Bangladesh 8

Listen to Bangladesh 8, a 31-year-old man from Cumilla, Bangladesh. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 31

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 10/11/1988

PLACE OF BIRTH: Cumilla, Bangladesh

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Cumilla/Bengali

OCCUPATION: teacher

EDUCATION: master’s degree

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject has never lived outside Bangladesh. He was born and brought up in Cumilla. At age 19, he moved to Sylhet for university studies. After graduation, he married and settled in Sylhet.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject’s pronunciation has been influenced by both his native tongue, Bengali, and the Sylheti language, which is spoken in Sylhet, where he has been living since the age of 19.

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): 23/10/2020

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH:

wel, hɪərz ə ˈstɔː.ri fər ɪu ˈsæ.ra ˈper.i wəz ə ˈvet.er.nər.i nɜːs huː hæd biːn ˈwoːk.ɪŋ ˈdeɪ.li ət ən əʊld zuː ɪn ə dɪ.ˈza:.tɪd ˈdɪ.strɪkt əf ðə ˈterɪ.tər.i, so ʃi wəz ˈver.i ˈhæp.i tʊ stərt ə nɪuː dʒɒb æt ə suː.ˈpɜːb ˈpraɪ.vɪt ˈpræk.tɪs ɪn nɔːθ skweə nɪə ðə dIuk striːt ˈtaʊ.wər. ðæt ˈe.riə wəz mʌtʃ ˈnɪə.rə fər hə ænd mɔː tə hə ˈlaɪ.kɪŋ. ˈiː.ven so, ɒn hə fɜːst ˈmɔːn.ɪŋ, ʃi felt strest. ʃi eɪt ə boʊl əf ˈpɒ.rɪdʒ, tʃekt ˈhɜː.self ɪn ðə ˈmɪ.rə r ænd wɒʃt hə feɪs ɪn ə ˈhʌr.i. ðen ʃi pʊt ɒn ə ple:ɪn ˈjel.o dres ænd ə fliːs ˈdʒæk.et, pɪkd ʌp hər kɪt ænd ˈhed.ɪd fər work.

wen ʃi ɡɒt ðeə, ðeər wəz ə ˈwʊ.mən wɪθ ə ɡuːs ˈweɪt.ɪŋ fər har. ðə ˈwo.mən ɡeɪv ˈsæ.ra æn o.ˈfɪʃ. ɪəl ˈle.tər frəm ðə vet. ðə ˈle.tər ɪm.ˈplaɪd ðæt ðə ˈæn.ɪ.mᵊl kʊd bi ˈsʌf.rɪŋ frəm ə reə ˈfɒrm əf fʊt æn maʊθ dɪ.ˈsis, wɪtʃ wəz sə.ˈpraɪ.zɪŋ, bɪˈkɒz ˈnɔː.mə.li jɪu wʊd ˈon.li ɪk.ˈspekt tə siː ɪt ɪn ə dɒɡ ɔːr ə ɡəʊt. ˈsæ.rə wəz ˈsen.tɪ.ˈmen.tᵊl, so ðɪs ˈmeɪd hər fɪl ˈsɒr.i fər ðə ˈbɪuː.tə.fᵊl bɜːd. bɪ.ˈfɔ lɔŋ, ðæt ˈɪtʃ.i ɡuːs bɪ.ˈɡən tə strat ə.ˈraʊnd ðə ˈɒf.ɪs laɪk ə ˈluː.na.tɪk, wɪtʃ meɪd æn ʌn.ˈsæn. ɪ.tor.i mes. ðə ɡuː.səs ˈoʊ.nə, ˈmæ.ri ˈhær.ɪ.sən, kæpt ˈkɔːl.ɪŋ, ˈkɒ.mə, ˈkɒ.mə, wɪtʃ ˈsæ.rə θɔːt wəz æn ɒd tʃɔɪs fər ə neɪm. ˈkɒ.mə wəz strɒŋ ænd hɪuːdʒ, so ɪt wʊd teɪk sʌm fɔːrs tə træp hər, bʌt ˈsæ.rə hæd ə ˈdɪf.rənt ˈaɪ.ˈdi.ə. fɜːst ʃi traɪd ˈdʒent.li ˈstro.kɪŋ ðə ɡuːses ˈlo.ə bæk wɪθ hə pɑːm, ðen ˈsɪŋ.ɪŋ ə tɪun tə har. ˈfaɪ.nəl.i, ʃi əd mɪ.nɪs.tərd ˈiː.θə. hə ˈe.fo:rts wə nɒt ˈfɪu.taɪl. ɪn no taɪm, ðə ɡuːs bɪ.ˈɡɪn tə ˈta.ɪər, so ˈsæ.rə wəz ˈe:.bᵊl tə ho:ld ˈɒn.tə ˈkɔ.ma æn ɡɪv hər ə rɪ.ˈlæk.sɪŋ bɑ:θ.

wʌns ˈsæ.rə hæd mæ.’nedʒd tə beɪð ðə ɡuːs, ʃi waɪpt hər ɒf wɪθ ə klɒθ ænd le:ɪd hər ɒn hə raɪt saɪd. ðen ˈsæ.rə kən.ˈfɜːmd ðə ve:ts daɪəɡ.ˈnəʊ.sɪs. ˈɒl.most ɪ.ˈmiː.dɪət.li, ʃi rɪ.ˈmem.bərd æn ɪ.ˈfekt.ɪv ˈtriːt.men ðæt rɪ.ˈkwaɪd ha tə ˈme.ʒə ˈaʊt ə lɒt əf ˈmed.ə.sɪn. ˈsæ.rə wantɪd ðæt ðɪs kɔːs ɒf ˈtriːt.ment maɪt bi ek.ˈspen.sɪv ˈaɪ.ðə faɪv ɔː sɪks ˈtaɪmz ðə kɒst ɒf ˌ’pen.ɪ. sɪ.lɪn. aɪ kɑnt ɪ.ˈma.dʒɪn ˈpeɪ.ɪŋ so mʌtʃ, bʌt ˈmɪ.sɪs. ˈhær.ɪ.sən ə ˌmɪ.le.ˈnɪə ˈlɔː.jɪə θɔːt ɪt wəz ə feə praɪs fər ə kɪo.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Amin Rahman

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 25/10/2020

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Hello. I’m from Sylhet, a city in Bangladesh, although I was born and brought up in Cumilla, an ancient town of our country. It is my pleasure to say something about our culture, especially about food. The culture of Bangladesh refers to the interaction of literature, music, dance, food, dress, festivals, etc. Bangladesh has hundreds of years of history and tradition. The culture of Bangladesh is glorious due to its unique features. Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine are influenced by the cooking traditions of Bangladesh. Rice, pulses [dried seeds of various legumes], and fish are the main food of Bangladeshis. Uh, that is why fish and rice are called Bangali. In the country, “pitha,” a kind of cake, and other types of sweets such as Roshogolla [and] Cham Cham are quite popular. Moreover, oily and spicy cuisine is one of the main features of the diet of the people of this region. Ordinary people consider vegetables as food for the relatively poor, and fish and meat as aristocracy.

Now I want to say two lines in Bangla: Amra otithider khhob bhalobashi. kubala vashi. Apnader shawbaikey Bangladeshey amontron janacchi.

It means: We immensely love our guests. I invite all of you to come to visit Bangladesh.

TRANSCRIBED BY: subject (under supervision of Amin Rahman)

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/10/2020

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

The subject is very keen in improving his English pronunciation and attended a workshop I ran on English Pronunciation recently. He seems to have mastered all the English consonant sounds, including the five sounds — /f,v,z,w,ʒ/ — which are not present in the Bengali and Sylheti languages. Although he can pronounce all the English vowel sounds (vowel quality) correctly, he has to work on improving his skills in using the correct lengths of different vowels (vowel quantity) in English words. He may also find it worthwhile to consult a pronunciation dictionary to find where to stress in multi-syllabic words. Otherwise, he is quite intelligible.

COMMENTARY BY: Amin Rahman

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 25/10/2020

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