Bengali alphabet
Template:IndicText The Bengali script (Bangla: বাংলা িলিপ Bangla lipi) is an Abugida system of writing belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts whose use is associated with the Bangla, Assamese, Manipuri and Sylheti languages. While it is very similar to Devanagari, it is less blocky and presents a more sinuous shaping, and is derived from a precursor of that script called Nagari. The modern script was formalized in 1778 when it was first typeset by Charles Wilkins. There are some minor differences between the version of the script used for Assamese and that used for the other languages: rô (Bengali র; Assamese ৰ) and wô (Bengali not available; Assamese ৱ).
The script was originally not associated with any particular language, but was prevalent as the script of choice in east India. Among the various regional variations within this script, only the Assamese and Bengali variations exist today in the formalized system. The script was used to write Sanskrit for centuries, especially when dealing with Hindu scripture such as the Mahabharata or Ramayana. It is still occasionally used to write Sanskrit today. Srimanta Sankardeva used it in the 15th and 16th centuries to compose his oeuvre in Assamese and Brajavali the language of the Bhakti poets. It was also used by the later Ahom kings to write the Buranjis, the Ahom chronicles, in the Assamese language. There is a rich legacy of Indian literature written in this script.
Clusters of consonants are represented by different and sometimes quite irregular characters; thus, learning to read the script is complicated by the sheer size of the full set of characters and character combinations, numbering about 500. While efforts at standardizing the script for the Bengali language continue in such notable centers as the Bangla Academies (unaffiliated) at Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Kolkata (West Bengal, India), it is still not quite uniform as yet, as many people continue to use various archaic forms of letters, resulting in concurrent forms for the same sounds.
It seems likely that the standardization of the script will be greatly influenced by the need to typeset it on computers. The large alphabet can be represented, with a great deal of ingenuity, within the ASCII character set, omitting certain irregular conjuncts. Work has been underway since around 2001 to develop Unicode fonts, and it seems likely that it will split into two variants, traditional and modern.
Bengali symbols
Vowels
The script presently has a total of 11 vowel letters, used to represent the seven main vowel sounds of Bengali, along with a number of vowel diphthongs. All of these are used in both Bangla and Assamese, the two main languages using the script. Some of the vowel letters have different sounds depending on the word, and a number of vowel distinctions preserved in the writing system are not pronounced as such in modern spoken Bengali or Assamese. For example, the Bengali script has two symbols for the vowel sound [i] and two symbols for the vowel sound [u]. This redundancy stems from the time when this script was used to write Sanskrit, a language that had a short [i] and a long [iː], and a short [u] and a long [uː]. These letters are preserved in the Bengali script with their traditional names of hrôshsho i (lit. 'short i') and dirgho i (lit. 'long i'), etc., despite the fact that they are no longer pronounced differently in ordinary speech.
Vowel signs can be used in conjunction with consonants to modify the pronunciation of the consonant (here exemplified by ক, kô). When no vowel is written, the vowel 'অ' (ô or o) is often assumed. To specifically denote the absence of a vowel, a hôshonto (্) may be written underneath the consonant.
| Letter | Vowel sign with [kɔ] (ক) | Transliteration | Transcription based on pronunciation | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| অ | ক (none) | ka | kô and ko | kɔ and ko |
| আ | কা | kā | ka | ka |
| ই | িক | ki | ki | ki |
| ঈ | কী | kī | ki | ki |
| উ | কু | ku | ku | ku |
| ঊ | কূ | kū | ku | ku |
| ঋ | কৃ | kṛ | kri | kri |
| এ | ক | ke | kê and ke | kæ and ke |
| ঐ | ৈক | kai | koi | koj |
| ও | েকা | ko | ko | ko |
| ঔ | েকৗ | kau | kou | kow |
Modifiers
| Symbol with [kɔ] (ক) | Name | Function | Transliteration | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ক্ | hôshonto | Suppresses the inherent vowel | - | [k] |
| Unicode sign not available | khônđo tô | Final unaspirated dental [t] (ত) | t | [kɔt] |
| কং | ônushshôr | Final velar nasal | ņ | [kɔŋ] |
| কঃ | bishôrgo | Adds voiceless breath after vowel | : | [kɔh] / [kɔ] |
| কঁ | chôndrobindu | Nasalises vowel | ñ | [kɲ] |
(Compare to “homologous” modifiers in other Indic scripts: halant, anusvara, visarga, candrabindu.)
Consonants
| Letter | Name of Letter | Transliteration | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| ক | kô | k | k |
| খ | khô | kh | kh |
| গ | gô | g | g |
| ঘ | ghô | gh | gɦ |
| ঙ | ungô, umô | ņ | ŋ |
| চ | chô | ch | tʃ |
| ছ | chhô | chh | tʃh |
| জ | borgio jô (burgijjô) |
j | dʒ |
| ঝ | jhô | jh | dʒɦ |
| ঞ | ingô, niô | n | ɲ |
| ট | ţô | ţ | ʈ |
| ঠ | ţhô | ţh | ʈh |
| ড | đô | đ | ɖ |
| ঢ | đhô | đh | ɖɦ |
| ণ | murdhonno nô (moddhennô) |
n | n |
| ত | tô | t | t̪ |
| থ | thô | th | t̪h |
| দ | dô | d | d̪ |
| ধ | dhô | dh | d̪ɦ |
| ন | donto nô (dontennô) |
n | n |
| প | pô | p | p |
| ফ | phô | ph | ph |
| ব | bô | b | b |
| ভ | bhô | bh | bɦ |
| ম | mô | m | m |
| য | ôntostho jô (ontostejô) |
j | dʒ |
| র | bôe shunno rô | r | ɾ |
| ল | lô | l | l |
| শ | talobbo shô (taleboshshô) |
sh and s | ʃ/s |
| ষ | murdhonno shô | sh | ʃ |
| স | donto shô (donteshshô) |
sh and s | ʃ/s |
| হ | hô | h | h |
| য় | ôntostho ô (ontosteô) |
e and - | e/- |
| ড় | đôe shunno ŗô | ŗ | ɽ |
| ঢ় | đhôe shunno ŗô | ŗh | ɽ |
Digits
| Arabic numerals | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangla numerals | ০ | ১ | ২ | ৩ | ৪ | ৫ | ৬ | ৭ | ৮ | ৯ |
| Bangla names | shunno | êk | dui | tin | char | pañch | chhôe | shat | aţ | nôe |
| শুন্য | এক | দুই | তিন | চার | পাঁচ | ছয় | সাত | আট | নয় | |
| Assamese names | xuinno | ek | dui | tini | sari | pas | sôy | xat | ath | nô |
Bengali in Unicode
The Unicode range for Bengali is U+0980 ... U+09FF.
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | ||
| 980 | ঀ | ঁ | ং | ঃ | | অ | আ | ই | ঈ | উ | ঊ | ঋ | ঌ | | | এ | |
| 990 | ঐ | | | ও | ঔ | ক | খ | গ | ঘ | ঙ | চ | ছ | জ | ঝ | ঞ | ট | |
| 9A0 | ঠ | ড | ঢ | ণ | ত | থ | দ | ধ | ন | | প | ফ | ব | ভ | ম | য | |
| 9B0 | র | | ল | | | | শ | ষ | স | হ | | | ় | ঽ | া | ি | |
| 9C0 | ী | ু | ূ | ৃ | ৄ | | | ে | ৈ | | | ো | ৌ | ্ | ৎ | | |
| 9D0 | | | | | | | | ৗ | | | | | ড় | ঢ় | | য় | |
| 9E0 | ৠ | ৡ | ৢ | ৣ | | | ০ | ১ | ২ | ৩ | ৪ | ৫ | ৬ | ৭ | ৮ | ৯ | |
| 9F0 | ৰ | ৱ | ৲ | ৳ | ৴ | ৵ | ৶ | ৷ | ৸ | ৹ | ৺ | ৻ | ৼ | ৽ | ৾ | |
Sample Text
The following is a sample text of script. The selection is part of a Bengali song, highly Sanskritized and later adopted as the national anthem of India. It was written by a man who is acknowledged as the single most important and defining figure of Bengali literature, the Nobel Laureate and philosopher-saint poet Rabindranath Tagore (Thakur in Bengali).
Bengali Text of Jôno Gôno Môno:
জনগণমন-অিধনায়ক জয় েহ ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
পঞ্জাব িসন্ধু গুজরাট মরাঠা দ্রািবড় উত্কল বঙ্গ
িবন্ধ্য িহমাচল যমুনা গঙ্গা উচ্ছলজলিধতরঙ্গ
তব শুভ নােম জােগ, তব শুভ আিশস মােগ,
গােহ তব জয়গাথা।
জনগণমঙ্গলদায়ক জয় েহ ভারতভাগ্যিবধাতা!
জয় েহ, জয় েহ, জয় েহ, জয় জয় জয়, জয় েহ॥
The script is used in a very rudimentary form, since Unicode contains only a fraction of the signs needed.