Help:IPA/Bengali

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 উ, পু, ঊ, পূ কুল কূল u cool
e এ, পে মেদিনী ē Scottish may
o ও, পো, অ, প ওজন অঙ্কুর ō story
◌̃ ঁ ইঁদুর ঁ nasal vowel
([ã], [õ], etc.)
Semivowels
e̯[7] য় খায় ẏ Similar to very
i̯[7] ই ভাই i happy
o̯[8] ও যাও হাওয়া ō Similar to look
u̯[8] 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 Roughly like go in some dialects of English[12]
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 goal
ui̯ ুই, ূই ধুই ui Similar to Louie
Suprasegmentals
IPA
ˈ primary stress
(placed before stressed syllable)[13]
ˌ secondary stress
(placed before stressed syllable)[13]
ː doubled consonant
  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/.
  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. ^ a b c /j/ occurs in some pronunciations of Bengali vowel clusters as a result of the semivowels /e̯ i̯/ undergoing fortitional merging, such as নয়ন [nɔjon].
  8. ^ a b c /w/ may occur as a fortitional allophone of the semivowels /o̯/ and /u̯/, 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. ^ Usually pronounced as a near-open [æ] (Thompson 2020, p. 23) but may also be pronounced and transcribed in IPA as open-mid [ɛ] (Khan 2010, pp. 221–225).
  12. ^ These dialects include Southern England (including Received Pronunciation), English Midlands, Australian, New Zealand, the Southern American, Midland American, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Western Pennsylvania and younger Californian English. Other dialects of English, such as most other forms of American English, Northern England English, Welsh English, Scottish English and Irish English, have no close equiavalent vowel.
  13. ^ a b Primary stress usually occurs in word-initial positions with secondary stress occurring afterwards.