Charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Bengali pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Bengali phonology and Bengali alphabet for a more thorough look at the sounds of Bengali.

Consonants
IPA Bengali Examples ISO 15919 English Approximation
b ব বালি b abash
bʱ[1] ভ ভীরু bh clubhouse
d[2] দ দাম d deal (dental), Indian the
dʱ[2] ধ ধারা dh redhead (dental), Indian that
ɖ[2] ড ডুমুর ḍ American bird
ɖʱ[2] ঢ ঢোল ḍh American birdhouse
d͡ʒ জ, য[3] জল যবন j hedge
d͡ʒʱ ঝ ঝাউ jh hedgehog
ɡ গ গম g agate
ɡʱ ঘ বাঘা gh loghouse
ɦ হ, ঃ[4] মহান বাঃ h behind
h head
k ক কলম k scan
kʰ খ, ক্ষ শাখা, ক্ষমা kh can
l ল মালিনী l leaf
m ম মানুষ m much
n ন, ণ নীলা ,বাণ n not
ŋ ঙ, ং বাঙালি অংশ ṅ sing
p প পাকা p span
pʰ[5] ফ ফল ph pin
r[6] র,‍‍ র্ক, (র্), ‍‍্র বিরাম, তর্ক, শ্রম r American atom or ring (flapped or trilled)
ɽ ড়, ঢ় বড় দৃঢ় ṛ American larder
s স সেলাম s sue
ʃ শ, ষ, স মশা ষাট সময় ś shoe
t[2] ত, ৎ তমাল উৎস t get (dental), Indian think
tʰ[2] থ থাবা th tub (dental), Indian thought
ʈ[2] ট বট ṭ American parts
ʈʰ[2] ঠ কাঠুরে ṭh American partake
t͡ʃ চ মুচি c catch
t͡ʃʰ ছ ছাগল ch choose
Marginal consonants
β[1] ভ ভিসা v very
j য়[7] নয়ন y yes
ɸ[5] ফ ফ্যান f find
w[8] ও, উ ওয়াদা, উইলিয়াম v will
z জ, য[3] জাকাত যিয়ারত z zip
ɳ[9] ণ[10] বাণ ṇ American burn
Vowels
Monophthongs
IPA Bengali Examples ISO 15919 English Approximation
ɔ অ, প অমর a off
a আ, পা আঙিনা ā Australian father, RP cut
æ[11] অ্যা, প্যা, এ, পে ত্যাগ খেলা ae/æ trap
i ই, পি, ঈ, পী দিন দীন i beat
u[8] উ, পু, ঊ, পূ কুল কূল u boot
e এ, পে মেদিনী ē Scottish may
o[8] ও, পো, অ, প ওজন অঙ্কুর ō Scottish sole
◌̃ ঁ ইঁদুর ঁ nasal vowel
([ã], [õ], etc.)
Semivowels
e̯ য় খায় ẏ Similar to very
i̯ ই ভাই i happy
o̯ ও যাও হাওয়া ō Similar to look
u̯ উ ঝাউ u too
Diphthongs
ii̯ িই নিই ii tea
iu̯ িউ বিউভোল iu ew
ei̯ েয় দেয় ēi RP bay
eu̯ েও ঢেও ēu No English equivalent
æe̯ ্যায় ন্যায় aeẏ/æẏ No English equivalent
ai̯ াই পাই āi Buy
ae̯ ায় পায় āẏ Similar to Hi
au̯ াউ পাউ āu How
ao̯ াও পাও āō Similar to How
ɔe̯ ◌য় নয় aẏ No English equivalent
ɔo̯ ◌ও নও aō No English equivalent
oi̯ োই দোই ōi Similar to boy
oo̯ োও দোও ōō Indian no
ou̯ ৌ নৌকা ōu American go
ui̯ ুই, ূই ধুই ui No English equivalent
Suprasegmentals
IPA
ˈ primary stress
(placed before stressed syllable)[12]
ˌ secondary stress
(placed before stressed syllable)[12]
ː doubled consonant

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b /bʱ/ is phonetically realised either as [bʱ] or /β/ (phonetically [v~β]) depending on the speaker and variety. /β/ can additionally occur as an allophone of /bʱ/ in foreign loan words e.g. ভিসা [βisa] 'visa'.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Bengali contrasts dental [t] and [d] with apical postalveolar [ʈ] and [ɖ] (as well as aspirated variants). Both sets sound like /t/ and /d/ to most English speakers although the dental [t] and [d] are used in place of the English /θ/ and /ð/ for some speakers with th-stopping.
  3. ^ a b ⟨জ⟩ and ⟨য⟩ may represent a voiced affricate /dʒ/ in Standard Bengali words of native origin, but they can also represent /z/ in foreign words and names (জাকাত [zakat] 'zakah charity', আজিজ [aziz] 'Aziz'). However, many speakers usually replace /z/ with /dʒ/. Additionally, some words that originally had /z/ are now pronounced with /dʑ/ in Standard Bengali (সবজি [ɕobdʑi] 'vegetable', from Persian sabzi).
  4. ^ /ɦ/ may be devoiced to [h] in word-initial or final positions, with [ɦ] occurring medially.
  5. ^ a b /pʰ/ is phonetically realised either as [pʰ] or /ɸ/ (phonetically [f~ɸ]) depending on the speaker and variety. /ɸ/ can additionally occur as an allophone of /pʰ/ in foreign loan words e.g. ফ্যান [ɸæn] 'fan'.
  6. ^ The phonetic realisation of /r/ is usually an alveolar flap [ɾ] but may also be an alveolar approximant [ɹ] or alveolar trill [r] depending on the variety and speaker.
  7. ^ The [j] phoneme occurs in some pronunciations of Bengali vowel clusters, such as নয়ন [nɔjon].
  8. ^ a b c When preceding a vowel in word-initial positions, /w/ may occur as an allophone of /o/ and /u/, especially in loan words e.g. ওয়াদা [wada] 'promise', উইলিয়াম [wiliam] 'William'.
  9. ^ https://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.10258
  10. ^ Mainly occurs as an allophone of [n] in conjunct with other postalveolar (retroflex) consonants.
  11. ^ Thompson, Hanne-Ruth (November 25, 2020). Bengali: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge Comprehensive Grammars), 1 (1 ed.). Routledge. p. 23. ISBN 978-0415411394.
  12. ^ a b Primary stress usually occurs in word-initial positions with secondary stress occurring afterwards.

Bibliography[edit]

See also[edit]

Comparisons
Introductory guides
Category