Bengali (āĻŦāĻžāĻāĻ˛āĻž / Bangla)
Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language with a graceful abugida script. Consonant letters carry a default inherent vowel (often written as âôâ in learning
materials). Vowel signs (kar) modify the base; a visible virama (hasanta ā§) removes the vowel and links consonants into conjuncts.
Grammar is SOV with postpositions, a small set of cases on nouns, and rich but regular verb endings for tense/aspect and politeness.
- Inherent vowel: a bare consonant = consonant + short vowel (often near /É/).
āĻâ kô. - Hasanta (ā§): suppresses the inherent vowel:
āĻā§= bare k; used to build clusters:āĻā§ + āĻˇ â āĻā§āĻˇ. - Vowel signs (kar):
āĻža/Ä,āĻŋi,ā§ÄĢ,ā§u,ā§ÅĢ,ā§e,ā§ai,ā§o,ā§au,ā§ri. - Reph & ya-phala: word-initial
āĻ°ā§before a consonant becomes a floating reph;ā§āĻ¯forms ya-phala on the right. - Full stop: the dari
āĨ¤is common in printed Bangla alongside modern punctuation.
- Cases via postpositions: genitive -er/-r, objective -ke, locative -e/-te, instrumental -diye.
- Classifiers: āĻāĻž/āĻāĻŋ (general), āĻāĻ¨ (people), āĻāĻžāĻ¨āĻž (colloquial for items), āĻāĻŋ (formal).
- Politeness tiers: tui (intimate), tumi (informal), apni (polite); verbs agree with tier.
- Aspect particles: progressive -chhi/-chhe, perfect -eche/-yachhe; negatives use na.
- Loan layers: native Bangla + Sanskrit tatsama/tadbhava + Persian/Arabic + English.
Standard Colloquial Bangla (Cholit Bangla) dominates media and education; Classical Shadhubhasha appears in literature. Regional varieties (Dhaka, Chattogram/Chittagong, Sylheti, Rangpuri, and more) differ in phonology and lexicon. Mutual intelligibility varies but the standard is widely understood.
- Old Indo-Aryan â Middle Indo-Aryan (Prakrit/ApabhraášÅa) â Eastern Indo-Aryan â modern Bangla.
- 19â20th c.: spelling reforms; newspapers standardized punctuation; vast modern prose/poetry tradition.
āĻāĻ āĻāĻŽāĻŋ āĻ¸ā§āĻā§āĻ˛ā§ āĻ¯āĻžāĻā§āĻāĻŋāĨ¤
Äj Ämi skul-e yÄcchhi
today I school-LOC go-PROG.1 (Iâm going to school today)
Classifiers in action: āĻāĻāĻāĻž āĻŦāĻ (ek-áša boi) âone bookâ âĸ āĻĻā§āĻāĻāĻ¨ āĻŽāĻžāĻ¨ā§āĻˇ (dui-jon mÄnuášŖ) âtwo peopleâ
Polite self-intro: āĻāĻŽāĻžāĻ° āĻ¨āĻžāĻŽ âĻ ÄmÄr nÄm âĻ â âMy name is âĻâ
- Phonology: contrast between dental vs. retroflex stops; aspirated series; /v/ often realized as [bĘą]/[Ę] depending on context.
- Schwa logic: inherent vowel often reduced or deleted phrase-finally; spelling stays constant.
- Poetic register: Bangla prizes rhythm; meters and alliteration appear naturally due to syllable patterns.
Pick a base consonant, optionally chain a second one via hasanta (ā§), then apply a vowel sign (kar). The composer shows how clusters and vowels render. It respects pre-posed vowels (like i-kar) automatically in your font.
Notes: Fonts render conjuncts differently; this is a lightweight composer. Try classic combos like āĻā§ + āĻˇ â āĻā§āĻˇ, or āĻ°ā§ + āĻ¯ for reph/ya-phala effects.
- Drill the vowel signs in a fixed order: āĻž, āĻŋ, ā§, ā§, ā§, ā§, ā§, ā§, ā§, ā§.
- Collect common conjuncts as visual chunks: āĻ¤ā§āĻ¤, āĻ¨ā§āĻ§, āĻ¸ā§āĻ, āĻā§āĻ, āĻā§āĻˇ, āĻ¤ā§āĻ°.
- Practice classifiers with objects on your desk: āĻāĻāĻāĻŋ āĻāĻ˛āĻŽ (one pen), āĻĻā§āĻāĻāĻ¨ āĻŦāĻ¨ā§āĻ§ā§ (two friends).
āĻāĻ, āĻĻā§āĻ, āĻ¤āĻŋāĻ¨, āĻāĻžāĻ°, āĻĒāĻžāĻāĻ, āĻāĻ¯āĻŧ, āĻ¸āĻžāĻ¤, āĻāĻ, āĻ¨āĻ¯āĻŧ, āĻĻāĻļ âĸ Digits: ā§Ļ ā§§ ā§¨ ā§Š ā§Ē ā§Ģ ā§Ŧ ā§ ā§Ž ā§¯
āĻāĻŋ / āĻāĻž (general), āĻāĻ¨ (people), āĻāĻžāĻ¨āĻž (items, colloq.), āĻāĻžāĻ¨āĻŋ (formal/literary), āĻā§ā§āĻž (pairs).