Corpus-based empirical analysis of form, function and frequency of characters used in Bangla

In this paper an attempt is made to understand formal and functional aspects of Bangla characters used in the written texts compiled in a sample monitor corpus designed systematically from language data collected from various text documents published within 1980 and 1995. The purpose of this study is to understand the form and function of the characters, trace their behavioural peculiarities, and if possible, find out the reasons of such peculiarities. The study focuses on the formation of the characters, their structural change in case of compound and cluster formation, their contextual use, statistical analysis of their occurrence, and their position in words. The study also encompasses the use of different punctuation marks in the texts. Finally, some possible areas of application of such analysis are identified.