From Wikitravel Shared

[edit] Pronunciation guide

The phoneme inventory of Bengali consists of 29 consonants and 14 vowels, including the seven nasalized vowels. An approximate phonetic scheme is set out below in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

Vowels   Front Central Back High i   u High-mid e   o Low-mid æ   ɔ Low   a

Consonants   Labial Dental Apico- Alveolar Apico- Postalveolar Lamino- Postalveolar Velar Glottal Voiceless stops p pʰ t̪ t̪ʰ   ʈ ʈʰ ʧ ʧʰ k kʰ   Voiced stops b bʰ d̪ d̪ʰ   ɖ ɖʰ ʤ ʤʰ ɡ ɡʰ   Voiceless fricatives     s   ʃ   h Nasals m   n     ŋ   Liquids     l, r ɽ

[edit] Romanization

Bengali words are currently Romanized on Wikipedia mixed a phonemic transcription, where the pronunciation is represented with no reference to the spelling. The Wikipedia Romanization is given in the table below, with IPA transcriptions as used above.

Vowels   Front Central Back High i   u High-mid e   o Low-mid ê   ô Low   a

Consonants   Labial Dental Apico- Alveolar Apico- Postalveolar Lamino- Postalveolar Velar Glottal Voiceless stops p f t th   ţ ţh ch chh k kh   Voiced stops b bh d dh   đ đh j jh g gh   Voiceless fricatives     s   sh   h Nasals m   n     ng   Liquids     l, r ŗ

[edit] Diphthongs

Magadhan languages such as Bengali are known for their wide variety of diphthongs, or combinations of vowels occurring within the same syllable.

Nucleus IPA	Off-glide IPA	Transliteration	Example
[i]	[j]	ii	nii "I take"
[i]	[w]	iu	biubhôl "upset"
[e]	[j]	ei	nei "there is not"
[e]	[e]	ee	khee "having eaten"
[e]	[w]	eu	đheu "wave"
[e]	[o]	eo	kheona "do not eat"
[æ]	[e]	êe	nêe "she takes"
[æ]	[o]	êo	nêo "you take"
[a]	[j]	ai	pai "I find"
[a]	[e]	ae	pae "she finds"
[a]	[w]	au	pau "sliced bread"
[a]	[o]	ao	pao "you find"
[ɔ]	[e]	ôe	nôe "she is not"
[ɔ]	[o]	ôo	nôo "you are not"
[o]	[j]	oi	noi "I am not"
[o]	[e]	oe	dhoe "she washes"
[o]	[o]	oo	dhoo "you wash"
[o]	[w]	ou	nouka "boat"
[u]	[j]	ui	dhui "I wash"

[edit] Phrase list

[edit] Basics

Hello. (Hindu)

Nômoshkar.

Hello. (Muslim)

Assalamualaikum (or) Slamlikum

How are you? 

(Apni) kêmon achhen? (formal)
(Tumi) kêmon achho?

(I'm) fine. 

(Ami) bhalo (achhi).

What is your name? 

Apnar nam ki? (formal)
Tomar nam ki?

My name is ______ . 

Amar nam ______ .

Nice to meet you. 

Apnar shathe porichôe hoe amar khub-i bhalo laglo. (formal)
Tomar shathe porichôe hoe amar khub-i bhalo laglo.

Please. 

Dôeakore. (formal)
Ektu.

Thank you. 

Dhonnobad. (formal)

You're welcome. 

Kichhu mone korben na. (formal)
Kichhu mone koro na.

Yes. 

Ji. (formal)
Hê.

No. 

Jina. (formal)
Na.

Excuse me. (getting attention) 

Ei-je!

Excuse me. (to pass by someone) 

Dekhi?

I'm sorry. 

Ami khub-i dukkhito.

Forgive me. 

Maf korun.
Maf kôro.

Goodbye 

Khodafez. (Muslim)

I can't speak name of language [that well]. 

(Ami) ____ [ôto bhalo] bolte pari na.

Do you speak English? 

Apni-ki Ingreji bolte paren?
Tumi-ki Ingreji bolte paro?

Is there someone here who speaks English? 

Ekhane keu achhe, je Ingreji bolte paren?

Help! 

Bachao!

Look out! 

Shabdhan!

Good morning. 

Suprobhat. (highly formal)

Good evening. 

Subho shôndha. (highly formal)

Good night. 

Subho ratri. (highly formal)

I don't understand. 

(Ami) bujhi na.

Where is the toilet? 

Tôeletta kothae?

[edit] Problems

[edit] Numbers

0 Shunno
1 Êk
2 Dui
3 Tin
4 Char
5 Pãch
6 Chhôe
7 Shat
8 At
9 Nôe
10 Dôsh
11 Êgaro
12 Baro
13 Têro
14 Chouddo
15 Pônero
16 Sholo
17 Shôtero
18 Atharo
19 Unnish

20 Bish / Kuri
30 Trish
40 Chollish
50 Pônchash
60 Shat
70 Shottur
80 Ashi
90 Nobboi

100 Êk sho
1,000 Êk hajar
10,000 Dôsh hajar
100,000 Êk lakh
1,000,000 Dôsh lakh
10,000,000 Êk kuti

[edit] Time

[edit] Clock time

[edit] Duration

[edit] Days

Monday

Shombar

Tuesday

Monggolbar

Wednesday

Budhbar

Thursday

Brihoshpotibar

Friday

Shukrobar

Saturday

Shonibar

Sunday

Robibar

[edit] Months

[edit] Writing time and date

[edit] Colors

black

kalo

white

shada

red

lal

pink

golapi

orange

kômla

yellow

holud

green

shobuj

blue

nil

purple

beguni

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Bus and train

[edit] Directions

here

eikhane

there

oikhane

(on/to the) right

dan (dike)

(on/to the) left

bã (dike)

(on/to the) north

uttor (dike)

(on/to the) south

dokkhin (dike)

(on/to the) east

purbo (dike)

(on/to the) west

poshchim (dike)

straight

shoja

in front

shamne

behind

pichhe / pichhon dike

Go (___).

(___) jan. (formal)
(___) jao.

Turn around (___).

(___) Ghurun. (formal)
(___) Ghoro.

Keep going (___).

(___) Jete thakun. (formal)
(___) Jete thako.

Stop (___).

(___) Thamun. (formal)
(___) Thamo.

[edit] Taxi

[edit] Lodging

[edit] Money

[edit] Eating

[edit] Bars

[edit] Shopping

[edit] Driving

[edit] Authority

[edit] Learning more

This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!