Consonants Flashcards
Consonant types
There are 32 consonants in Bengali. They are divided into five main types:
- Gutteral (made in the back of your throat). E.g. গ /g/
- Palatal (made with your tongue touching the roof of your mouth). E.g. ড /d/
- Retroflex (made with your tongue curled back). E.g. র /r/
- Dental (made with the tongue touching the back of your top teeth). E.g. ত /t/
- Labial (made with your lips). E.g. প /p/
Aspirated consonants
Also, some consonants are aspirated, which means they are pronounced with a puff of air and others are unaspirated.
In the romanization, consonants without an “h” are usually unaspirated. E.g. /g/ is unaspirated and /gh/ is aspirated.
Multiple characters for some sounds
Some sounds have multiple characters. This is because in the past they had distinct sounds but over time they have changed so as to be indistinguishable.
For example, শ ,ষ and স all have the English /sh/ sound or sometimes /s/.
The inherent vowel
If a consonant is not written with a vowel marker, the consonant is generally pronounced with a following inherent /ɔ/ sound (which similar to the /o/ in English “on”). So the sound of the letter ক /k/ is /kɔ/.
Romanization
In the Romanization system used in these classes (other than the [Ling] (https://ling-app.com/learn-bengali/) classes) the /ɔ/ is written as /a/. This is because that is the character that is used by Google Translate, which has been used extensively to create the course. So the sound of ক is written
as /ka/.
On the other hand the [Ling] (https://ling-app.com/learn-bengali/) classes use a different Romanisation system in which ɔ is written as /o/.
Consonant names
The consonant’s names are generally their sound along with the inherent vowel. For example the letter ত has the sound /t/ so with the inherent vowel it’s /tɔ/, /to/ or /ta/ depending on the Romanization system used.
But some don’t follow this rule, such as where multiple characters represent the same sound.
Writing Bengali with Latin letters
In addition to the Bengali script, Bengali words can be written with the Latin script (Romanized). The Latin script is often used by people writing in social media or when writing text messages. As a learner this helps you know how to pronounce a Bengali words when you haven’t yet learned the Bengali script.
There is no universally accepted system for the spelling of Bengali words with Latin letters.
In these classes two Romanization schemes have been used.
Where I have created my own word and phrase lists I have generally used the scheme deployed by Google Translate. Beware, it has a few quirks that you need to get used to!
The Ling classes use an alternative scheme in which the inherent vowel is written as o instead of a. To my ear it sounds like o. I’ve only used the Google scheme for my own classes because it’s quick to copy-paste into Brainscaoe from Google Translate.
Some tips and gotchas
1) In this course Romanized words and sounds are always written between /slashes/.
2 ) In the Google Translate scheme a bar above a vowel letter indicates that it has a longer sound.
- /a/ is like the /ɔ/ in the international alphabet, which sounds like the o in lost.
- But /ā/ is longer, a bit like the aa you say when the doctor is checking your tonsils.
3) /a/ sounds like the o in own. In the Ling scheme this is written as /o/.
4) In the Ling scheme /ā/ is written as /a/ and /a/ is written as /o/.
5) In both schemes /c/ is pronounced like the ch of chair.
6) ã and õ are nasalized versions of a and o.
7) In the GA scheme you’ll see various other dots and circles above or below letters. Just ignore them. They have a meaning for the way the letters sound, but just go by how the recordings sound.
The inherent vowel
If a consonant is not written with a vowel marker, the consonant is generally pronounced with sound /ɔ/ following it. This similar as to the o in English“ lost).
In the Google Translate Romanization spelling used in this course /ɔ/ is written as
/a/. In the [Ling] (https://ling-app.com/learn-bengali/) classes it is written as /o/. So, the letter ক /k/ with the inherent vowel is written as /ka/. And গ /g/ is /ga/. But remember that the /a/ sounds like the o in lost. So these two examples sound like /ko/
and /go/.
Google Translate’s silent /a/
Usually the inherent vowel /a/ is not pronounced at the end of words, but Google Translate unhelpfully puts it in anyway.
In these Brainscape classes that silent /a/ has generally been removed to remove confusion, but may sometimes have been missed. Listen to the audio.
ক
/k/
Kaw
Similar to the English “k” as in “bake”.
খ
/kh/
Khaw
This is an aspirated ক.
Say the /k/ and breath out as you say the vowel.
গ
/g/
Gaw
This is an aspirated ক. Similar to the English “g” as in “go.”
ঘ
/gh/
Ghaw
This is an aspirated গ. Say the
/g/ and breath out as you say the vowel.
ঙ
/ng/
Ungaw
This is like the “ng” in “sing” in English.
হ
/h/
Haw
Similar to the English “h” as in “hot”.
চ
/ch/
Tchaw
This is the /tch/ sound in watch, catch and latch.
ছ
/ch/
Chaw
The is the /ch/ sound in chick, child and chill.
জ
/j/
Borgiyo-jo
Similar to the English “j” as in “joy.”
Some Bengali dialects will pronounce this more like the y in the English yellow.
ঝ
/jh/
Name: Jhaw
This is an aspirated জ
য
/j/
Ontoshto-jaw
This is pronounced the same as জ
ঞ
/ñ/
Iñgyaw
This is like the Spanish ñ. Similar to a nasally “ny” sound in “canyon“.
ট
/t/
Taw
This is a retroflex “t”.
Roll your tongue back against the roof of your mouth and blow it out to make the sound. Some Bengalis call this a hard “t“.
ঠ
/th/
Thaw
This is an aspirated ট
ড
/d/
Daw
This is a retroflex “d” sound. Pronounce it by curling your tongue back and flicking it forward across the roof of your mouth.
ঢ
/dh/
Dhaw
This is an aspirated ড.
Try pronouncing a “d” sound with your tongue curled back, while breathing out. (Good luck!)
ণ
/n/
Modhhenno-naw
This is historically a retroflex “n” sound.
র
/r/
Boey-sunnyo-ro
This is pronounced similar to an English /r/, but with a gentle tap to the pallet behind the top teath.
There is a good explanation of the difference between র, ড় and ঢ় here.
ড়
/r/
Doyey-unno-ro
| This is a retroflex ”r”.
Roll your tongue back and tap it against your pallet as you voice the ”r”. It’s like র pronounced with the tongue further back.
There is a good explanation of the difference between র, ড় and ঢ় here.
ঢ়
/rh/
Ddhoey-sunno-ro
This is an aspirated ড়
There is a good explanation of the difference between র, ড় and ঢ় here.
ত
/t/
Taw
This is a dental “t” sound. It’s like the Spanish “t”.
Press the tip of your tongue against the back of your upper teeth to stop the flow of air completely for an instant.
Some Bengalis call this a soft ”t”.
থ
/th/
Thaw
This is an aspirated ত.
Put your tongue against the back of your top teeth and and make a “t“ sound while breathing out a puff of air.
In romanized spelling, don’t confuse it with the English “th“, which does not occur in Bengali.
দ
/d/
Daw
Similar to the English “d” as in “dog”.
ধ
/dh/
Dhaw
This is an aspirated দ
ন
/n/
Dontey-naw
Similar to the English “n” as in “nose”.
ল
/l/
Law
Similar to the English “l” as in “long.”
প
/p/
Paw
Similar to the English “p” as in “potato”.
ফ
/pf/ or /ph/ or /f/
Pfaw
This is an aspirated প. Pronunciation is variable among Bengalis, but /pf/ is most common in West Bengal.
ব
/b/
Baw
Similar to the English “b” as in “boy”.
ভ
/bh/
Bhaw
This is an aspirated ব
ম
/m/
Maw
Similar to the English “m” as in “mom”.
শ
/sh/
Talibo-sho
Similar to the “sh” sound in “shop”.
ষ
/sh/
Moddhono-sho
Historically, শ, ষ, and স all represented distinct sounds. However, in modern Bengali, there is usually no difference.
স
/sh/
Dontey-shaw
Historically, শ, ষ, and স all represented distinct sounds. However, in modern Bengali, there is usually no difference.
য়
/y/ or /e/ or /io/ or /w/
Ontoshto-yaw
When it is attached to a vowel in the middle of a word, it is silent.
E.g. পেয়ালা /peala/ (cup)
If য় appears in the middle of a word following a consonant and does not have a vowel mark, it is usually pronounced like an e.
Ex. পয়সা /poesha/ (money)
If it has a vowel mark then it is pronounced as /y/ followed by the vowel.
- With া to create য়া [ẏaa]
দয়া /daẏā/ (kind)
নয়া /naẏā/ (new) - With ে to create য়ে [ẏē]
সাবওয়ে /sāb’ōẏē/ (subway/metro)
বিস্ময়ের /bismẏēra/ (amazing, awesome, wonderful) - With the ী to create য়ী [ẏii]
দায়িত্ব /dāẏitba/ (responsibility)
স্থায়িত্ব /sthāẏitba/ (stability) - With the ু to create য়ু [yu]
অভয়া /abhaẏā/ (adventure)
বায়ু /bāẏu/ (air)
It is pronounced /io/ if it directly follows an /i/ or /e/ sound.
E.g. তৃতীয় /tritio/ (third)
Finally, ওয়া is pronounced as /wa/ instead of /oa/.
E.g. খাওয়া /khawa/ (to eat)
The pronunciation of this letter is quite variable, depending on context.
