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Papers by Atanu Saha

The paper surveys the principal generative syntactic assumptions that have been proposed for erga... more The paper surveys the principal generative syntactic assumptions that have been proposed for ergative construction and discusses the pattern of the ergative case marking in Assamese. For a language L which shows some mixed properties of ergativity and accusativity in a certain respect R, the language L is said to be split-ergative with respect to R (Comrie 1978, Dixon 1979, and DeLancey 1981). Unlike Dyirbal (which has been exemplified by Dixon's seminal work and has been considered a typical example of ergative language), where the pronouns are morphologically nominative-accusative when the agent is first or second person and ergative when the agent is a third person. And also unlike another Indo Aryan ergative language Hindi which shows TAM split (and no person based split),

This paper investigates the argument structure and alternations of the communicative verbs of Ban... more This paper investigates the argument structure and alternations of the communicative verbs of Bangla. The paper is based on the model of English verb alternations as proposed by Levin (1993). Levin"s work is guided by the assumption that the behavior of a verb, particularly in respect to the expression and interpretation of its arguments, is majorly determined by its meaning. Verbs as argument-taking elements show especially complex sets of properties. Levin has shown that native speakers can make extremely perceptive judgments concerning the occurrence of various syntactic expressions. She also mentions that any particular description of verb classes must include a discussion on sentential complements and dative alternation. We have also tried to examine these issues following here. The study of the verbs of communication in Bangla provides a concise treatment of some of the classes of verbs pertaining to communication and transfer of ideas. Abbreviations 3-Third ACC-accusativ...

The paper is an attempt to understand and analyze the problems and errors made by the students wh... more The paper is an attempt to understand and analyze the problems and errors made by the students whose L1 is Hindi and other Indian languages and trying to learn English as a second language in India. The errors made during the test are categorized and analyzed on the basis of a score sheet and PRAAT software. It is realized that the proficiency and effective communication can be developed among the learners if they are instructed correctly.

In the present paper, we present a detailed description of the classifier systems of five Indian ... more In the present paper, we present a detailed description of the classifier systems of five Indian languages-- Mizo, Galo, Tagin (all belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family), Assamese (Indo-Aryan) and Malto (Dravidian). It is observed that the classifiers are a predominant feature in the Tibeto-Burman and we observe an extensive classifier system in these languages. There is no equivalent classifier system in other language families. However in the languages belonging to Eastern India, irrespective of the family, there is some sort of classifier system. Thus classifiers seem to be an areal feature in most of the Eastern and whole of the North-Eastern India. The purpose of the paper is to study if there is some semantic similarity among the classifier systems across language families in this area and thus to see if it is indeed an areal feature. It is just a preliminary description of an ongoing research in which we intend to study many more languages and include languages from the Austro...

International Journal of Linguistics, 2019

In this paper, I have discussed the anaphors i.e. reflexives and reciprocals in Toto and argued t... more In this paper, I have discussed the anaphors i.e. reflexives and reciprocals in Toto and argued that the language employs nominal expressions and uses the syntactic strategy known as compositional strategy (like herself and each other in English). In case of reciprocals, there is a lexical counterpart other than the compositional strategy but it is hardly used by the speakers.

Essays in the Memorabilia on the occasion of observing the glorious Martyrs' Day and International Mother Language Day , 2019

বাংলায় কয়েকটি গবেষণা লেখার পদ্ধতি ও প্রকরণ ছাড়া, স্টাইলশিট বা ম্যানুয়াল নিয়ে প্রায় কোন কাজ হয়নি। ... more বাংলায় কয়েকটি গবেষণা লেখার পদ্ধতি ও প্রকরণ ছাড়া, স্টাইলশিট বা ম্যানুয়াল নিয়ে প্রায় কোন কাজ হয়নি। এই পেপারে আমি মূলত দুটি বিষয় তুলে ধরার চেষ্টা করেছি। প্রথমতঃ প্রচলিত কয়েকটি গবেষণা গ্রন্থগুলোর একটা তুলনামুলক আলোচনা এবং সেখান থেকে প্রয়োজনীয় উপাদান সংগ্রহ। আর দুই Microsoft word এ এই মুহূর্তে যে style sheet গুলো পাওয়া যায় যেমন APA, Chicago Manual সেগুলো থেকে বাংলা স্টাইল শিট তৈরি করতে যে সহায়ক উপাদানগুলি আমাদের কাজে লাগতে পারে তার পর্যালোচনা।

The paper surveys the principal generative syntactic assumptions that have been proposed for erga... more The paper surveys the principal generative syntactic assumptions that have been proposed for ergative construction and discusses the pattern of the ergative case marking in Assamese. For a language L which shows some mixed properties of ergativity and
accusativity in a certain respect R, the language L is said to be split-ergative with respect to R (Comrie 1978, Dixon 1979, and DeLancey 1981). Unlike Dyirbal (which has been exemplified by Dixon’s seminal work and has been considered a typical example of ergative language), where the pronouns are morphologically nominative-accusative when the agent is first or second person and ergative when the agent is a third person. And also unlike another Indo Aryan ergative language Hindi which shows TAM split (and no person based split), Assamese exhibits the opposite pattern with person based split and no TAM split for ergativity/agentivity.

in Journal of Advanced Linguistic Studies, VOl 2, NO. 1-2, Jan-Dec 2013, ISSN : 2231-4075, Bahri Publications, Nov 2013

"" In all of these languages these markers (otogai and –aW as in Japanese) can be in either ... more "" In all of these languages these markers (otogai and –aW as in
Japanese) can be in either complementary distribution or they can co
occur as in 3. Either of them can be optional or obligatory in certain
cases. This article is an attempt to understand Whether these
occurrences are obligatory or optional.. The primary task in this paper is
to examine some of these languages in detail and describe their
distribution. And secondly to understand of the morpho syntax of these
markers in terms of Form as well as function.. The languages that are
studied for this article are Alaba (Afro-Asiatic), Albanian(Indo-
European), Aukan (Creole), Cayuga (Iroquoian), Choctaw
(Muskogean), Ewe (Niger-Congo), Japanese (Indo Aryan), Kulina
(Arauan),Kusunda(Tibeto-Burman),Lezgi(NorthCaucasian),
Marringarr (Australian), Meeteilon (Tibeto-Burman), Mizo (Tibeto-
Burman), Nyishi(Tibeto-Burman), northern Qiang (Tibeto-Burman),
Skou (Sko), Tariana(Arawakan), Wolane (Afro-Asiatic), Xaragure
(Austronesian).
""

25/04/2024

This paper is an insight to the fact that the effect of globalization and the use of technology a... more This paper is an insight to the fact that the effect of globalization and the use of technology are immense on our society. Not only it makes impact on education or occupation but also on language and life style and to the extent culture as well. Data collected from Census of India of 2001 and 2011 show the picture pertaining to the use and access to several technologies and modern equipments in all the north eastern states of the country. The paper also investigates the effect of globalization on Nyishi and Meetei community of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur with respect to language and access to certain technology. Nyishi is a Tibeto Burman language spoken in the districts of papumpare, lower Subansiri and East Kameng districts of Arunachal Pradesh;& Darrang District of Assam. Meeteilon or Meiteiron is the state official language of Manipur. In our current research we try to show how language and use of modern technology in this global era is affecting the dynamics of these communities.

"In my talk, I address the contact situation of a particular area of the Indian sub-continent th... more "In my talk, I address the contact situation of a particular area of
the Indian sub-continent through the lenses of the reciprocal
construction. The so-called “North East” of India is the area with the
largest linguistic and biological diversity of the sub-continent.
Three major language families are represented in the area: Indo-Aryan,
Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic. I look at the expression of
reciprocity in specific languages at the level of morphology and
syntax and the historical relations between them. Where these
languages are genetically unrelated, we still expect common patterns
due to constant contact. For example, the Tibeto-Burman languages
Nyishi and Meitei employ both nominal and verbal morphology in
reciprocal constructions, whereas the Indo-Aryan languages Assamese,
Bangla and Hindi do not. I will show that the former languages are
losing their verbal morphology and use nominal reciprocity more
productively due to contact with Indo-Aryan which dominates the region
for various socio-political reasons. These are just some of the
highly interesting aspects of language contact in the Indian
North-East."

The paper is an attempt to understand and analyze the problems and errors made by the students wh... more The paper is an attempt to understand and analyze the problems and errors made by the students whose L1 is Hindi and other Indian languages and trying to learn English as a second language in India. The errors made during the test are categorized and analyzed on the basis of a score sheet and PRAAT software. It is realized that the proficiency and effective communication can be developed among the learners if they are instructed correctly.






The article is a description of the documentation of the Paite language spoken in the state of Ma... more The article is a description of the documentation of the Paite language spoken in the state of Manipur in India and bordering country Myanmar in South East Asia. The language is considered to be endangered as cited in the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger . The work is a primary investigation into the sound system of the language and talks about the transcription of the phonemes with the help of the software known as PRAAT and preparation of the metadata using MS-excel format.

The paper surveys the principal generative syntactic assumptions that have been proposed for erga... more The paper surveys the principal generative syntactic assumptions that have been proposed for ergative construction and discusses the pattern of the ergative case marking in Assamese. For a language L which shows some mixed properties of ergativity and accusativity in a certain respect R, the language L is said to be split-ergative with respect to R (Comrie 1978, Dixon 1979, and DeLancey 1981). Unlike Dyirbal (which has been exemplified by Dixon's seminal work and has been considered a typical example of ergative language), where the pronouns are morphologically nominative-accusative when the agent is first or second person and ergative when the agent is a third person. And also unlike another Indo Aryan ergative language Hindi which shows TAM split (and no person based split),

This paper investigates the argument structure and alternations of the communicative verbs of Ban... more This paper investigates the argument structure and alternations of the communicative verbs of Bangla. The paper is based on the model of English verb alternations as proposed by Levin (1993). Levin"s work is guided by the assumption that the behavior of a verb, particularly in respect to the expression and interpretation of its arguments, is majorly determined by its meaning. Verbs as argument-taking elements show especially complex sets of properties. Levin has shown that native speakers can make extremely perceptive judgments concerning the occurrence of various syntactic expressions. She also mentions that any particular description of verb classes must include a discussion on sentential complements and dative alternation. We have also tried to examine these issues following here. The study of the verbs of communication in Bangla provides a concise treatment of some of the classes of verbs pertaining to communication and transfer of ideas. Abbreviations 3-Third ACC-accusativ...

The paper is an attempt to understand and analyze the problems and errors made by the students wh... more The paper is an attempt to understand and analyze the problems and errors made by the students whose L1 is Hindi and other Indian languages and trying to learn English as a second language in India. The errors made during the test are categorized and analyzed on the basis of a score sheet and PRAAT software. It is realized that the proficiency and effective communication can be developed among the learners if they are instructed correctly.

In the present paper, we present a detailed description of the classifier systems of five Indian ... more In the present paper, we present a detailed description of the classifier systems of five Indian languages-- Mizo, Galo, Tagin (all belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family), Assamese (Indo-Aryan) and Malto (Dravidian). It is observed that the classifiers are a predominant feature in the Tibeto-Burman and we observe an extensive classifier system in these languages. There is no equivalent classifier system in other language families. However in the languages belonging to Eastern India, irrespective of the family, there is some sort of classifier system. Thus classifiers seem to be an areal feature in most of the Eastern and whole of the North-Eastern India. The purpose of the paper is to study if there is some semantic similarity among the classifier systems across language families in this area and thus to see if it is indeed an areal feature. It is just a preliminary description of an ongoing research in which we intend to study many more languages and include languages from the Austro...

International Journal of Linguistics, 2019

In this paper, I have discussed the anaphors i.e. reflexives and reciprocals in Toto and argued t... more In this paper, I have discussed the anaphors i.e. reflexives and reciprocals in Toto and argued that the language employs nominal expressions and uses the syntactic strategy known as compositional strategy (like herself and each other in English). In case of reciprocals, there is a lexical counterpart other than the compositional strategy but it is hardly used by the speakers.

Essays in the Memorabilia on the occasion of observing the glorious Martyrs' Day and International Mother Language Day , 2019

বাংলায় কয়েকটি গবেষণা লেখার পদ্ধতি ও প্রকরণ ছাড়া, স্টাইলশিট বা ম্যানুয়াল নিয়ে প্রায় কোন কাজ হয়নি। ... more বাংলায় কয়েকটি গবেষণা লেখার পদ্ধতি ও প্রকরণ ছাড়া, স্টাইলশিট বা ম্যানুয়াল নিয়ে প্রায় কোন কাজ হয়নি। এই পেপারে আমি মূলত দুটি বিষয় তুলে ধরার চেষ্টা করেছি। প্রথমতঃ প্রচলিত কয়েকটি গবেষণা গ্রন্থগুলোর একটা তুলনামুলক আলোচনা এবং সেখান থেকে প্রয়োজনীয় উপাদান সংগ্রহ। আর দুই Microsoft word এ এই মুহূর্তে যে style sheet গুলো পাওয়া যায় যেমন APA, Chicago Manual সেগুলো থেকে বাংলা স্টাইল শিট তৈরি করতে যে সহায়ক উপাদানগুলি আমাদের কাজে লাগতে পারে তার পর্যালোচনা।

The paper surveys the principal generative syntactic assumptions that have been proposed for erga... more The paper surveys the principal generative syntactic assumptions that have been proposed for ergative construction and discusses the pattern of the ergative case marking in Assamese. For a language L which shows some mixed properties of ergativity and
accusativity in a certain respect R, the language L is said to be split-ergative with respect to R (Comrie 1978, Dixon 1979, and DeLancey 1981). Unlike Dyirbal (which has been exemplified by Dixon’s seminal work and has been considered a typical example of ergative language), where the pronouns are morphologically nominative-accusative when the agent is first or second person and ergative when the agent is a third person. And also unlike another Indo Aryan ergative language Hindi which shows TAM split (and no person based split), Assamese exhibits the opposite pattern with person based split and no TAM split for ergativity/agentivity.

in Journal of Advanced Linguistic Studies, VOl 2, NO. 1-2, Jan-Dec 2013, ISSN : 2231-4075, Bahri Publications, Nov 2013

"" In all of these languages these markers (otogai and –aW as in Japanese) can be in either ... more "" In all of these languages these markers (otogai and –aW as in
Japanese) can be in either complementary distribution or they can co
occur as in 3. Either of them can be optional or obligatory in certain
cases. This article is an attempt to understand Whether these
occurrences are obligatory or optional.. The primary task in this paper is
to examine some of these languages in detail and describe their
distribution. And secondly to understand of the morpho syntax of these
markers in terms of Form as well as function.. The languages that are
studied for this article are Alaba (Afro-Asiatic), Albanian(Indo-
European), Aukan (Creole), Cayuga (Iroquoian), Choctaw
(Muskogean), Ewe (Niger-Congo), Japanese (Indo Aryan), Kulina
(Arauan),Kusunda(Tibeto-Burman),Lezgi(NorthCaucasian),
Marringarr (Australian), Meeteilon (Tibeto-Burman), Mizo (Tibeto-
Burman), Nyishi(Tibeto-Burman), northern Qiang (Tibeto-Burman),
Skou (Sko), Tariana(Arawakan), Wolane (Afro-Asiatic), Xaragure
(Austronesian).
""

25/04/2024

This paper is an insight to the fact that the effect of globalization and the use of technology a... more This paper is an insight to the fact that the effect of globalization and the use of technology are immense on our society. Not only it makes impact on education or occupation but also on language and life style and to the extent culture as well. Data collected from Census of India of 2001 and 2011 show the picture pertaining to the use and access to several technologies and modern equipments in all the north eastern states of the country. The paper also investigates the effect of globalization on Nyishi and Meetei community of Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur with respect to language and access to certain technology. Nyishi is a Tibeto Burman language spoken in the districts of papumpare, lower Subansiri and East Kameng districts of Arunachal Pradesh;& Darrang District of Assam. Meeteilon or Meiteiron is the state official language of Manipur. In our current research we try to show how language and use of modern technology in this global era is affecting the dynamics of these communities.

"In my talk, I address the contact situation of a particular area of the Indian sub-continent th... more "In my talk, I address the contact situation of a particular area of
the Indian sub-continent through the lenses of the reciprocal
construction. The so-called “North East” of India is the area with the
largest linguistic and biological diversity of the sub-continent.
Three major language families are represented in the area: Indo-Aryan,
Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic. I look at the expression of
reciprocity in specific languages at the level of morphology and
syntax and the historical relations between them. Where these
languages are genetically unrelated, we still expect common patterns
due to constant contact. For example, the Tibeto-Burman languages
Nyishi and Meitei employ both nominal and verbal morphology in
reciprocal constructions, whereas the Indo-Aryan languages Assamese,
Bangla and Hindi do not. I will show that the former languages are
losing their verbal morphology and use nominal reciprocity more
productively due to contact with Indo-Aryan which dominates the region
for various socio-political reasons. These are just some of the
highly interesting aspects of language contact in the Indian
North-East."

The paper is an attempt to understand and analyze the problems and errors made by the students wh... more The paper is an attempt to understand and analyze the problems and errors made by the students whose L1 is Hindi and other Indian languages and trying to learn English as a second language in India. The errors made during the test are categorized and analyzed on the basis of a score sheet and PRAAT software. It is realized that the proficiency and effective communication can be developed among the learners if they are instructed correctly.






The article is a description of the documentation of the Paite language spoken in the state of Ma... more The article is a description of the documentation of the Paite language spoken in the state of Manipur in India and bordering country Myanmar in South East Asia. The language is considered to be endangered as cited in the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger . The work is a primary investigation into the sound system of the language and talks about the transcription of the phonemes with the help of the software known as PRAAT and preparation of the metadata using MS-excel format.

The objective of this presentation is to look at the current population of the SC and ST from Ce... more The objective of this presentation is to look at the current population of the SC and ST from Census and summarize the various provisions of the Constitution of India that enable education and growth of such population and communities in general. The paper investigates the current benefits and schemes introduced by Govt. and make some observations

Emerging Paradigms in English Language, Media & Communication” Organized by Department of Comm... more Emerging Paradigms in English Language, Media & Communication”
Organized by Department of Communicative English Asutosh College Sept 10,2014

Outline Methodological issues –Questionnaire Work under my current UGC project Unique Linguist... more Outline
Methodological issues
–Questionnaire
Work under my current UGC project
Unique Linguistic knowledge
Languages in contact
Multidisciplinary enterprise ( Geolinguistics, Anthropolinguistics)

Talk during certificate course on translation as a skill (2016-2017) related modules 3, 4 & 15

The work is based on Abel's (2014) work on Sluicing. The topic was discussed in great detail by h... more The work is based on Abel's (2014) work on Sluicing. The topic was discussed in great detail by him during LISSIM-8. The examples in this talk are directly taken from his handout.

In this talk, I have demonstrated various online magazines from India. Then simple steps to creat... more In this talk, I have demonstrated various online magazines from India. Then simple steps to create an online magazine is demonstrated by citing some freely available websites for doing this. In the final section, the talk discussed the issue of digital archiving.

In my talk, I address the contact situation of a particular area of the Indian sub-continent thro... more In my talk, I address the contact situation of a particular area of the Indian sub-continent through the lenses of the reciprocal construction. The so-called “North East” of India is the area with the largest linguistic and biological diversity of the sub-continent. Three major language families are represented in the area: Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic. I look at the expression of reciprocity in specific languages at the level of morphology and syntax and the historical relations between them. Where these languages are genetically unrelated, we still expect common patterns due to constant contact. For example, the Tibeto-Burman languages Nyishi and Meitei employ both nominal and verbal morphology in reciprocal constructions, whereas the Indo-Aryan languages Assamese, Bangla and Hindi do not. I will show that the former languages are losing their verbal morphology and use nominal reciprocity more productively due to contact with Indo-Aryan which dominates the region for various socio-political reasons. These are just some of the highly interesting aspects of language contact in the Indian North-East.

In this paper, we have made an attempt to study the deictic elements in the Tibetan Language spok... more In this paper, we have made an attempt to study the deictic elements in the Tibetan Language spoken in Darjeeling District of West Bengal. The study mainly focuses on personal, spatial and temporal deixes of this variety. The study concludes that number distinction is found across all the persons and demon-stratives marks the proximal-distal distinction. Temporal adverbials are grammaticalized in this variety.

বাংলা ভাষা ও সাহিত্যে প্রযুক্তিগত সম্ভাবনা , Nov 2016

বর্তমান ডিজিটালাইজেশনের যুগে সোসাল মিডিয়ার ভূমিকা অনস্বীকার্য। সেক্ষেত্রে প্রাসঙ্গিক ভাবে চলে আসে... more বর্তমান ডিজিটালাইজেশনের যুগে সোসাল মিডিয়ার ভূমিকা অনস্বীকার্য। সেক্ষেত্রে প্রাসঙ্গিক ভাবে চলে আসে ফেসবুক, হোয়াটসঅ্যাপ, ব্লগ, টুইটার ইত্যাদি সোসাল মিডিয়াগুলির নাম। এই মাধ্যমগুলিতে বর্তমান সময়ে খ্যাতনামা লেখকদের পাশাপাশি অখ্যাতনামা লেখকদের বিভিন্ন কবিতা, ছড়া, ছোটগল্প, অনুগল্প, প্রবন্ধ ইত্যাদি রচনা দেখতে পাওয়া যায়। এইরূপ বিভিন্ন ধরনের সাহিত্য প্রকরণগুলি কতক ক্ষেত্রে প্রচলিত সাহিত্য প্রকরণ থেকে সরে গিয়ে সাহিত্যের নতুন সংরূপ (genre) সৃষ্টি করে, সেক্ষেত্রে সেগুলি কতটা সাহিত্যের যথাযথ মানদন্ড বজায় রেখেছে তা নিয়ে সংশয় থাকলেও এই প্রকরণগুলি আজ অনস্বীকার্য। উদাহরণস্বরূপ, ইদানীং আমরা ফেসবুকে খুব সংক্ষিপ্ত আকারের ছোটোগল্প দেখি, যেগুলির আয়তন হয়তো বইয়ের পাতার একপাতা কিংবা তার অনধিক নয়। অথচ তার মধ্যে গল্পকারের প্রকৃত উদ্দেশ্য ও তার মধ্যে নিহিত বক্তব্য সম্পূর্ণ করছেন। ফেসবুকে বা হোয়াটসঅ্যাপ-এ এমন বিভিন্ন সংরূপ (কবিতা, ছড়া, গল্প ইত্যাদি) এবং এমনকি ইদানিং কালে ১০ টি শব্দের ছোটগল্প রচনা প্রতিযোগিতা ইত্যাদি লক্ষ্য করা যায়। এই সকল প্রাসঙ্গিক বিষয় এই নিবন্ধের মূল আলোচ্য বিষয়।
এই নিবন্ধটি প্রস্তুতের ক্ষেত্রে একটি অনলাইন ক্ষেত্রসমীক্ষা ও তার পাশাপাশি বিভিন্ন নেটওয়ার্ক সাইটগুলির পর্যালোচনা করা হবে। বিভিন্ন সংরূপ নেটওয়ার্ক সাইটগুলি থেকে নেওয়া হবে এবং অনলাইন সমীক্ষার মাধ্যমে সেগুলির সাহিত্যমূল্য পর্যালোচনা করা হবে ।

A talk given at Oriya Dept of Visva Bharati University in June 2016