Bangla orthography

ba N a p a i r% c a y a
(ibdAsAgaer%r pui%kAr% nukaraeN%)

arabaNa

(9)

baanabaNa

k
c
T
t
p

K
C

ag G X
j J \
D
N
d

n
b
B m
(b) Z S
s

Bangla orthography

The Bengali alphabet (k, K), in alphabetical order:

Name
Pronounced

Name
Pronounced

Name
Pronounced

(9)

s]re ]
]

hr]sso u
u

e
e

s]re a
a

dirggho u
u

oi
oi

Name
Pronounced

Name
Pronounced

Name
Pronounced

Name
Pronounced

Name
Pronounced

onussar/onussor
]X

li
li

bis]rggo
h/(doubles)

ou
ou

c]ndrobindu
(nasalizes vowel)

D*

**

k]
k]

c]
c]

T]
T]

t]
t]

p]
p]

Y ***
Name
Pronounced

ri
ri

dirggho i
i

o
o

M
Name
Pronounced

hr]sso i
i

]ntoStho j]
j]

kh]
kh]

g]
g]

ch]
ch]

borggio j]
j]

Th]
Th]

D]
D]

th]
th]

d]
d]

ph]
f]/ph]

b]
b]

gh]
gh]

jh]
jh]

Dh]
Dh]

i~]
]

murddhonno n]
n]

dh]
dh]

bh]
bh]/v]

b]e sunno/bindu r]
r]
2

u~]
]X

d]nto n]
n]

m]
m]

l]
l]

Bangla orthography

Z
Name
Pronounced

talobbo s]
s]

murddhonno s]
s]

d]nto s]
s]

h]
h]

The alphabet ends with h. The following three letters, each with a diacritical subscript
dot beneath it, indicate "allophones" of letters already listed in the alphabet. Each is
found in the exact same alphabetical order of its corresponding letter, marked by the
asterisks.

R*
Name
Pronounced

D]e sunno r]
R]

**

Dh]e sunno r]
Rh]

y ***

]ntoStho y]/]
e/o/y/+

The letter t is also written when the inherent vowel is not to be pronounced.

Name
kh]NDo t]
Pronounced t
====================

Post-consonantal vowel signs:

= A (akar)
= i (hrossikar/ikar)
= I (dirgghikar/ikar)
= u (hrossukar/ukar)
= U (dirgghukar/ukar)
= & (rikar)
= f (ekar)
= F (oikar)
= f o (okar)
= f O (oukar)

as in
as in
as in
as in
as in
as in
as in
as in
as in
as in

kA
ik
kI
ku
kU
k&
fk
Fk
fko
fkO

(should be under consonant)

(should be under consonant)
(should be under consonant)

Bangla orthography

Conjunct consonants or ligatures (YuAara):

When consonants are conjoined, the resulting conjunct consonants may not look
like any of the individual consonants being combined. Notice in the word in parentheses
above, meaning "conjunct consonant," the letter is made up of the two letters k and
t; the letter a is comprised of k and S. At this point, it is probably best to learn the
conjunct consonants gradually as they present themselves to you in the lessons in An
Introduction to Bengali, Part I, rather than try to memorize them all at one.
There are five consonants that, when the last member of a consonant-conjunct, are
called by their own name plus the suffix "phola." They are: m]phola as in laI,
j]phola as in h~A, r]phola as in aama, l]phola as in Aban, and b]phola as in
arabaNa. When the ar is the first member of a conjunct consonant, it is called reph/ref
r] as in arabaN. And one conjunct consonant, a, has its own name, khi]. All other
conjunct consonants are referred to by the names of the individual letters, with the
locative case ending "e" connecting the letters. Example, is referred to as "k]-e-t]."
Here is a list of the more difficult conjunct consonants. In three cases, ukar-s are
shown, combined with r] and t]. Though technically, a consonant plus ukar is not a
conjunct consonant, the shape of these ukar-s needs to be noted.

=k+k
=k+S+m

=k+t
V=k+s

=k+r
=g+

=k+S
=X+k

=k+S+N
=X+g

=j+\

=\+c

=\+C

=\+j

=\+J

=T+T

=N+D

=t+t
=d+
=n+

=t+
=+b
=n+d+r

=t+m
=n+t
=n+

=t+r
=n+t+u
=n+m

=d+d
=n+t+r

=r+u

=r+U

T=S+T

=S+

=S+N

=S+m

=s+

=h+n

=h+m
4