Learn the Bengali Alphabet

বাংলা বর্ণমালা

Learn to read the Bengali Alphabet (বাংলা বর্ণমালা): all 46 letters with names, sounds and audio, plus flashcards, listening, typing and matching practice.

Letter	Name	Latin letters	Sound
অ	Ô	ô	o as in British hot, or aw in law
আ	Aa	a	a as in father
ই	I	i	ee as in see, kept short
ঈ	Dirgho I	ī	ee as in see; today sounds the same as ই
উ	U	u	oo as in food, kept short
ঊ	Dirgho U	ū	oo as in food; today sounds the same as উ
ঋ	Ri	ṛ	ri as in river
এ	E	e	e as in hey; sometimes a as in cat
ঐ	Oi	oi	oy as in boy
ও	O	o	o as in go, without the glide
ঔ	Ou	ou	a glide from oh into oo, like ow in low said slowly
ক	Ko	k	k as in skin, with no puff of air
খ	Kho	kh	k as in kite, with a strong puff of air
গ	Go	g	g as in go
ঘ	Gho	gh	g with a breathy follow-through, like dog-house said fast
ঙ	Uṅo	ṅ	ng as in sing
চ	Cho	c	ch as in chair, with no puff of air
ছ	Chho	ch	ch as in church, with a strong puff of air
জ	Borgiyo Jo	j	j as in jam
ঝ	Jho	jh	j with a breathy follow-through
ঞ	Niyo	ñ	n as in pinch; appears inside clusters like ঞ্চ and ঞ্জ
ট	Ṭo	ṭ	a hard English t, as in top, tongue tip curled back
ঠ	Ṭho	ṭh	a hard t with a strong puff of air
ড	Ḍo	ḍ	a hard English d, as in dog, tongue tip curled back
ঢ	Ḍho	ḍh	a hard d with a breathy follow-through
ণ	Murdhonno No	ṇ	n as in no; sounds the same as ন today
ত	To	t	a soft t with the tongue on the teeth, like Spanish or French t
থ	Tho	th	soft t with a puff of air; not th as in thin
দ	Do	d	a soft d with the tongue on the teeth, like Spanish d
ধ	Dho	dh	soft d with a breathy follow-through
ন	Donto No	n	n as in no
প	Po	p	p as in spin, with no puff of air
ফ	Pho	ph	p with a strong puff of air; often f as in fan
ব	Bo	b	b as in bat
ভ	Bho	bh	b with a breathy follow-through
ম	Mo	m	m as in mother
য	Ontostho Jo	y	j as in jam; same sound as জ
র	Ro	r	a light tapped r, as in Spanish pero
ল	Lo	l	l as in let
শ	Talobbo Sho	ś	sh as in shoe
ষ	Murdhonno Sho	ṣ	sh as in shoe; sounds the same as শ
স	Donto So	s	usually sh as in shoe; s as in sun in clusters like স্ক
হ	Ho	h	h as in house
ড়	Ṛo	ṛ	a quick flapped r with the tongue curled back; no English match
ঢ়	Ṛho	ṛh	the same flapped r as ড়; found in only a few words
য়	Yo	ẏ	a light y glide, as in player

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