputed this claim, instead describing the deaspiration as leading to the development of tones.[50][51]

These tones are not limited to voiced aspirates, but are also present as compensation for the aspiration of consonants that were voiceless aspirates in Standard Bengali. Tone continues to exist in words even if they are not part of a near-identical pair that requires it for the sake of contrast.

Furthermore, the [ɦ] of Standard Bengali is most often deleted in Eastern Bengali dialects. This h-dropping has also been said to result in tone.