| Abhidhan (dictionary)
Etymologically, abhidhan means word-meaning, but, like western
dictionaries, the abhidhan has expanded its functions and provides
help with spellings, synonyms, usage, pronunciation, and grammar.
The etymology of words is also given in many dictionaries. Sometimes,
the dictionary plays the role of an abridged encyclopedia. Many
dictionaries provide an appendix covering necessary information
of our day-to-day life, which sometimes acts as a guide-book.
The first Bangla dictionary was a bilingual dictionary,
Vocabulario em Idioma Bengala E Portuguez, compiled by a
Portuguese monk, Manoel da Assumcam, and published in 1743. It was
printed in Roman letters. The first dictionary to be printed in
bangla
script was Engaraji O Bangali Vocabulary published
by A Upjohn from Calcutta in 1793. In 1799, Henry Pitts Forster
published A Vocabulary in Two Parts, English and Bengalee, containing
20,000 Bangla words. |
| Several bilingual
dictionaries were published in the nineteenth century. These were: |
| Name
of Dictionary |
Name
of Compiler |
Year
of Publication |
| A Vocabulary:
Bengali and English |
Mohanprosad
Thakur |
Calcutta,
1805 |
| A Dictionary
of Bengalee Language |
William
Carey |
Calcutta,
1815 |
| Dictionary
in English and Bengali |
John
Mendis |
Serampore,
1822 |
| A Dictionary
in Bengalee and English |
Tarachand
Chakravarti |
Calcutta,
1827 |
| Dvibhasarthakabhidhan
|
William
Morton |
Calcutta,
1828 |
| A Vocabulary:
English and Bengalee |
D Pearson
|
Calcutta,
1829 |
| A Dictionary:
Bengali and Sanskrit |
G C Houghton
|
Calcutta,
1833 |
| A Dictionary
in English and Bengalee |
Ram
Kamal Sen |
Calcutta,
1834 |
| |
| The first
monolingual Bangla dictionary was published in 1817. The following
is a list of some monolingual dictionaries: |
| Name
of Dictionary |
Name
of Compiler |
Year
of Publication |
| Bangabhasabhidhan
|
Ramchandra
Vidyavagish |
Calcutta,
1817 |
| Bangabhasabhidhan
|
Rameshwar
Tarkalankar |
Calcutta,
1839 |
| Shabdambudhi
|
Muktaram
Vidyavagish |
Calcutta,
1853 |
| Prakitibad
Abhidhan |
Ramkamal
Vidyalankar |
Calcutta,
1866 |
| Saral
Bangala Abhidhan |
Subal Mitra
|
Calcutta,
1906 |
| Bangala
Bhasar Abhidhan |
Jnanendra
Mohan Das |
Calcutta,
1917 |
| Chalantika
|
Rajshekhar
Basu |
Calcutta,
1930 |
| Bangiya
Shabdakos |
Haricharan
Bandyopadhyay |
Calcutta,
1932 |
| Byabaharik
Shabdakos |
Kazi Abdul
Wadud |
Calcutta,
1953 |
| Sangsad
Bangala Abhidhan |
Shailendra
Biswas |
Calcutta,
1955 |
| |
| Since its inception, bangla
academy has been playing an active role in the compilation
of dictionaries, having so far published about sixty. Among the
Bangla Academy dictionaries which deserve special mention are the
following: Anchalik Bhasar Abhidhan (A dictionary of dialects,
1965), Vyavaharik Bangla Abhidhan (A functional Bangla dictionary,
1974), Chhotader Abhidhan (A juvenile dictionary, 1983),
Charitabhidhan (A biographical dictionary, 1985), Uchcharan
Abhidhan (A dictionary of Bangla pronunciation, 1989), Sangksipta
Bangla Abhidhan (An abridged Bangla dictionary, 1992), Samakalin
Bangla Bhasar Abhidhan (A dictionary of contemporary Bangla
language, 1993), English-Bengali Dictionary (1993), Bengali-English
Dictionary (1994), Banan Abhidhan (A dictionary of spelling,
1994), Sahaj Bangla Abhidhan (An easy Bangla dictionary,
1995) Lekhak Abhidhan (A dictionary of writers, 1998). [Swarochish
Sarker] |
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