Bengali alphabet

The Bengali script, also known as the Bangla alphabet, is the main way people write the Bengali language. It is used by many people, and it is the 5th most commonly used writing system in the world. This alphabet is the only national script of Bangladesh and an official script in India, especially in the states of West Bengal, Tripura, and the Barak Valley in Assam. It is also used for the Meitei language in Manipur.

The Bengali writing system comes from the old Brahmi script. People write it from left to right, and it is a special kind of writing called an abugida. In this type of writing, vowels are small marks that change the basic sound of a letter. The letters are connected by a line at the top, called matra, which helps link them together. The punctuation marks are mostly taken from English, with just one exception.

Characters

The Bengali script is used to write the Bengali language. It has different groups: vowels, vowel diacritics, consonants, conjunct consonants, and punctuation marks. Vowels and consonants can be letters or marks that change other letters.

Bengali has 11 vowel letters, called svaravana. They stand for six main sounds and two combinations of sounds, called diphthongs. These vowels are used in Bengali and Assamese languages. Some sounds, like /æ/, do not have their own symbol. They are made by mixing other vowel symbols together. There are also special symbols for sounds from older Sanskrit writing, even if they are not used much today.