Chapter 1.4: Consonant Conjuncts

When two or more consonants in Bangla are combined together with no intervening vowel, they form a conjunct. Most words in Bangla have conjunct consonants.

There are some ways of writing conjuncts in Bangla.

Type I

When the first consonant is on the top and the second is underneath the first.

Example:

Type II

When two consonants are combined and they take completely new shape.

Example:

Type III

Some consonants are called “–phala”, or consonant marker, when combined with other consonants. Some of these consonant markers look different than the consonants they represent.

i) য ফলা (jO phala)

Note: If the য ফলা conjunct occurs at either the word’s medial or final position, it makes the preceding consonant doubled in pronunciation.

If the conjunct occurs at the word initial position it is pronounced as “a” as in “cat”.

ii) র ফলা (rO phala)

Type IV

When রেফ “reph” marker is used to form consonant conjunct and it is placed on top of the consonant.

Common Conjuncts

Now, look at some common conjuncts in Bangla. Notice a change of pronunciation in some consonants while forming the conjunct and what that looks like:

Test Yourself