Bengali Script

Bengali script (বাংলা লিপি) is an abugida: each consonant letter carries a built-in vowel, and other vowels are added as marks around it. The traditional count is 11 vowels (স্বরবর্ণ) and 39 consonants (ব্যঞ্জনবর্ণ). It runs left to right like English, has no capital letters, and hangs from a headline (মাত্রা) drawn across the top of each word.

The built-in vowel

A bare consonant is read with অ: ক is kô, ম is mô. (This page writes the built-in vowel as ô, as in British hot, to keep it apart from ও o, as in go without the glide; elsewhere the course writes both as plain o.) To use a different vowel, add its sign (কার): কা ka, কি ki, কু ku, কে ke, কো ko - so ক kô and কো ko are two different syllables. To silence the vowel, a small stroke called হসন্ত (্) goes under the letter: ক্ is plain k. In practice, final অ is usually not pronounced: কলম is kolom (pen), not kolomo.

For English speakers

• Bengali অ ô and আ a are different letters, and confusing them changes words: কল kôl is a tap, কাল kal is yesterday or tomorrow.
• Many consonants come in pairs without and with a puff of air: ক k / খ kh, প p / ফ ph. English makes that difference too (spin vs pin) but does not use it to tell words apart; Bengali does.
• Start with the letters of words you will see everywhere: চা (cha, tea) and মিষ্টি (mishti, sweets) on any shop sign in Dhaka or Kolkata.