The Bengali alphabet

43 letters, each with its name and roughly the sound it makes. The sounds are English approximations — enough to sound a word out, not enough to pass for a local.

🇧🇩 Bengali · An abugida: each consonant carries a vowel already, and other vowels are marks on it.

Like Devanagari it hangs from a line along the top and a consonant carries its vowel already — but the shapes are rounder and the built-in vowel is closer to an o than an a. Bengali has no grammatical gender at all.

Vowels

• অ a o in got
• আ aa a in father
• ই i i in bit
• ঈ ii ee in see
• উ u u in put
• ঊ uu oo in boot
• ঋ ri ri
• এ e e in they
• ঐ oi oy in boy
• ও o o in go
• ঔ ou ow in low

Consonants

• ক ka k
• খ kha k with a puff of air
• গ ga g
• ঘ gha g with a puff of air
• ঙ nga ng
• চ cha ch
• ছ chha ch with a puff of air
• জ ja j
• ঝ jha j with a puff of air
• ঞ nya ny in canyon
• ট ta t, tongue curled back
• ঠ tha the same with a puff of air
• ড da d, tongue curled back
• ঢ dha the same with a puff of air
• ণ na n, tongue curled back
• ত ta t on the teeth
• থ tha the same with a puff of air
• দ da d on the teeth
• ধ dha the same with a puff of air
• ন na n
• প pa p
• ফ pha p with a puff of air
• ব ba b
• ভ bha b with a puff of air
• ম ma m
• য ja j
• র ra r
• ল la l
• শ sha sh
• ষ sha sh
• স sa s
• হ ha h

Now read something in it

The letters are the smaller half. The 3,802 commonest Bengali words are where they start meaning something.

Reading it is one thing.

Being understood when you say it is another. That takes a person.

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