Bengali Language

বাংলা ভাষা
Baang•laa Bhaa•shaa

| Subject classification: this is a language-learning resource.

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| Type classification: this is a lesson resource.

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| Completion status: Deliberately incomplete for educational purposes.

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This course is intended to teach the Bengali language. The Bengali taught here is (unless mentioned otherwise) the standard colloquial version of the Bengali language that is widely used in the media both in the country of Bangladesh and in the Indian state of West Bengal.

## Who is this course for?

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The principal Bengali-speaking area of the world Bengali letters and digits

This is a comprehensive course for people who want to develop linguistic (lexical, grammatical and phonetic) and communication skills in the Bengali language. It assumes familiarity with the Bengali alphabet and its intricacies.

## First contact

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Let's dive straight into some simple Bengali sentences to give you a first impression of how Bengali is structured.

Sentence 1: I speak Bengali.

Bengali script | আমি | বাংলা | বলি

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Transliteration | aa•mi | baang•laa | bo•li
Word-by-word
translation | I | Bengali (Language) | speak.
Grammatical
function | Subject | Direct object | Verb
Transliteration
breakdown | aa = আ
m = ম
mi = মি
aami = আমি
| b = ব
baa = বা
baang = বাং
l = ল
laa = লা
baanglaa = বাংলা
| b = ব
bo = ব
l = ল
li = লি
boli = বলি

Note:

1. The simple affirmative present tense Bengali sentence follows the Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order. To learn more about this, see Bengali Word Order.
2. The inherent vowel অ is pronounced as "o" in বলি, rather than "ô", since the next syllable has an ই sound. In practice, the difference may not be easily discernible.

Sentence 2: I do not speak Bengali.

আমি
aa•mi | বাংলা
baang•laa | বলি
bo•li | না
naa.

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I | Bengali (Language) | speak | not.
Subject | Direct object | Verb | Negative marker for present indicative
aa = আ
m = ম
mi = মি
aami = আমি
| b = ব
baa = বা
baang = বাং
l = ল
laa = লা
baanglaa = বাংলা
| b = ব
bo = ব
l = ল
li = লি
boli = বলি  | n = ন
naa = না

Note: The simple negative present tense in Bengali simply adds the negative marker না ("naa") after a verb to make it negative.

Sentence 3: (Informal you) Do you speak Bengali ?

তুমি
tu•mi | কি
ki | বাংলা
baang•laa | বল?
baw•lo?

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You (informal) | [no meaning] | Bengali (Language) | speak?
Subject | Yes-No question marker
without a direct translation | Direct object | Verb
t = ত
tu = তু

m = ম
mi = মি
tumi = তুমি

| k = ক
ki = কি  | b = ব
baa = বা
baang = বাং
l = ল
laa = লা
baanglaa = বাংলা
| b = ব
baw = ব
l = ল
lo = ল
bawlo = বল

Note:

1. The dummy yes/no question marker কি ("ki") is placed right after the subject pronoun.
2. As the subject changes from আমি (I) to তুমি (You), observe that the present tense verb ending changes. This is further explored in a later chapter (see Verbs).
3. The ব in বল is pronounced as "baw" instead of "bo", since the next syllable doesn't contain an ই or উ sound.

## List of Grammar Lessons (not in order)

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* Lesson x. Nouns
* Lesson x. Pronouns
* Lesson x. Adjectives
* Lesson x. Verbs
* Lesson x. Adverbs
* Lesson x. Degree Modifiers for adjectives, adverbs and verbs
* Lesson x. Comparison with nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs
* Lesson x. Word Order
* Lesson x. Post-positions
* Lesson x. Expressing temporal information (When or how often something happens)
* Lesson x. Expressing locative information (Where something happens)
* Lesson x. Expressing Obligation with Verb (modal auxiliary "uchit")
* Lesson x. Expressing Possibility with Verb (modal auxiliary "paaraa")
* Lesson x. Expressing Ability or Knowhow with Verb (modal auxiliary "jaanaa" or "paaraa")
* Lesson x. Expressing Want with Verb (modal auxiliary "chaaoaa")
* Lesson x. Expressing Need with Verb (modal auxiliary "dawrkaar" or "laagaa")
* Lesson x. Expressing Cause (Why something happens)
* Lesson x. Expressing Consequence
* Lesson x. Expressing Goal (For what something happens)
* Lesson x. Expressing Opposition (how to say but, on the contrary, however, etc.)
* Lesson x. Expressing Addition of Ideas (how to say and, moreover, etc)
* Lesson x. Expressing Conditions (how to say if, unless, depends etc)
* Lesson x. Expressing Anteriority, Posteriority and Simultaneity (how to say before, after, during etc)
* Lesson x. Characterizing using relative clauses (how to add information using who, which, where, whose, that etc)
* Lesson x. Asking Questions

## List of Vocabulary Lessons (not in order)

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* Lesson x. Greetings and basic polite expressions
* Lesson x. Numbers
* Lesson x. Measurements and Quantities
* Lesson x. Characteristics of Objects: Size, Shape, Material, Texture, Color
* Lesson x. Geography and nationalities
* Lesson x. Languages
* Lesson x. Human Body
* Lesson x. Movements, Gestures and Postures
* Lesson x. Cycle of Life
* Lesson x. Family and Relationships
* Lesson x. Personal Information
* Lesson x. Daily activities
* Lesson x. Housing
* Lesson x. Appearance and Clothing
* Lesson x. Places in the city
* Lesson x. Directions
* Lesson x. Traveling, roads and transport
* Lesson x. Personal Objects
* Lesson x. Education
* Lesson x. Work and Workplaces
* Lesson x. Shops and shopping
* Lesson x. Vacation
* Lesson x. Leisure activities
* Lesson x. Animals
* Lesson x. Plants and Trees
* Lesson x. Food
* Lesson x. Eating out
* Lesson x. Cooking, Recipes and Gastronomy
* Lesson x. Shops and shopping
* Lesson x. Graphic Arts
* Lesson x. Theater
* Lesson x. Cinema
* Lesson x. Music
* Lesson x. Architecture
* Lesson x. Photography
* Lesson x. Sports and games
* Lesson x. Post office and other services
* Lesson x. Media
* Lesson x. Computers and Internet
* Lesson x. Books and literature
* Lesson x. Intellectual life
* Lesson x. Communication
* Lesson x. Feelings and Emotions
* Lesson x. Health and Medicine
* Lesson x. Fashion
* Lesson x. Money and Banking
* Lesson x. Character and Personality
* Lesson x. Science and Research
* Lesson x. Crime, Law and Justice
* Lesson x. Environment
* Lesson x. Weather and Climate
* Lesson x. Economy and Finances
* Lesson x. Politics
* Lesson x. Social Issues
* Lesson x. Morality
* Lesson x. Mind and psychology
* Lesson x. Time
* Lesson x. The Past
* Lesson x. The Future
* Lesson x. Belief and religion

## Appendices

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* Appendix x. Foreign words