Vowels Flashcards
There are 11 vowels in the Bengali alphabet:
অ
Name: Aw
/Ɔ/ as in “on”,
or /o/ as in “own”.
আ
Name: Aa
/aa/
Like the “a” in “art.”
ই
/i/
Like the “ee” in “cheese.”
Name: Hossoi
ঈ
/i/
Like the ee in cheese. Same as ই
Name: Dirghoi
উ
Hroshu
/u/
Like the “oo” in “hoop”.
ঊ
/u/
Like the “oo” in “hoop”. Same as উ
Name: Dirghu
ঋ
/ri/
Pronounced like র + ই
Name: Rii
এ
/e/ or /æ/
/e/ as in “egg,” or /æ/ like the “a” in “ape.”
Name: Ei
ঐ
/oi/
Blend ও and ই.
Name: Oi
ও
/o/
Like the “o” in “own.”
Name: Oh
ঔ
/ou/
Blend ও and উ
Name: Ou
The inherent vowel
Consonants such as ক are by default pronounced with the inherent vowel অ /o/ following. So ক by itself in a word is pronounced /ko/.
The inherent অ is usually omitted from pronunciation at the end of words, like the final ‘e’ in English. For example: ঘর (house) is pronounced /ghar/ not /gharo/ and কলম (pen) is pronounced
/kolom/ not /Kokomo/.
But if the final অ comes with a conjunct consonant it should be fully pronounced.
E.g. বুদ্ধ (Buddha) is pronounced
/buddho/.
vowel
স্বরবর্ণ
/shorborno/
short (vowel)
হ্রস্ব
/hrosho/
long (vowel)
দীর্ঘ
/dirgho/