Bangladesh 12

Listen to Bangladesh 12, a 19-year-old man from Satkhira, Bangladesh. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 19

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 01/06/2001

PLACE OF BIRTH: Satkhira, Bangladesh

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Satkhira/Bengali

OCCUPATION: high school student

EDUCATION: year 12

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS: none

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject’s L1 language is Satkhira or Sunderbani dialect, which is distinct from his L2 language, which is Bengali. Bengali, being the medium of instruction, has influence on his English speech as well.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: subject (under supervision of Amin Rahman)

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 05/07/2020

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH:

ˈsa.rah ˈpe.ri oadʒ e ˈbhe.te.re.nər.i nars huː hæd bɪn ˈoar.kɪŋ ˈdeɪ.li æt æn old dʒuː ɪn e de.ˈdʒar.tɪd ˈdɪ.strɪkt ɒf e ˈte.rɪ.tor.i . so ʃi waz ˈbhe.ri ˈhæ.pi tʊ e.ˈstɑːrt e nɪuː dʒɒb æt e suː.ˈparb ˈpraɪ.vet ˈpræk.tɪs ɪn nɒrθ es.ˈkweər neər ðə dIuk striːt ˈtaʊ.wər . ðæt ˈe.riə waz ma:s ˈneə.rər fɒr har ænd mo:r tʊ har ˈlaɪ.kɪŋ . ˈiː.ven so, ɒn har ˈfarst ˈmɒr.nɪŋ, ʃi phelt stre:sd . ʃi e:t e bo:l ɒf ˈpɒ.rɪz, tʃekd, hɪm, ˈhar.self ɪn ðə ˈmɪ.rər ænd ɒʃt har fe:s ɪn e ˈha.ri. ðen ʃi pʊt ɒn e pleɪn ˈjɪe.lo dre:s, ænd e fleg, ænd e fles ˈdʒæ.ket, pɪkd ʌp har kɪt ænd ˈhe.ded fɒr oark .

when ʃi ɡɒt ðeər, ðeər waz e ˈo.mæn wɪθ e ɡuːz ˈweɪ.tɪŋ fɒr har . ðə ˈo.mæn ɡe:v ˈsa.rah, ɒn , æn ɒ.ˈfɪ.ʃɪal ˈle.tar frɒm ðə vet. ðə ˈle.tar ɪm.ˈplaɪd ðæt ðə ˈæ.nɪ.mal kʊd bi ˈsa.pha.rɪŋ phrɒm e reər phɒrm ɒf phʊt æn maʊθ ˈdɪ. zes, whɪs waz sar.ˈpraɪ.zɪŋ, bɪˈkɒz ˈnɒr.ma.li jɪu wʊd ˈɒn.li ek.ˈspekt tʊ ˈsiː ɪt ɪn e dɒɡ ɒr e ɡo:t . ˈsa.rah oaz ˈsen.tɪ.ˈmen.tal, so ðɪs ˈme:d har fɪl ˈsɒ.ri fɒr ðə ˈbɪuː.tɪ.fʊl bard.

bɪ.ˈfɔr lɒŋ, ðæt ˈi:.si ɡuːts bɪ.ˈɡe:n tʊ strat æ.ˈraʊnd ðə ˈɒ.fɪs laɪk e lʊ.ˈna:.tɪk, whɪs me:d æn, ʌn. sæn, ˈsæn. ɪ.tor.i mes. ðə ˈɡuː.zes ˈoʊ.nar, ˈmæ.ri ˈhær.ɪ.son, kɪpt ˈkɒ.lɪŋ, ˈkɒ.ma, ˈkɒ.ma, whɪs ˈsa.rah θɒt ɒz æn od tʃɒɪs fɒr e ne:m. ˈkɒ.ma ɒz e strɒŋ ænd hɪudʒ, so ɪt ʊd te:k sʌm fɔːrs tʊ trap har, bʌt ˈsa.rah hæd e ˈdɪ.fa.rent aɪ.ˈdɪə. ˈfarst, ʃi, ʃi traɪd ˈzent.li ˈstro.kɪŋ ðə ˈɡuː.zes ˈlo.ər bæk wɪð har pɑ:lm, ðen ˈsɪŋ.ɪŋ e tiun tʊ har . ˈfaɪ.na.li, ʃi æd.ˈmɪ.nɪs.tred ˈaɪ. ðar . har ˈe.fo:rts wear nɒt ˈfʊ.taɪl . ɒnt ɪn ɒnt, ɪn no taɪm, ðə ɡuːs bɪ.ˈɡan tʊ ta:r, so ˈsa.rah waz ˈe:.bel tʊ ho:ld ˈɒn.tʊ ˈkɒ.ma ænd ɡɪv har e rɪ.ˈlæk.sɪŋ baθ .

wʌns ˈsa.rah hæd mæ.ˈnezd tʊ baθ ðə ɡuːs, ʃi wɪpt har ɒf wɪθ e kloθ ænd le:d har ɒn har raɪt saɪd . ðen ˈsa.rah kɒn.ˈfarmd ðə vets daɪ.ə.ɡo.ˈno.sɪs. ˈɒl.most ɪ.ˈmiː.dɪ.et.li, ʃi rɪ.ˈmem.bard æn ɪ.ˈfekt.ɪv ˈtriːt.ment ðæt rɪ.ˈkwaɪr har tʊ ˈme.zar aʊt e lɒt ɒf ˈmed i.sɪn. ˈsa.rah ˈɒr.ned ðæt ðɪs kɔrs ɒf ˈtriːt.ment maɪt bi ek.ˈspen.sɪv ˈaɪ.ðar phaɪv ɒr sɪks ˈtaɪmz ðə kɒst ɒf ˈpen.ɪ.sɪ.lɪn. aɪ kɑːnt ɪ.ˈma:.zɪn ˈpe.ɪŋ so ma:tʃ, bʌt ˈmɪs. ɪs ˈhær.ɪ.son e mɪ.lɪo.ˈneər ˈlɒ.jeər ˈθɒt ɪt ɒz e feər praɪs fɒr e ˈkɪ.or.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Amin Rahman

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 07/11/2020

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Every man has an aim in life. A man without an aim is like a ship without rudder. A man cannot succeed in life without an aim. I am a student of class 11. So I have aim in life, and my aim in life is to be a doctor. The reason of my so choice is that the most of the people of my feelings are poor and illiterate. Uh, good doctors are not avail[able] in my village, and they suffer from, uh, many disease. Uh, so I want to be a doctor. Uh, and I want to serve them, uh, by observing this their major. My heart is filled with profound grief. I want to serve them by providing them proper treatment. Uh, therefore, I want to be a doctor.

Uh, after passing my, ah, HSc examination, I want to — uh, I shall get myself admitted into a medical college, ah, a medical college. And then I, I want to, um, I want to become MBBS. After complicating [subject meant to say “completing”] my MBBS course, I shall come back my home, and, uh, then I want to open a clinic for them and there I want to serve the poor people. Uh, success in life, uh, depends largely upon the right choice of profession. I think my, uh, choice is very good, and may Allah help me. Uh, I, I believe one day I will become a successful man.

[Subject speaks Bengali]: Mohamari korona virus amader gramer shokoler moddhey ekta uddeg jonok poribesh shristi korechhey, Garamer odhikangsho manush i oshikkhito ebong tara e bishoy shomporkey oshocheton. Jar pholey tara shohojei akranto howar jhukitey royechhey. Ebong jehetu call lockdown er karnoey Bangladesher manusher arthik obosthatey khoti hoyechhey, ei shomoy tader jibon dharon awnek kosto shaddho hoye utse.

[English translation: Pandemic coronavirus has created a worrying environment among the people in our village. The majority of the people in the village are illiterate, and they are unfamiliar with this subject, as a result of which they are in risk of being easily infected. And because of the lockdown, Bangladeshis have suffered financially. Their life has become more difficult at this time.]

TRANSCRIBED BY: Amin Rahman

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 07/11/2020

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

The subject speaks with a heavy accent, which is a combination of his L1 and L2 languages. Some of the notable features are:

• the absence of the English sound /w/; for instance, “was” and “would” are pronounced as [ɒz] and [wʊd], respectively.
• the interchange of /z/ and /dʒ/; for instance, “was” is pronounced as [wɒdʒ] and “gently” as [ˈzent.li ].
• the affricate /tʃ/ sometimes pronounced as the fricative /s/; for instance, “which” is pronounced as [whɪs].
• the addition of a vowel in a word with an initial cluster sound; for instance, “square” is pronounced as [e.skear] and “start” as [e.start]. The two labio-dental fricatives /f/ and /v/ are pronounced as two breathy Bengali aspirated stops: /ph/ and /bh/ respectively; [phɒrm] for “form” and [bhet] for “vet.”

The subject reads the scripted text at 135 words per minute. I, being familiar with such pronunciation, had no difficulty in understanding the subject.

COMMENTARY BY: Amin Rahman

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 07/11/2020

The archive provides:

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• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.