Chapter 1.1: Bangla Vowels

Let us first learn the Bangla vowels. There are eleven vowel letters in Bangla, but actual vowel sounds are less in number. In the following box, you can see the vowel letters and how those letters are referred to or called. Try to read these with the help of Roman script below.

Now, in the following table you will learn how to pronounce those vowel letters with the help of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and the equivalent vowel sounds in English words.

Video Section

The following video visually demonstrates how to write Bangla vowel letters. Each letter is spoken after it is written.

Writing Practice

Practice these letters and memorize them by downloading Chapter 1.1 Vowel Writing Practice 1 CC-BY (DOCX).

Special Note

Although there are 11 vowel letters and those are used in the writing system, only seven vowel sounds are used in modern spoken Bangla. Those are: i, u, e, o, æ, ɔ, a.

This is because there is hardly any noticeable difference between long vowel and short vowel sounds when we speak. Apart from that, ঋ “ri” is no longer considered a vowel sound in modern Bangla. ঐ “oi” and ঔ “ou” are not primary vowel sounds. These are diphthong, i.e., combinations of vowels.

In addition, there is one vowel sound, æ, which has no specific vowel letter. The vowel æ sound is represented either with the letter এ or with vowel markers.

Test Yourself