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Comment by noisy_boy | Hacker News Reader

I speak four languages (English, Bengali (mother-tongue), Hindi fluently and Lao semi-fluently). I just find that every language has some specific quality of expression that is unique to it and hence when you use that language to its maximum potential, you are expressing a side of you that you could not express in another language.

My speech is much more colorful (I don't mean in a dirty foul-mouthed way) in Bengali than any of the other languages I speak - I can express nuances while maintaining a style that I cannot in another language I speak without losing either the style or the nuance. I find Hindi is also very expressive that way. For the lack of a better word, I feel I'm unable to be equally "juicy" in English. Of course, I'm not a native English speaker so probably the limitation is me and not the language.

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I'm a native speaker of both Bengali and English, and my experience matches yours. Out of curiosity, which dialect of Bengali do you speak?

Separately, something I've long found interesting: sarcasm (the way we understand the concept in English) doesn't really come across in Bengali. I don't mean that Bengali people are incapable of sarcasm, but almost invariably, the Bengali speakers I know only make sarcastic comments in English, never in Bengali.

Or, to put it more accurately: there is a way of expressing ironic sentiment in Bengali, but it's very different from how we'd think of it in English, both textually and in the delivery.

Perhaps we should make Hacker News a Bengali site instead of an English one.

That would be beautifully ironic because I perceive HN as an Adda[1] of intellectually stimulating nature. And everybody knows, Bengalis love Adda.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adda_(South_Asian)

Thank you! that's very interesting. The NYT article linked there seems pretty good. Maybe I'll submit it here.

I was born and brought up in a Hindi speaking state so my learning of Bengali, apart from being mother tongue, is based on reading copious amount of books/magazines/comics etc. I speak mostly the "Calcutta" dialect + the "kehlum/gelum" sustituted with "khelaam/gelaam" etc (though I can break out in broken "bangaal" should the need arise). I've also noticed that though I immensely enjoy Bengali literature, I have an inherent tendency to shun overly emotional/flowery words typically used in West Bengal - not sure if it is a personality trait or due to upbringing in a less "soft" Hindi-centric environment or due to being part of a family with East Bengal origins.

Regarding sarcasm: I think it is pretty stinging in Bengali if you are using the power of old/rural idioms/phrases (you can find numerous examples in works of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay or contemporary 1900-1930s literature where the characters are in a confrontational setting). I also grow up in company of my grandparents so I learned a bunch from them. They are concise, entertaining and leave the target squirming if well used. However I think that in today's urban Bengali society, you are considered unsophisticated if you use them so we are losing such an interesting aspect of Bengali.

I speak 3 languages (English, Hindi, Tamil) and know what you mean. May I ask how you picked up Lao, and how similar/dissimilar it is to say Hindi or Bengali?

My wife is Lao :) Because I'm only semi-fluent (or lets say, I can do my shopping and hold basic small talk in it), I'm not in a good position to do a competent comparison. However, I feel is that is a to the point language. There is a fairly good amount of re-use of words. Also, it being tonal you have to be careful because unlike Hindi/Bengali, wrong tone _will_ change the meaning. Thankfully, people on my wife's side are very kind and forgiving so I survive the blunders I do :)

Thanks for the info!

I shared room with two Lao students during my university years. I know that their script is very different from Bengali. How difficult was for you to learn to read Lao?

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