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🇧🇩 Bengali #7 Most Spoken Language (284M speakers)

Bengali (বাংলা / Bangla)

Indo-Aryan • Abugida • SOV (topic–comment friendly)
Number of Speakers (est.)
Native ~230–240M • Total ~265–300M
BangladeshIndia (West Bengal, Tripura, Assam)Global diaspora
Family / Branch
Indo-European → Indo-Iranian → Indo-Aryan
Close to Assamese–Maithili–Odia
Writing System
Bengali–Assamese script (Eastern Nagari). Abugida: consonants carry an inherent vowel.
No uppercase/lowercaseHasanta (্) suppresses vowelAbundant conjuncts
Typical Word Order
SOV; postpositions; light verbs and particles handle aspect and politeness.
Classifiers (measure words)No grammatical gender
ISO Codes
ISO 639-1: bn • 639-2: ben • 639-3: ben
Standards: Dhaka & Kolkata
Difficulty (for English speakers)
Medium–Hard: new script + conjuncts; grammar is regular once classifiers and verb endings click
Phonetic-ish spellingRich morphology on verbs
Quick Overview

Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language with a graceful abugida script. Consonant letters carry a default inherent vowel (often written as “ô” in learning materials). Vowel signs (kar) modify the base; a visible virama (hasanta ্) 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.

Script & Sound Tips
  • Inherent vowel: a bare consonant = consonant + short vowel (often near /ɔ/). ক ≈ kô.
  • Hasanta (্): suppresses the inherent vowel: ক্ = bare k; used to build clusters: ক্ + ষ → ক্ষ.
  • Vowel signs (kar): া a/ā, ি i, ী ī, ু u, ূ ū, ে e, ৈ ai, ো o, ৌ au, ৃ ri.
  • Reph & ya-phala: word-initial র্ before a consonant becomes a floating reph; ্য forms ya-phala on the right.
  • Full stop: the dari । is common in printed Bangla alongside modern punctuation.
Grammar Snapshot
  • Cases via postpositions: genitive -er/-r, objective -ke, locative -e/-te, instrumental -diye.
  • Classifiers: টা/টি (general), জন (people), খানা (colloquial for items), টি (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.
Dialects & Registers

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.

History (Very Short)
  • Old Indo-Aryan → Middle Indo-Aryan (Prakrit/Apabhraṁśa) → Eastern Indo-Aryan → modern Bangla.
  • 19–20th c.: spelling reforms; newspapers standardized punctuation; vast modern prose/poetry tradition.
Sample & Breakdown

আজ আমি স্কুলে যাচ্ছি।
āj āmi skul-e yācchhi
today I school-LOC go-PROG.1 (I’m going to school today)

Classifiers in action: একটা বই (ek-ṭa boi) “one book” • দুইজন মানুষ (dui-jon mānuṣ) “two people”

Common Phrases
নমস্কার Nomôskar (Hello)কেমন আছেন? Kēmôn āchen? (How are you? – polite) ধন্যবাদ Dhônnôbād (Thank you)অনুগ্রহ করে Onugrôh kore (Please) বিদায় Bidāy (Goodbye)দুঃখিত Dukhkhito (Sorry)

Polite self-intro: আমার নাম … Āmār nām … — “My name is …”

Interesting Notes
  • Phonology: contrast between dental vs. retroflex stops; aspirated series; /v/ often realized as [bʱ]/[ʋ] 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.
Kar & Hasanta Composer

Pick a base consonant, optionally chain a second one via hasanta (্), 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 ক্ + ষ → ক্ষ, or র্ + য for reph/ya-phala effects.

Learning Tips
  • Drill the vowel signs in a fixed order: া, ি, ী, ু, ূ, ে, ৈ, ো, ৌ, ৃ.
  • Collect common conjuncts as visual chunks: ত্ত, ন্ধ, স্ক, জ্ঞ, ক্ষ, ত্র.
  • Practice classifiers with objects on your desk: একটি কলম (one pen), দুইজন বন্ধু (two friends).
Numbers (1–10)

এক, দুই, তিন, চার, পাঁচ, ছয়, সাত, আট, নয়, দশ • Digits: ০ ১ ২ ৩ ৪ ৫ ৬ ৭ ৮ ৯

Handy Classifiers

টি / টা (general), জন (people), খানা (items, colloq.), খানি (formal/literary), জোড়া (pairs).