EXPLORE · PRACTICE · REPEAT
Bengali Alphabet and Pronunciation
If you're trying to learn the Bengali Alphabet you will find some useful resources including a course about pronunciation, and sound of all letters... to help you with your Bengali grammar. Try to concentrate on the lesson and memorize the sounds. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn Bengali. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!
Bengali Alphabet
Learning the Bengali alphabet is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. Without it, you will not be able to say words properly even if you know how to write those words. The better you pronounce a letter in a word, the more understood you will be in speaking the Bengali language.
Below is a table showing the Bengali alphabet and how it is pronounced in English, and finally examples of how those letters would sound if you place them in a word.
| Bengali Alphabet | English Sound | Pronunciation Example |
|---|---|---|
| k | ক As ‘k’ in kite | |
| kh | খ Coupled sound of ‘k’, ‘h’= ‘kh’ | |
| g | গ As ‘g’ in gun | |
| gh | ঘ Coupled sound of ‘g’, ‘h’= ‘gh’ | |
| ņ | ঙ As ‘gn’ in gnome | |
| ch | চ As ‘ch’ in chair | |
| chh | ছ As ‘ch’ as in chair | |
| j | জ As ‘j’ in jug | |
| jh | ঝ This is produced using the naval sounds while the tongue touches the upper part of mouth cavity | |
| n | ঞ Just like ‘gn’ of gnome with a slight up movement of tongue | |
| ţ | ট As ‘t’ in top | |
| ţh | ঠ Hard sound of ‘t’ | |
| đ | ড As ‘d’ in dark | |
| đh | ঢ Coupled sound of ‘d’ and ‘h’= ‘dh’ | |
| n | ণ Nasal sound when the tongue touches a bit away from teeth | |
| t | ত Soft sound of ‘t’ as used in "Bharat" | |
| th | থ As ‘th’ in thermo | |
| d | দ As ‘th’ in the | |
| dh | ধ sound produced by coupling soft ‘d’ and ‘h’= ‘dh’ | |
| n | ন As ‘n’ in man | |
| p | প As ‘p’ in push | |
| ph | ফ Sound of ‘f’ if pronounced with closed lips | |
| b | ব As ‘b’ in ban | |
| bh | ভ Coupled sound of ‘b’ and ‘h’= ‘bh’ | |
| m | ম As ‘m’ in mass | |
| j | য As ‘y’ in yacht | |
| r | র As ‘r’ in run | |
| l | ল As ‘l’ in love | |
| sh and s | শ As ‘sh’ in shot | |
| sh | ষ Sound of ‘sh’ when the tongue touches the roots of the teeth | |
| sh and s | স As ‘s’ in sound | |
| h | হ As ‘h’ in has | |
| e and - | ||
| ŗ | ||
| ŗh | ||
| Vowels | ||
| অ As ‘a’ in mal | ||
| আ Stressed অ | ||
| ই As ‘I’ in ill | ||
| ঈ As ‘e’ in eke | ||
| উ As ‘u’ in Ubuntu | ||
| ঊ As ‘ou’ in you | ||
| ঋ As ‘ri’ in risk | ||
| ৠ Double sound of “ri” | ||
| এ As ‘e’ in par se | ||
| ঐ As ‘a’ in as | ||
| ও As ‘o’ in go | ||
| ঔ Stressed and long sound of ‘o’ |
Bengali Pronunciation
You saw how a letter is written and might be pronounced, but there is nothing better than hearing the sound of the letters in a video or audio. Below you will be able to hear how the letters above are pronounced, just press the play button:
| Bengali Pronunciation |
|---|
The alphabet and its pronunciation have a very important role in Bengali. Once you're done with the Bangla alphabet, you might want to check the rest of our Bengali lessons here: Learn Bengali. Don't forget to bookmark this page.