The Bangla Alphabet Vowels, Consonants, Vowel Diacritics, Compound Consonants Supriyo Sen October 2013, Toronto, Canada

Table of Contents

Preface2

Vowels3

Consonants5

Sample Bangla Words with Vowels & Consonants10

Vowel and Vowel Signs11

Sample Bangla Words with Vowels Signs14

Compound Consonants17

Sample Bangla Words with Compound Consonants22

Alphabet Review-sohoj paTh23

The Bangla Alphabet & English Phonetic Representation34

Preface

Bengali or Bangla () is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent which evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages circa 1000 AD. Bangla is native to the Indian state of West Bengal and the country, Bangladesh. People who speak this language are called (baNgali). There are nearly 230 million speakers of Bangla, according to a 2007 census, making it the sixth most used language in the world (after Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English, Arabic and Hindi).

This eBook is written to teach the Bangla Alphabet to:

a. Children of Bengali parents who want to communicate with elderly relatives,

b. Spouses and friends of Bengali speakers who want to participate in conversations,

c. English speakers who want to learn some Bangla but are unable to invest significant effort in doing so.

The Phonetic English used in this book is the same as the scheme used in the companion website for writing Bangla (currently in the website http://supriyosen.net/). All Bangla content for this book was generated using this Phonetic Editor. An abbreviated version shown here will help you interactively see the formation of Bangla characters.

This eBook contains words in Bangla, their Phonetic representation and words in English. The color coding scheme used is as follows:

Source

English Word

Bangla Word

Phonetic English

Part of Speech

Color Code Example

I

ami

Pronoun

Thr color coding scheme is implemented on the online version.

Vowels

The Bangla alphabet has 11 vowels in common usage.

Two vowel sounds have short and long forms. For example, the normal "i" sound is called the short i (hroswo-i) and the letter is the long i (dIrgho-i). Similarly, the letters and represent the short and long "u" sound, respectively. These reflect Bangla's Sanskrit origin. In modern Bangla usage, the short and long forms have similar pronunciation. These vowels are shown here because they are still used in spelling Bangla words.

Non-native speakers may find that spelling of words becomes a challenge when choosing between the long and short forms of the "i" and "u" sounds as they are pronounced similarly in common modern usage.

Pure Vowels

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

o

aw

awe

In Online version

a

aah

Aadvark

In Online version

i

hroswo-i(short i)

hit

In Online version

I

dIrgho-i(long i)

skiing

In Online version

u

hroswo-u(short u)

put

In Online version

U

dIrgho-u(long u)

vacuum

In Online version

Former Semi-Vowel

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

rri

ree

wring

In Online version

Compound Vowels or Dipthongs

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

e

eh

bed

In Online version

OI

oi

going

In Online version

O

o

moat

In Online version

OU

ou

o+u

In Online version

Consonants

There are 35 consonants and 4 consonant signs in common usage.

The consonant letters are pronounced as if they had "aw" (as in the sound of the English "awe") at the end. So the letter (k) sounds like "kaw".

There is a logic to the grouping of the letters, each set having a sound that emanates from the mouth with a different combination of the lips, tongue, palate and diaphragm.

Gutturals - in the throat - (k kh g gh Ng).

The first and third letters are pronounced unaspirated, while the second and fourth are pronounced aspirated (as if with a puff of breath). The last letter is pronounced nasally.

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

k

kaw

skin

In Online version

kh

khaw

khaki

In Online version

g

gaw

go

In Online version

gh

ghaw

ghetto

In Online version

Ng

ungaw

king

In Online version

Palatals - on the palate - (ch chh j jh NG).

The first and third letters are pronounced unaspirated, while the second and fourth are pronounced aspirated (as if with a puff of breath). The last letter is pronounced nasally.

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

ch

chaw

cheat

In Online version

chh

chhaw

watch

In Online version

j

borgiyo-jaw

jingle

In Online version

jh

jhaw

jhansi

In Online version

NG

ingaw

gnome

In Online version

Cerebrals - with the tongue bent back on the roof of the mouth - (T Th D Dh N).

The first and third letters are pronounced unaspirated, while the second and fourth are pronounced aspirated (as if with a puff of breath). The last letter is pronounced nasally.

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

T

taw

token

In Online version

Th

ttaw

whittle

In Online version

D

daw

dive

In Online version

Dh

dhaw

adhere

In Online version

N

moddheno-naw

noise

In Online version

Dentals - with the tongue on the teeth - (t th d dh n).

The first and third letters are pronounced unaspirated, while the second and fourth are pronounced aspirated (as if with a puff of breath). The last letter is pronounced nasally.

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

t

taw(soft)

Wyeth

In Online version

th

thaw(hard)

think

In Online version

d

daw

Dostoevsky

In Online version

dh

dhaw

sadhu

In Online version

n

donte-naw

no

In Online version

Labials - on the lips - (p ph,f b,w bh,v m).

The first and third letters are pronounced unaspirated, while the second and fourth are pronounced aspirated (as if with a puff of breath). The last letter is pronounced nasally.

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

p

paw

pauper

In Online version

ph,f

phaw

cipher

In Online version

b,w

baw

boy

In Online version

bh,v

bhaw

abhorrent

In Online version

m

maw

mother

In Online version

Sibilants - s sounds as if hissing - (sh Sh s).

These letters sound similar (shaw) in common modern usage and are separately retained for historical reasons from Bangla's Sanskrit origin.

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

sh

talibo-shaw

show

In Online version

Sh

moddheno-shaw

cash

In Online version

s

donte-shaw

wish

In Online version

Semi-Vowels - letters sometimes used as vowels - (J,Y r l h y R Rh).

These letters are sometimes used as vowels especially when combined with other consonants. The three "raws" (r R Rh) sound similar in common modern usage and are separately retained for historical reasons from Bangla's Sanskrit origin.

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

J,Y

ontesto-jaw

joy

In Online version

r

boye-sunno-raw

right

In Online version

l

law

lady

In Online version

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

h

haw

hole

In Online version

y

ontesto-aw

happy

In Online version

R

doye-sunnyo-raw(hard r)

rhythm

In Online version

Rh

ddhoye-sunnyo-raw (hard rh)

arrhythmia

In Online version

Consonant Signs - special consonants that are never used to form compound consonants - (t^ ng,ng^ H^ n^).

These letters are used for special sounds and are generally not used in compound consonant clusters.

Banglaform

EnglishPhonetic

LetterName

Pronouncedas in

HearSound

t^

khanda taw(short taw)

nitwit

In Online version

ng,ng^

sign anuswar

Bengali

In Online version

H^

sign bishorgo

poof

In Online version