Reading the Bengali script
π― Recognise and write your first letters and words.
π£οΈ Say these out loud
- ΰ¦ ΰ¦ ΰ¦ ΰ¦ ΰ¦ ΰ¦ π o aa i ee u oo the first vowels Like Devanagari, each has a full form and an attached mark.
- ΰ¦ ΰ¦ ΰ¦ ΰ¦ ΰ¦ π ko kho go gho ngo the throat consonants Same scientific order as Devanagari β throat, palate, roof, teeth, lips.
- ব + ΰ¦Ύ = বা π bo + aa = baa how the vowel mark works The consonant carries 'o'; the mark replaces it.
- বাΰ¦ΰ¦²ΰ¦Ύ π BAANG-la Bengali ব + ΰ¦Ύ + ΰ¦ + ল + ΰ¦Ύ. The ΰ¦ is the nasal sign.
- ΰ¦ΰ¦Ύΰ¦²ΰ§ π BHA-lo good ΰ¦ + ΰ¦Ύ + ল + ΰ§. Note ΰ§ sits on both sides of the letter.
- ΰ¦ΰ¦² π jol water Two letters, and the inherent 'o' in both β 'jol', not 'jal'.
Read every line aloud twice before moving on. The mouth learns a language, not the eye.
π The same skeleton as Devanagari
If you have learnt Devanagari, Bengali script is a matter of new shapes, not a new system: the same headline, the same vowel-marks, the same consonant order, the same halant.
- Devanagari ΰ€ ΰ€ ΰ€ ΰ€ ΰ€ = Bengali ΰ¦ ΰ¦ ΰ¦ ΰ¦ ΰ¦
- Both write vowel marks before, after, above or below the consonant.
- Both join consonants into conjuncts: ΰ¦ΰ§ΰ¦·, ঀΰ§ΰ¦°.
- Assamese uses the same script with two extra letters.
π Among the people
The script was standardised by the printing press at Serampore in 1800, where William Carey and Panchanan Karmakar cut the first Bengali type β which is why modern Bengali letters look the way they do.
π Practise today
- Write your name in Bengali script.
- Copy the five consonant rows once a day for a week.
- Read ten shop signs in Bengali, slowly, letter by letter.
