BRIEF GUIDE TO THE PRONUNCIATION OF BENGALI CHARACTERS

BENGALI VOWELS
	অ | ক	ই  | কি	উ  | কু	ঋ  | কৃ	এ  | কে	ও  | কো
Short	a | ka	i | ki	u | ku	rri | krri	e | ke	o | ko
	Washington (~“å”)	pill	pull	dribble	pegging	pond
	আ | কা	ঈ  | কী	ঊ  | কূ		ঐ  | কৈ	ঔ  | কৌ
Long	aa | kaa	ii | kii	uu | kuu		ee | kee	oo | koo
	far	pizza	pollution		point	pole, pound
	অ্যা | ক্যা	্ | ক্		ং | কং	ঃ | কঃ	ঁ  | কঁ
Extra	a | ka (kyaa)	senza vocale		n° | kan°	hha | kahh	^ | ka^
	apple	black_		sing	Judah had	ankle

BENGALI CONSONANTS
Guttural - in the throat	ক	খ	গ	ঘ	ঙ	হ	ঃ
	ka	kha	ga	gha	n¹a	ha	hha
	keen	rockhead	got	slagheap	donkey	happy	Judah had
Palatal - on the palate	চ	ছ	জ	ঝ	ঞ	য়	শ
	ca	cha	ja	jha	n²a	ya	sha
	match	matchhead	Jehovah, joy	hedgehog	enjoy	yes	dishes
Cerebral or Retroflexive - with the tongue bent back on the roof of the mouth	ট	ঠ	ড	ঢ	ণ	র	ষ
	ta	tha	da	dha	na	ra (rotolo)	sa
	alter	malthouse	holder	goldhammer	filename	red	rashly
			ড়	ঢ়		য
			ra	rha		ya
			millrun	myrrh lump		Jehovah, joy
Dentale - on the teeth	ত	থ	দ	ধ	ন	ল	স  / স্+ত/প
	ta	tha	da	dha	na	la	sa / s+t/p
	panting	anthill	beds	bedheads	bending	led	washroom / stop
Labial - on the lips	প	ফ	ব	ভ	ম	(ব) / ব	ঃ
	pa	pha	ba	bha	ma	(va) / ba	hha
	peace	uphold	bob	nibholder	mop	(advise) bob	Judah had
Other					ং	ঁ	ওয়া
					n°	n^	oyaa (waa)
					sing	ankle	qualms, (web)

Note in particular: -

The vowels can be short or long
• “a” is pronounced with the short “a” sound (~“å”) in “Washington” (and a short “o” in “off”)
• “aa” has a long sound like “aa” in “Aardvaak” (and “a” in “far”)
• “e” sounds like “e” in “Jehovah” and “pegging”
• “ee” has a long sound modified into a diphthong like “oi” in “point”
• “oo” has a long sound modified into a diphthong either like “ou” in “pound” and “ow” in “power” or like “oa” in “oak”

The consonants can be either held or huffed (breathed)
• “g” sounds like “g” in “good” (not like “g” in “general”)
• “c” sounds like “c” in “cello” and “tch” in “match” (not like in “cellar” or in “cook”)
• “j” and “y” both have the sound of “j” as in “jazz” or in “Jehovah”
•“-oyaa” (a compound syllable in the absence of a “w” character in Bengali) sounds like “ua” in “qualms” or “wa” in “How are you?”
• The three different sibilants (sh, s, s) all sound almost like “ʃ” in “dishes”, but they do differ slightly
• “s” before “t”, “th”, “p”, or “ph” sounds like “s” in “stare”
• “h” must always be heard, breathed with some force as in “happy” and “hi-fi”

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© 2017 Jaspell (Jasper Burford and Ellen Burford) Date of last edit: 2 April 2017