Abstract: In Abul Kalam Manzur Morshed’s research article, the auditory perception of fricative consonants in the Bengali language is analyzed through a scientific and phonological lens. Moving beyond traditional descriptive linguistics, this paper focuses on the psycholinguistic process: how a listener receives and categorizes sounds uttered by a speaker. The core of the study lies in the phonetic nuances of the three Bengali sibilants—’শ’ (sha), ‘ষ’ (sha), and ‘স’ (sa)—and how the turbulence created during their articulation results in distinct auditory patterns. By employing experimental phonetic frameworks, the author demonstrates how subtle shifts in the place of articulation alter the perceptual identity of these fricatives. Furthermore, the article explores the structural positioning of these consonants within the Bengali phonemic inventory and validates their auditory reception among native listeners. Ultimately, this study serves as a vital contribution to Bengali linguistics, offering a modern, evidence-based understanding of the character of fricative sounds.
References
Chatterji, S. K. (1926). The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language. Calcutta: Calcutta University Press.
Chomsky, N., & Halle, M. (1968). The Sound Pattern of English. New York: Harper & Row.
Fudge, E. C. (1973). Phonology: Selected Readings (Edited). Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Gimson, A. C. (1980). An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English. London: Edward Arnold.
Hai, M. A. (1964). Dhwani Vijnan O Bangla Dhwanitattwa (Phonetics and Bengali Phonology). Dhaka: Bangla Academy.
Hockett, C. F. (1958). A Course in Modern Linguistics. New York: Macmillan.
Jakobson, R., Fant, G., & Halle, M. (1952). Preliminaries to Speech Analysis. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Jones, D. (1962). The Phoneme: Its Nature and Use. Cambridge: Heffer.
Ladefoged, P. (1975). A Course in Phonetics. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Liberman, A. M. (1957). ‘Some Results of Research on Speech Perception’, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
Miller, G. A., & Nicely, P. E. (1955). ‘An analysis of perceptual confusions among some English consonants’, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
Morshed, A. K. M. (1985). A Study of Standard Bengali and the Noakhali Dialect. Dhaka: Bangla Academy.
O’Connor, J. D. (1973). Phonetics. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Robins, R. H. (1964). General Linguistics: An Introductory Survey. London: Longmans.
শহীদুল্লাহ, মুহম্মদ (১৯৬২)। বাঙ্গালা ব্যাকরণ। ঢাকা: রেনেসাঁ প্রিন্টার্স।