Bengali Alphabet (বাংলা বর্ণমালা)

All vowels and consonants of the Bengali-Assamese script with pronunciation, vowel signs, barakhadi, conjuncts and numerals. Tap any letter to hear it.

The Bengali alphabet, called বাংলা বর্ণমালা (Bangla bornomala), is written in the Bengali-Assamese script, also known as Eastern Nagari. Like Devanagari, its letters hang from a horizontal line called the matra, and it is written from left to right. The script is used for Bengali (Bangla), spoken in Bangladesh and West Bengal, and with a few small changes for Assamese.

As taught in schools in Bangladesh and West Bengal, the alphabet has 11 vowels (স্বরবর্ণ) and 39 consonants (ব্যঞ্জনবর্ণ). The consonant group includes the five vargas, the semivowels and sibilants, and the special letters ড়, ঢ়, য়, ৎ and the signs ং, ঃ, ঁ.

A key point for learners: the inherent vowel in Bengali sounds like a short 'o' (ô), not 'a'. So ক is read 'ko', not 'ka'. Vowel signs are called কার (kar) and attach around a consonant, and consonant clusters are formed with ফলা (fola) signs and যুক্তাক্ষর (juktakkhor, conjuncts). The chart below shows all of these. In the barakhadi table the inherent vowel row is written as 'o'.

Bengali Vowels (স্বরবর্ণ)

Bengali Consonants (ব্যঞ্জনবর্ণ)

ক-বর্গ (Ka-varga, velar)

চ-বর্গ (Cha-varga, palatal)

ট-বর্গ (Ta-varga, retroflex)

ত-বর্গ (Ta-varga, dental)

প-বর্গ (Pa-varga, labial)

য র ল (semivowels and liquids)

শ ষ স হ (sibilants and h)

Other consonants and signs

Vowel Signs (Matras)

When a vowel follows a consonant, it is written as a sign attached to the consonant instead of as a full letter.

Vowel	Sign	With ক	Sound
অ	-	ক	ko
আ	◌া	কা	kaa
ই	◌ি	কি	ki
ঈ	◌ী	কী	kee
উ	◌ু	কু	ku
ঊ	◌ূ	কূ	koo
ঋ	◌ৃ	কৃ	kri
এ	◌ে	কে	ke
ঐ	◌ৈ	কৈ	koi
ও	◌ো	কো	ko
ঔ	◌ৌ	কৌ	kou

Bengali Barakhadi Chart

Every consonant combined with every vowel sign. Scroll sideways on small screens, and tap any syllable to hear it.

Common Conjunct Letters

Conjuncts join two or more consonants with no vowel between them into a single shape.

Bengali Numerals

Fola (ফলা) signs

A ফলা (fola) is a reduced form of a consonant that attaches to the letter before it, mostly to form clusters. The four most common are: য-ফলা (্য), which doubles or modifies the sound, as in সত্য (shotyo, truth); র-ফলা (্র), which adds an 'r' after the consonant, as in প্রথম (prothom, first); ব-ফলা (্ব), which usually doubles the consonant or adds a light 'w' sound, as in বিশ্ব (bishsho, world); and রেফ (র্), a small hook written above the following consonant when র comes first, as in সূর্য (shurjo, sun).

Bengali vs Assamese alphabet

Assamese is written in almost the same script as Bengali. The main differences are two letters: Assamese uses ৰ (ra) instead of Bengali র, and ৱ (wa) as an extra letter that Bengali does not have. Assamese also pronounces several consonants differently (for example, the Bengali sounds for চ, ছ and শ are closer to 's' and 'x' in Assamese), but the letter shapes are otherwise shared.

Type in Bengali with an English keyboard

Practise the letters by typing them. Type words in English letters and get Bengali-Assamese script instantly, with no special keyboard needed.

Open Bengali Typing Tool

Frequently Asked Questions

How many letters are there in the Bengali alphabet?

The Bengali alphabet is usually taught as 50 letters: 11 vowels (স্বরবর্ণ) and 39 consonants (ব্যঞ্জনবর্ণ). The consonant count of 39 includes the special letters ড়, ঢ়, য়, ৎ and the signs ং, ঃ, ঁ. Other sources give different totals, such as 35 or 36 consonants plus separate signs, because they treat some of these as variants or diacritics rather than independent letters.

Why does অ sound like 'o' in Bengali?

The inherent vowel in Bengali is a short rounded sound close to 'o' (ô), unlike Hindi where it is a short 'a'. This is why ক is read 'ko', খ is 'kho' and বাংলা is pronounced 'Bangla' with a rounded first vowel. The barakhadi table on this page therefore shows the inherent vowel row as 'o'.

What is a kar (কার) in Bengali?

A কার (kar) is a vowel sign that attaches to a consonant in place of the independent vowel letter. For example, আ becomes া (aa-kar) in কা, ই becomes ি (i-kar) in কি, and এ becomes ে (e-kar) in কে. Some signs are written before the consonant (ি, ে, ৈ) and some on both sides (ো, ৌ).

What is a fola (ফলা) in Bengali?

A ফলা (fola) is the shortened form of a consonant, mainly য, র and ব, that attaches to another consonant to form a cluster. Examples are ্য in সত্য, ্র in প্রথম and ্ব in বিশ্ব. The reph (র্) is the form র takes when it is written above the next consonant, as in সূর্য.

What are juktakkhor (যুক্তাক্ষর) in Bengali?

যুক্তাক্ষর (juktakkhor) are conjunct letters, formed when two or more consonants are joined without a vowel between them. Examples are ক্ষ (ক + ষ), জ্ঞ (জ + ঞ), ন্ত (ন + ত) and স্ত (স + ত). Some conjuncts are easy to see in their parts, while others such as ক্ষ and জ্ঞ have a distinct shape that is best learned as a unit.

What are the Bengali digits?

Bengali has its own digits: ০ (shunyo, 0), ১ (ek, 1), ২ (dui, 2), ৩ (tin, 3), ৪ (char, 4), ৫ (panch, 5), ৬ (chhoy, 6), ৭ (shat, 7), ৮ (aat, 8) and ৯ (noy, 9). They are used in Bangladesh and West Bengal alongside the international digits 0 to 9, and numbers are written in the same positional system.

How can I learn the Bengali alphabet quickly?

Start with the 11 vowels and their kar signs, then learn the consonants one varga at a time (ক, চ, ট, ত, প), saying each aloud with an example word. Practice the barakhadi table to see how each kar changes a consonant, and tap the letters on this page to hear them. Leave conjuncts for last and learn them from real words such as ক্ষমা and আনন্দ. Ten to fifteen minutes a day is enough to read basic words within a few weeks.

How can I type Bengali on an English keyboard?

You can type Bengali phonetically with a transliteration tool: write the sound in English letters, for example 'ami bhalo achi', and it converts to আমি ভালো আছি. Our free typing tool at /english-to-bengali-typing/ does this in the browser with no installation, and you can copy the result into any app.