Zompist Bboard Again

rotting bones wrote: ↑Tue Jan 20, 2026 10:56 am I think the standard language only has medial and final velar nasals. Here's why I think so:

(dictionary pic showing distinct lack of initial velar nasal)

That is a good reason! Thank you.

That movie's opening theme video is one of my most favorite songs.

I did some searching and found the song E Tumi Kemon Tumi - is that the one? It's good.

rotting bones wrote: ↑Tue Jan 20, 2026 5:15 pm Ok, maybe I'll gloss a short fragment. Here's the opening theme song from Jaatishwar

Oh, oops, I didn't see this when I wrote my last post. Well, this one is good too, and I'm glad that this time I can actually match what's said in the clip to the transcription - sometimes it seems I'm not so good at that.

Some translations I did (no glosses or IPA, but they all have audio):

1. A song from the Gitanjali, the book that got Tagore the Nobel Prize in Literature (unlike what the BJP says, it wasn't the Peace Prize): আমার এই পথ-চাওয়াতেই আনন্দ

2. Possibly the last famous poem from the revolutionary poet Nazrul before he really went insane: আজ সৃষ্টি সুখের উল্লাসে

3. Another song by Salil Chowdhury, the Blue North Star guy: শুধু তোমারই জন্যে সুর

A legendary artist I haven't glossed yet, Gauriprasanna Mazumder:

4. অলির কথা শুনে

5. এই মেঘলা দিনে একলা

BTW, when I say "legendary artist", that's a fixed description in Bengali that applies to some artists with mass appeal in Bengal. It's not my description.

In Bengali, "go" is definitely an endearment. I'm always confused whether to translate it as "dear", which often makes no sense in English, or a vocative like "oh".

How do linguists handle this situation?

The Bengali poetry world has given Nazrul the title of Rebel Poet. As in, it's normal in ordinary conversation to call him Rebel Poet Nazrul. Similarly, they say Cosmic Poet Rabindranath.

Bengal has a festival called Rabindra Jayanti. It's traditional to eat Chhanar Polao (cottage cheese fried rice) on Rabindranath's birthday. I'm thinking of celebrating Rabindra Jayanti for the first time this year. This could be my equivalent of religious fundamentalism. Terror Management Theory. Also, I have never tried cottage cheese fried rice before. I'm morbidly curious.

rotting bones wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2026 10:24 pmAlso, I have never tried cottage cheese fried rice before. I'm morbidly curious.

I assume this is some Bengali cheese that's better than the horrible American cottage cheese?

zompist wrote: ↑Sun Mar 22, 2026 12:05 am

rotting bones wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2026 10:24 pmAlso, I have never tried cottage cheese fried rice before. I'm morbidly curious.

I assume this is some Bengali cheese that's better than the horrible American cottage cheese?

I haven't eaten any American cottage cheese. I have eaten a lot of chhana. I'm confused because I know chhana as an exclusively sweet dish, never savory. I mean, many popular Bengali sweets are made with a base of chhana: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chhena

Many times, my breakfast has been chhana with sugar when I was in school. It has a granular texture and a hint of dairy flavor. It's good with roti. The more sugar you add, the more it tastes like dessert: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasgulla The idea of chhana fried rice sounds absurd on the face of it, like cookie dough fried rice or cake mix fried rice.

I have never eaten it with fruit like American cottage cheese. My mother might have cooked the chhana in some way before serving it with sugar. I can't remember.

I'm not sure what chhana would taste like in fried rice. Possibly like savory lumps of nothing. I suspect what's going on here is that vegetarians are using chhana as a ground meat substitute. They are taking advantage of the fact that it's not going to melt no matter how much you heat it. Maybe it retains the granular texture after cooking. Like it absorbs the sugar in desserts, it might soak up savory flavors too.

I'm being specific about "chhana" because there are many types of cottage cheese that are prepared in different ways. Normally, if you say "cottage cheese" in India, people think of paneer. Paneer is nothing like chhana. It's always eaten cooked with savory dishes. Paneer is very soft when cooked. I struggle to taste any dairy in paneer. I wonder if chhana will lose its taste like paneer. They are both dairy.

Less popular types of Rabindra Sangeet:

My favorite tune: https://snapshotsofthelabyrinth.photo.b ... %e0%a6%a8/ This is the kind of devotional song that non-religious people have read from and hate about Rabindranath.

A tragic song: https://snapshotsofthelabyrinth.photo.b ... %e0%a7%87/ Bengali art is pervaded by gratuitous tragedy, and even Bengalis tend to hate it.

My favorite song of all time: https://snapshotsofthelabyrinth.photo.b ... %e0%a6%87/ The lyrics are correspondingly difficult to translate. I'm not even sure the meaning hangs together in English. I have edited them several times since posting.

https://snapshotsofthelabyrinth.photo.b ... %e0%a7%80/

https://snapshotsofthelabyrinth.photo.b ... %e0%a6%be/

Really? No one likes old timey lyrics?