The Bengali alphabet is believed to have evolved from a modified Brahmic script around 1000 CE (or 10th11th century). Now I can even read the Bengali script!Ĭongratulations!! There’s only one step left until you can fully read the Bengali alphabet! In the next lesson, we’ll go over the last section: consonant conjuncts. The Bengali alphabet is used throughout Bangladesh and eastern India (Assam, West Bengal, Tripura). Two hundred thirty million people in the world speak Bengali. Êkhon ami Bangla lipi poṛteo pari!īengali is spoken in Bangladesh and in India. The answer (don’t look until you’ve tried!!):īangla bhasha Bangladeshe ebong Bharote bôla hôy. Now you should be able to read basic Bengali words without consonant clusters! Try transliterating this short little ditty (the answer is below, don’t peek):
Though in formal speech they are pronounced as flaps, most colloquial speakers pronounce them similarly to র bôy shunno rô. ড় ḍôy shunno ṛo and ঢ় ḍhôy shunno ṛho are forms of ড ḍô and ঢ ḍhô used between vowels.
স donto shô also represents the sound in loanwords, especially from Arabic, Persian, and English. Additionally, শ talobbo shô and স donto shô make the sound before other consonants. All three have the default pronunciation of, like the sh in sham. There are three sibilants, or s-like sounds, in Bengali.