Bengali script

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The Bengali script is an Abugida system of writing belonging to the Brahmic family of scripts whose use is associated with the Bengali, 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 vô (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 different 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 Kamrupi of that time now some scholars referred to as Brajavali, used by Bhakti poets. It was also used by the later Ahom kings to write the Buranjis, the Ahom chronicles, in the Assamese language. Needless to say, 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.

Contents

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Bengali symbols

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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.

Vowels
Letter Vowel sign with [kɔ] (ক) Transliteration IPA
অ ক (none) kô and ko kɔ and ko
আ কা ka ka
ই কি ki ki
ঈ কী ki ki
উ কু ku ku
ঊ কূ ku ku
ঋ কৃ kri kri
এ কে kê and ke kæ and ke
ঐ কৈ koi koj
ও কো ko ko
ঔ কৌ kou kow
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Modifiers

Other modifier symbols
Symbol with [kɔ] (ক) Name Function Transliteration IPA
ক্ hôshonto Suppresses the inherent vowel - [k]
কত্‍ 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]
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Consonants

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 ng 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
ৰ rô r ɾ
ল lô l l
ৱ vô v v
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) 		y -
ড় đôe shunno ŗô ɽ ɽ
ঢ় đhôe shunno ŗô ɽh ɽ
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Digits

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 æk 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
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Bengali in Unicode

The Unicode range for Bengali is U+0980 ... U+09FF.

  0123456789ABCDEF
980 ঀঁংঃ঄অআইঈউঊঋঌ঍঎এ
990 ঐ঑঒ওঔকখগঘঙচছজঝঞট
9A0 ঠডঢণতথদধন঩পফবভময
9B0 র঱ল঳঴঵শষসহ঺঻়ঽাি
9C0 ীুূৃৄ৅৆েৈ৉৊োৌ্ৎ৏
9D0 ৐৑৒৓৔৕৖ৗ৘৙৚৛ড়ঢ়৞য়
9E0 ৠৡৢৣ৤৥০১২৩৪৫৬৭৮৯
9F0 ৰৱ৲৳৴৵৶৷৸৹৺৻ৼ৽৾৿
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Sample Text

The following is a sample text of script. The selection is 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-অধিনায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
পঞ্জাব সিন্ধু গুজরাট মরাঠা দ্রাবিড় উত্‍‌কল বঙ্গ
বিন্ধ্য হিমাচল যমুনা গঙ্গা উচ্ছলজলধিতরঙ্গ
তব শুভ নামে জাগে, তব শুভ আশিস মাগে,
গাহে তব জয়গাথা।
জনগণমঙ্গলদায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!
জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় হে, জয় জয় জয়, জয় হে॥

জনগণমন-অধিনায়ক জয় হে ভারতভাগ্যবিধাতা!

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External links

br:Skritur banglaek de:Bengalische Schrift pt:Alfabeto bengali ru:Бенгальский алфавит