How to read and say Bengali
Letters, sounds and stress from Wikivoyage's Bengali phrasebook. Then hear the phrases and practice them, free.
▶ Practice Bengali phrasesThe pronunciation in Bangladesh differs significantly from that of India and the so-called "Standard Bengali". The difference is basically in pronunciation and a few vocabulary differences, which make it problematic for Indian Bengalis to understand the Bangladeshi dialect and vice versa.
There are 11 vowels and 38 consonants in written Standard Bengali, some of which are not distinguished by their pronunciations.
Vowels
Bengali vowels can either be independent or hooked on to the consonant in the form of diacritics. The distinction between long (দীর্ঘ dīrgha) and short (হ্রস্ব hrasba) vowels is purely orthographic and both vowels are pronounced the same. The vowel অ does not have any equivalent diacritic and certain consonants in Bengali words are pronounced with the অ-sound.
- অ aw/oh
- like British dawn (IPA: ɔ) or like open (IPA: o)
- অ্যা a
- like cat (IPA: æ)
- আ া ah
- like father (IPA: a)
- ই ি ee
- like free (IPA: i)
- ঈ ী ee
- like free (IPA: i)
- উ ু oo
- like moon (IPA: u)
- ঊ ূ oo
- like moon (IPA: u)
- ঋ ৃ ree
- like return (IPA: ri)
- এ ে ay/a
- between make and bed (IPA: e), or like cat (IPA: æ)
- ঐ ৈ oi
- like boy but more closed (IPA: oi)
- ও ো oh
- like boat (IPA: o)
- ঔ ৌ oh
- like boat but more exaggerated (IPA: ou)
Consonants
Bengali consonants have many qualities not quite familiar to native English speakers, including dental, aspirated and retroflex consonants. Dental consonants are pronounced with the tongue touching the teeth, aspirated consonants are pronounced with a puff of air and retroflex consonants are pronounced with the tip of the tongue flapping against the roof of the mouth.
- ক k
- like skip (IPA: k)
- খ kh
- like sinkhole (IPA: kʰ)
- গ g
- like go (IPA: ɡ)
- ঘ gh
- like loghouse (IPA: ɡʱ)
- ঙ ng
- like sing (IPA: ŋ)
- চ ch
- like chicken (IPA: tʃ)
- ছ chh
- like atchoo (sound of sneezing) (IPA: tʃʰ)
- জ j
- like jump (IPA: dʒ)
- ঝ jh
- like hedgehog (IPA: dʒʰ)
- ঞ n
- like lunch (IPA: n), silent in words like মিঞা (MEE-ah)
- ট tt
- like tick but retroflex (IPA: ʈ)
- ঠ tth
- like lighthouse but retroflex (IPA: ʈʰ)
- ড dd
- like doubt but retroflex (IPA: ɖ)
- ঢ ddh
- like mudhut but retroflex (IPA: ɖʰ)
- ণ n
- like end (IPA: n)
- ত t
- like tick but dental (IPA: t̪)
- থ th
- like lighthouse but dental (IPA: t̪ʰ)
- দ d
- like doubt but dental (IPA: d̪)
- ধ dh
- like mudhut but dental (IPA: d̪ʱ)
- ন n
- like not (IPA: n)
- প p
- like spin (IPA: p)
- ফ ph
- like uphill (IPA: pʰ) or friend (IPA: f)
- ব b
- like boy (IPA: b)
- ভ bh
- like abhor (IPA: bʱ)
- ম m
- like mould (IPA: m)
- য j
- like jump (IPA: dʒ)
- র r
- like Spanish perro (IPA: r) initially; like American butter (IPA: ɾ) elsewhere
- ল l
- like leaf (IPA: l)
- শ sh
- like ship (IPA: ʃ)
- ষ sh
- like ship (IPA: ʃ)
- স s/sh
- generally like ship (IPA: ʃ); in loanwords and before dental consonants, like sip (IPA: s)
- হ h
- like behind (IPA: ɦ)
- ড় rr
- like American larder (IPA: ɽ)
- ঢ় rrh
- aspiration of the above consonant (IPA: ɽʰ)
- য় e
- semivocalic e (IPA: e̯)
- ৎ t
- like tick but dental (IPA: t̪)
- ং ng
- like sing (IPA: ŋ)
- ঃ h
- like head (IPA: h)
Some of the above consonants, especially ব, ম, য and ঃ, can be silent and double the previous or following consonant. The silent য can be identified in the form of ্য (for example, বিদ্যা BEED-dah).
The distinction between র, ড় and ঢ় is not always necessary and some speakers merge two or all of the three consonants into one.
Other diacritics
- ঁ n
- nasalises the vowel
Common multigraphs
Bengali also use several multigraphs, which represent certain pronunciations, including diphthongs.
- অই oi
- like boy (IPA: ɔi̯)
- অয় oi
- roughly like straw end (IPA: ɔe̯)
- আই igh
- like buy (IPA: ai̯)
- আয় igh
- no English equivalent, pronounce A in father and E in end together (IPA: ae̯)
- আও ow
- roughly like ciao (IPA: ao̯)
- আউ ow
- like how (IPA: au̯)
- উই wee
- like window (IPA: ui̯)
- ওয়া wah
- like wander (IPA: o̯a)
- ক্ষ kh
- like sinkhole at initial (IPA: kʰ); like a double "kh" elsewhere (IPA: kʰː)
- জ্ঞ g
- like go at initial (IPA: ɡ); like a nasalised double hard "g" elsewhere (IPA: ɡː)
- শ্ব sh
- like ship at initial (IPA: ʃ); like a double "sh" elsewhere (IPA: ʃː)
- স্ব sh
- like ship at initial (IPA: ʃ); like a double "sh" elsewhere (IPA: ʃː)
- হ্ব ubh
- u followed by bh
Stress
As a general rule used in this phrasebook, stress the initial syllable of a sentence, phrase or clause.
Pseudo-phoneticisation
Wikivoyage provides pronunciation help in certain contexts such as phrasebooks and destination names. Wikivoyage's pronunciation help mainly uses pseudo-phoneticisation, for which readers can find a simplified pronunciation guide.