Most of the stalls that were on Brick Lane and many more besides line Sclater Street, near Bethnal Green. As for the social layering of Brick Lane and its adjoining areas there is a fair amount of literature. What seems to have remained more or less constant, at least superficially, is the chaotic nature of the street. One may or may not think it a nice street, but here's one James Greenwood writing many years back:
I was at a conference recently where someone mentioned that studies of Indian cities should perhaps consider "Indian cities" outside India. I'll not go into that right now, but I thought it was a very interesting idea to work on. This post, however, is about a curious transcription that caught my eye recently. In English and in Bangla the street sign reads Sclater Street, but the Bengali transcription uses a triple-conjunct, which I haven't seen elsewhere—not counting words like 'রাষ্ট্র' or 'অন্ত্য' which are somewhat like liquid consonants (approximations of 'r' or 'ʎ') added to a conjunct. I've been trying to find another example of something similar to this, and wondering at the same time, if this is one of those wonderful transformations or adjustments a script makes to accommodate a different language.
Sroyon took the photo.
‘It was before noon when I arrived at that salubrious locality, and certainly I did not find myself immediately in the enjoyment of what had been promised. Sclater Street is not a nice street. It may not be responsible for its dilapidation, for its poverty-stricken aspect, or its peculiar atmosphere—which seems to be composed chiefly of the exhalations from fried fish-pans, and from the shops of French polishers, tinctured with essence of mouse-cage and rabbit hutch.’ - James Greenwood, In Strange CompanyIt used to be a great bird-market. That is not its most prominent feature right now, and the neighbourhood has come to be known as 'Bangla town' or some variant thereof over the last several decades.
I was at a conference recently where someone mentioned that studies of Indian cities should perhaps consider "Indian cities" outside India. I'll not go into that right now, but I thought it was a very interesting idea to work on. This post, however, is about a curious transcription that caught my eye recently. In English and in Bangla the street sign reads Sclater Street, but the Bengali transcription uses a triple-conjunct, which I haven't seen elsewhere—not counting words like 'রাষ্ট্র' or 'অন্ত্য' which are somewhat like liquid consonants (approximations of 'r' or 'ʎ') added to a conjunct. I've been trying to find another example of something similar to this, and wondering at the same time, if this is one of those wonderful transformations or adjustments a script makes to accommodate a different language.
Sroyon took the photo.
তীক্ষ্ন ? The ক্ষ is pronounced like a single letter (খ) though.
ReplyDeleteAlso উজ্জ্বল ? But again, unlike স্ক্ল, the যুক্তাক্ষর doesn't really have three different sounds.
ReplyDeleteYes, 'উজ্জ্বল' I'd think of more in line with the য-ফলা or the র-ফলা. I wish I knew more about transcription and Bengali characters to find some technical definitions. And তীক্ষ্ণ did occur to me too, but the ক্ষ is treated virtually like an individual character most of the time, and the sound, as you say, is of a single letter. But that is probably the one that comes closest. In Bengali newspapers and magazines, they write Chomsky's name as চমস্কি, not bothering to even put a ্ on the ম. Let's see. May be we'll find some expert to shed some light on this.
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