A Brief History of Bangla English Letters and Romanisation

The history of writing systems dates back to ancient times, with various languages adopting their own unique scripts. The Bengali script, used in Bangladesh and parts of India, has its roots in the ancient Brahmi script. Over time, the script evolved and was influenced by other languages such as Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic.

One of the earliest attempts at romanising the Bangla language was made by Professor Lightner of Lahore Government College, who devised a system known as the 'Jonesian system' of romanisation in the early 19th century. This system served as a model for the next century and a half, with other scholars building upon his work.

Sir William Jones, a renowned English philologist and oriental scholar, published a romanisation scheme for Bengali and other Indian languages in the Asiatick Researches journal in 1801. Around the same time, Nathaniel Brassey Halhed used a romanisation scheme based on English for his Bengali grammar book.

In the late 18th century, Augustin Aussant used a romanisation scheme based on the French alphabet. However, this system did not gain widespread acceptance. The Portuguese- based romanisation also failed to take root, despite being used by some missionaries in Bengal.

The most famous romanisation schemes for Bengali are the Crepar Xaxtrer Orth, Bhed and the Vocabolario em idioma Bengalla, e Portuguez dividido em duas partes, both written by Manuel da Assumpção. These works showcased the complexities of romanising a language that has its own unique script.

The Portuguese missionaries stationed in Bengal in the 16th century were the first people to employ the Latin alphabet in writing Bangla books. This marked the beginning of a long history of romanisation efforts, which would continue for centuries.

Despite the many attempts at romanising Bangla, there remains an ongoing debate about the best approach. The writing systems of most languages do not faithfully represent the spoken sound of the language, as famously with English words like 'enough,' 'women,' or 'nation' (see 'ghoti'). Instead, romanisation is a representation of one writing system in Roman script.

The aim of romanisation is not the same as phonetic transcription. While transliteration is orthographically accurate (the original spelling can be recovered), transcription is phonetically accurate (the pronunciation can be reproduced). In the context of Bangla romanisation, it is important to distinguish between these two approaches.

Several romanisation systems for Bangla have been proposed over the years, including the 'International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration' or IAST system (based on diacritics), the 'Indian languages Transliteration' or ITRANS system (uses upper case alphabets suited for ASCII keyboards), and the National Library at Calcutta romanisation.

Despite these efforts, there is no single standard for romanising Bangla. The Bengali script has been included with the group of Indic scripts whose romanisation does not represent the phonetic value of Bengali. While different standards have been proposed, none has been adopted with the same degree of uniformity as Japanese or Sanskrit.

In conclusion, the history of Bangla English letters and romanisation is a complex one, marked by numerous attempts to adapt the Latin script to the unique requirements of the Bangla language. Despite these efforts, there remains an ongoing debate about the best approach, with different systems and standards being proposed over time. However, with continued advances in technology and linguistics, it is likely that future romanisation efforts will result in a more accurate representation of the Bangla language.

Bangla english letter