Bengali — free text-to-speech & real native pronunciation

Bengali Sounds Missing in English

Bengali Words That Trip People Up

• 🔊ঋণ ɾˈin The ঋ misleads English speakers into saying 'run' or 'rin'; it is a short flap r plus i.
• 🔊জ্ঞান ɡɡˈan The জ্ঞ cluster tricks readers into 'jnan' or 'gyan'; it produces a geminated g sound followed by an.
• 🔊অনুসন্ধান ˈonuʃˌɔndʰan The ধ is unexpected and sounds like an aspirated dʰ, not a plain 'dh' as in 'the'.
• 🔊স্বাস্থ্য ʃˈastʰːɔ The স্ব and স্থ্য mislead toward 'swasthya'; it simplifies to a long aspirated th sound after sh.
• 🔊ঋতু ɾˈitu The ঋ leads people to say 'rutu'; it is pronounced with a flap r plus short i.
• 🔊মহৎ mˈɔhɔt The ৎ at the end surprises readers who expect a full 't'; it is a crisp final t sound.
• 🔊আত্মা ˈatta the ত্ম conjunct is pronounced [tt] and the ম inside it is not heard as [m]
• 🔊দৃষ্টি dɾˈiʃʈi The ষ্ট is tricky and produces a retroflex ʃʈ, not a plain 'st' as in English.
• 🔊কৃষ্ণ kɾˈiʃnɔ The ঋ misleads to 'krishna'; it uses a flap r sound before the i.
• 🔊যজ্ঞ dʒˈɔɡɡõ The জ্ঞ ending surprises with a nasalized ggo sound, not a plain 'jna'.
• 🔊প্রজ্ঞা pɾˈoɡɡa The জ্ঞ misleads toward 'pragya'; it is pronounced with a geminated gg sound.
• 🔊ঐক্য ˈojkːɔ The ঐ and ক্য trick readers into 'aiky'; it starts with an oi diphthong and geminated k.

Hear the Difference

• 🔊পাতা pˈata / 🔊পাত pˈato পাতা ends with a final a vowel while পাত ends in an o-like sound; English speakers often ignore this final vowel contrast.
• 🔊বাল bˈal / 🔊বেল bˈel বাল has an open a vowel and বেল has a more closed e; English speakers tend to merge both vowels to the same 'a' sound.
• 🔊মাল mˈal / 🔊মেল mˈel মাল uses an a vowel while মেল uses e; English speakers commonly neutralize them to sound identical.
• 🔊তাল tˈal / 🔊তেল tˈel তাল has a back a and তেল has a front e; English speakers tend to collapse the distinction between these vowels.
• 🔊কালা kˈala / 🔊কেলা kˈela কালা features an a vowel and কেলা an e; English speakers often pronounce both pairs with the same vowel quality.