Bengali Varnamala

Complete Bengali varnamala chart with swarabarna, byanjanbarna, signs, yuktakshar and numerals, each Bengali letter shown beside its Hindi (Devanagari) equivalent. Tap any letter to hear it, and print the chart.

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How many letters are in the Bengali varnamala?

Most Bengali school charts teach 50 symbols: 11 swarabarna (vowels) and 39 byanjanbarna entries. This is the common school and primer count, not an official India or Bangladesh standard, since neither language authority publishes an enumerated count. The 39 byanjanbarna entries include the 36 consonant letters plus the 3 signs (anusvar, visarga, chandrabindu) that many primers append at the end. A stricter count reaches 43 by keeping only the base letters. Both are explained below, with sources.

Quick Facts

School / primer count50
11 swarabarna + 39 byanjanbarna (incl. 3 signs)The count most Bengali school charts teach: 11 swarabarna (vowels) plus 39 byanjanbarna entries, for 50 in total. The 39 byanjanbarna entries are 32 base consonants plus the 3 nukta forms, khonda-ta, and the 3 signs (anusvar, visarga, chandrabindu) that primers append at the end. This is common school usage, not an official India or Bangladesh standard: neither language authority publishes an enumerated count. The 3 signs are technically diacritic marks; they are listed inside the school 39 but modelled here as signs, not ordinary consonants.Source: Common modern school / primer count
Stricter base count43
11 swarabarna + 32 byanjanbarnaA stricter modern count of 43: 11 swarabarna plus the 32 base byanjanbarna. It drops the 3 nukta forms (which the Unicode standard treats as post-reform), khonda-ta (a syllable-final coda), and the 3 signs (diacritic marks, not letters). Sources that count differently reach 44 (counting 12 vowels), 49 (folding khonda-ta into ত) or 52 (adding the signs or archaic vowels back in); the difference is always which of these edge symbols are counted as letters.Source: Stricter modern count (base letters only)
Swarabarna (vowels)
11
Byanjanbarna (consonants)
36 letters
Signs (yogavaha)
3 (ং ঃ ঁ)
Numerals
10 (০ থেকে ৯)
Yuktakshar shown
8 common conjuncts
Script
বাংলা লিপি (Bengali)
Detecting your device's Bengali voice...

স্বরবর্ণ (Swarabarna) 11 vowels

ব্যঞ্জনবর্ণ (Byanjanbarna) 36 consonant letters

ক-বর্গ / Velars (ka-varga)

চ-বর্গ / Palatals (cha-varga)

ট-বর্গ / Retroflexes (ta-varga)

ত-বর্গ / Dentals (ta-varga)

প-বর্গ / Labials (pa-varga)

অন্তঃস্থ / Semi-vowels (antastha)

উষ্ম / Sibilants (ushma)

অতিরিক্ত বর্ণ / Additional (nukta forms + khonda-ta)

Bengali vs Hindi notes: a Bengali consonant carries an inherent অ that sounds like "o" (so ক is "ko"), while the Hindi slot क is "ka". ব covers both the ba and va sounds (Bengali has no separate व). য sounds like "jo" at the start of a word, and the "ya" sound is written য়. The three sibilants শ ষ স all sound close to "sh" in Bengali. The Hindi column maps each letter by shared Brahmi slot; only khonda-ta (ৎ) has no single Devanagari form.

যোগবাহ (Signs) anusvar, visarga, chandrabindu

These three are diacritic marks that modify a sound and are not pronounced on their own. School charts list them at the end of the byanjanbarna, which is why the primer count reaches 50. Tap a sign to read what it does.

অনুস্বার (anusvar)

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বিসর্গ (visarga)

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চন্দ্রবিন্দু (chandrabindu)

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যুক্তাক্ষর (Yuktakshar) common conjunct consonants

Yuktakshar are single glyphs formed by joining two or more consonants (for example ক + ্ + ষ gives ক্ষ). Bengali has hundreds; here are 8 of the most common. Tap to hear each one.

সংখ্যা (Numerals) 0 to 9

০0shunno
১1ek
২2dui
৩3tin
৪4char
৫5panch
৬6chhoy
৭7shat
৮8at
৯9noy

Bengali vs Assamese script

Bengali and Assamese share almost the same script (the Bengali-Assamese script family). Assamese swaps two letters: it uses ৰ where Bengali uses র (ro), and ৱ where Bengali uses ব (bo/wo). Everything else on this chart is shared. A dedicated Assamese aksharmala tool may follow in a future ship.

Class-by-class learning order

  • LKG / Nursery: recognise the swarabarna (vowels).
  • UKG: swarabarna plus the first byanjanbarna (consonants), across the early vargas.
  • Class 1: all swarabarna and byanjanbarna, the three signs, and the numerals.
  • Class 2: kar (কার), the vowel signs that attach to a consonant.
  • Class 3 onwards: yuktakshar (conjunct consonants), word formation and grammar.

Sequence follows the Barnaparichay primer tradition and West Bengal SCERT Bengali textbooks. The board sets the teaching order; the letter counts above come from common school usage cross-referenced with the Unicode Bengali block and Wikipedia, not from an official government count.

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TL;DR

Most Bengali school charts teach 50 symbols: 11 swarabarna (vowels) and 39 byanjanbarna entries. This is the common school and primer count, not an official India or Bangladesh standard, because neither language authority (the Paschimbanga Bangla Academy in West Bengal or the Bangla Academy in Dhaka) publishes an enumerated letter count. The 39 byanjanbarna entries include 32 base consonants plus the 3 nukta forms, khonda-ta, and the 3 signs (anusvar, visarga, chandrabindu) that primers append; a stricter count that keeps only base letters gives 43. This page lists every letter beside its Hindi (Devanagari) equivalent, with tap-to-hear pronunciation through your browser's Bengali voice (where available), a yuktakshar section, and a one-tap browser print for classroom or home use.

Why Bengali letter counts differ (43, 44, 49, 50, 52)

The different counts come from what is being counted, not from any error. The common modern school and primer count is 50: 11 swarabarna plus 39 byanjanbarna entries (common usage, not an official government standard). A stricter count reaches 43 by keeping only the 11 vowels and 32 base consonants, dropping the 3 nukta forms (ড় ঢ় য়, which the Unicode standard treats as post-reform), khonda-ta (ৎ), and the 3 signs. Other charts give 44 (counting 12 vowels), 49 (folding khonda-ta into ত), or 52 (adding the signs or archaic vowels back into the total). The three signs (anusvar ং, visarga ঃ, chandrabindu ঁ) are technically diacritic marks that Unicode and academic sources do not class as letters, but school 39-entry charts list them at the end, which is how the popular 50 is reached. For school work, 50 is the clearest answer; the others are explained here so each textbook's figure makes sense.

Bengali letters with their Hindi (Devanagari) equivalents

Bengali and Hindi both descend from the Brahmi script, so they share the same vowel-then-varga structure even though the letters look very different. That is why each Bengali letter can be shown beside its Devanagari slot: অ maps to अ, ক to क, প to प, and so on across the whole base set. Four differences are worth knowing. A Bengali consonant's inherent vowel is /o/ rather than Hindi's /a/, so ক reads as "ko" where क is "ka". Bengali ব covers both the ba and va sounds because Bengali has no separate व. The letter য sounds like "jo" at the start of a word, and the "ya" sound is written with the nukta form য়. And the three sibilants শ ষ স all collapse to roughly "sh" in spoken Bengali. Only khonda-ta (ৎ) has no single Devanagari equivalent. Use the Show / Hide Hindi column button to turn this side-by-side view on or off.

Varga ordering: why the alphabet runs ক চ ট ত প

Like other Brahmi-derived scripts, Bengali orders its consonants by where each sound is produced in the mouth, moving from the throat to the lips. The 25 core consonants form five vargas:

  • ক-বর্গ (velars): ক খ গ ঘ ঙ - made at the back of the mouth
  • চ-বর্গ (palatals): চ ছ জ ঝ ঞ - tongue against the hard palate
  • ট-বর্গ (retroflexes): ট ঠ ড ঢ ণ - tongue tip curled back
  • ত-বর্গ (dentals): ত থ দ ধ ন - tongue against the upper teeth
  • প-বর্গ (labials): প ফ ব ভ ম - made with the lips
  • antastha (semi-vowels): য র ল
  • ushma (sibilants): শ ষ স হ

After the vargas come the antastha and ushma letters, then the extras: the 3 nukta forms (ড় ঢ় য়), khonda-ta (ৎ), and the 3 signs. A distinctive visual feature of Bengali is the matra (মাত্রা), the horizontal headstroke that most letters hang from and that binds them into words. The canonical first primer that fixed this order is Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's Barnaparichay (বর্ণপরিচয়), first published in 1855 and still used to teach children in Bengal.

Sources & References

  • The common modern count of 50 symbols (11 vowels + 39 byanjanbarna entries) reflects everyday usage and Bengali learning primers such as netexplanations (Bengali alphabets varnamala). It is common school usage, not an official government standard.
  • Bengali alphabet (Wikipedia) and r12a Bengali script notes - the 11 vowels, the base consonants, the nukta-derived letters flagged as post-reform, khonda-ta (U+09CE) as a syllable-final coda, and the three signs classified as combining marks, not letters.
  • Paschimbanga Bangla Academy (West Bengal state language authority) and Bangla Academy, Dhaka (Bangladesh national language authority) reform spelling and publish dictionaries. Neither publishes an enumerated official alphabet count, so this page frames 50 as common usage, not a decreed standard. Both traditions use the same 11 + 39 count.
  • Barnaparichay (Wikipedia) - Vidyasagar's 1855 first primer that fixed the modern Bengali alphabet order still taught in schools.
  • Unicode Bengali block (U+0980 to U+09FF) - the codepoint authority used to pin every letter, kar sign and numeral in this chart.

Audio playback uses your browser's built-in Bengali voice (Web Speech API) when one is installed; it is not a native recording, and pronunciation quality depends on your device. On iOS Safari a Bengali voice may need to be downloaded via Settings before audio works. No audio files are hosted on this site. The 50 and 43 counts shown above are read from the tool's data file and pinned by unit tests in __tests__/lib/bengali-varnamala-data.test.ts. Last reviewed and sources accessed on July 7, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many letters are there in the Bengali varnamala?+
Most Bengali school charts teach 50 symbols: 11 swarabarna (vowels) and 39 byanjanbarna entries. This is the common school and primer count, not an official India or Bangladesh standard, because neither language authority (the Paschimbanga Bangla Academy in West Bengal or the Bangla Academy in Dhaka) publishes an enumerated letter count. The 39 byanjanbarna entries are made up of 32 base consonants plus the 3 nukta forms (ড় ঢ় য়), khonda-ta (ৎ), and the 3 signs (anusvar ং, visarga ঃ, chandrabindu ঁ) that primers append at the end. A stricter count that keeps only the base letters gives 43 (11 vowels + 32 consonants). Both West Bengal and Bangladesh use the same 11 + 39 count, so there is no cross-border difference.
What is swarabarna and byanjanbarna in Bengali?+
Swarabarna (স্বরবর্ণ) means vowels and byanjanbarna (ব্যঞ্জনবর্ণ) means consonants. A swarabarna can be pronounced on its own, while a byanjanbarna carries an inherent vowel that sounds like 'o' in Bengali, so ক is read as 'ko', not just 'k'. When a vowel other than the inherent one joins a consonant, it attaches as a small sign called a kar (কার), for example ক + আ becomes কা (kaa). Bengali has 11 swarabarna and 36 byanjanbarna letters in the common chart.
How many swarabarna (vowels) are there in Bengali?+
Eleven, in primer order: অ আ ই ঈ উ ঊ ঋ এ ঐ ও ঔ. All modern sources agree on these 11. Some older or traditional lists add archaic vowels like ৠ, but these are not part of the modern 11-vowel set taught in schools today. The vowel অ is inherent, meaning its sound is already built into every bare consonant.
How many byanjanbarna (consonants) are there in Bengali?+
It depends on what you count. The chart has 36 byanjanbarna letters: 32 base consonants (the five vargas plus the antastha য র ল and ushma শ ষ স হ), the 3 nukta forms ড় ঢ় য়, and khonda-ta ৎ. School primers reach 39 byanjanbarna entries by also listing the 3 signs (anusvar, visarga, chandrabindu) at the end, which is how the popular 50-letter total is formed. A stricter modern count keeps only the 32 base consonants.
What is the matra (মাত্রা) in Bengali script?+
The matra (মাত্রা) is the horizontal headstroke that runs along the top of most Bengali letters and binds them together into a word. It is a defining visual feature of the Bengali-Assamese script. Not every letter has a full matra: some, like এ and ঐ, have a partial or no headstroke. The word matra is also used for the vowel signs (kar) that attach to consonants, so context tells you which meaning is intended.
What is anusvar, visarga, and chandrabindu in Bengali?+
These are the three signs (yogavaha), diacritic marks that modify a sound and are not pronounced on their own. Anusvar (ং) is a final nasal sound, as in রং (rong, colour) and বাংলা (Bangla). Visarga (ঃ) is a final aspirated breath carried from Sanskrit, as in দুঃখ (dukkho, sorrow). Chandrabindu (ঁ) nasalises the vowel it sits above, as in চাঁদ (chad, moon). Unicode and academic sources class all three as marks rather than letters, but school 39-entry charts list them at the end of the byanjanbarna, which is why the primer count reaches 50.
What is yuktakshar (যুক্তাক্ষর) in Bengali?+
Yuktakshar (যুক্তাক্ষর) means conjunct consonants: single glyphs formed by joining two or more consonants with a hasanta (্) between them, with no vowel in between. For example ক + ্ + ষ combine into ক্ষ (as in রক্ষা, protection), and জ + ্ + ঞ form জ্ঞ (as in জ্ঞান, knowledge). Bengali has hundreds of possible conjuncts; children learn the common ones from Class 3 onwards. This page shows eight of the most frequent.
What is the difference between the Bengali and Hindi alphabets?+
Both descend from the Brahmi script, so both are abugidas with vowels, consonants that carry an inherent vowel, and vowel signs, and both share the same varga ordering. The scripts look very different: Bengali has its own rounded letterforms while Hindi uses Devanagari. Four sound differences matter: the Bengali inherent vowel is 'o' where Hindi's is 'a' (ক is 'ko', क is 'ka'); Bengali ব covers both ba and va because it has no separate व; Bengali য sounds like 'jo' at the start of a word, with the 'ya' sound written য়; and the three sibilants শ ষ স all sound close to 'sh'. This chart shows each Bengali letter beside its Devanagari equivalent so Hindi speakers can map them directly.
What is the Bengali equivalent of a Hindi letter?+
Because both scripts share the Brahmi varga structure, most letters map one to one by slot: অ to अ, আ to आ, ক to क, খ to ख, প to प, and so on across the whole base set. The nukta forms map to the Devanagari nukta letters (ড় to ड़, ঢ় to ढ़, য় to य़). The only letter with no single Devanagari equivalent is khonda-ta (ৎ), a syllable-final form unique to Bengali. Turn on the Hindi column on this page to see every pairing, and remember the sound can differ even when the slot matches (for example ব maps to ब but also carries the va sound).
Why do different sources give different letter counts for Bengali?+
Because they count different edge symbols. The common school count of 50 is 11 vowels plus 39 byanjanbarna entries. A stricter count reaches 43 by keeping only the 11 vowels and 32 base consonants, dropping the 3 nukta forms, khonda-ta, and the 3 signs. Other charts give 44 (counting 12 vowels), 49 (folding khonda-ta into ত), or 52 (adding the signs or archaic vowels back in). None are wrong; they answer different questions. For everyday school use, 50 is the clearest answer, and it is common usage rather than an official government standard.
Are the Bengali alphabets in West Bengal and Bangladesh the same?+
Yes. The Bengali script, its letter order, and the 11 swarabarna plus 39 byanjanbarna school count are the same in West Bengal, Tripura, and Bangladesh. The West Bengal state authority (Paschimbanga Bangla Academy) and the Bangladesh national authority (Bangla Academy, Dhaka) both reform spelling and publish dictionaries, and they coordinate rather than diverge. Example words, fonts, and teaching sequence can vary between textbooks, but the alphabet itself is shared across the border.
What is the difference between the Bengali and Assamese alphabets?+
Bengali and Assamese use almost the same script, known as the Bengali-Assamese script. Assamese swaps two letters: it uses ৰ where Bengali uses র (ro), and ৱ where Bengali uses ব for the w sound. Everything else, the vowels, the vargas, the signs, and the numerals, is shared. Because the scripts are so close, a Bengali chart covers most of what an Assamese learner needs, with those two letter swaps noted.
How can I print the Bengali varnamala chart?+
Use the Print this chart button near the top of the chart. Your browser opens a print preview with the swarabarna, the byanjanbarna by varga, the signs, the yuktakshar, and the Bengali numerals, laid out for A4 portrait. You can print it or, from the same dialog, save it as a PDF on your own device. No signup, no download, no watermark.