Compound letters: two consonants, one shape

When two consonants meet with no vowel between them, Bangla does not write them side by side. It joins them into one shape — a যুক্তাক্ষর, a compound letter. There are hundreds, and not one of them is a new letter: every shape on this page is two of the sixty you already know.

The hasanta is what joins them

Every consonant carries a vowel it never writes: ক alone is read ko, not k. To put another consonant straight after it, that vowel has to go first, and the mark that removes it is the hasanta — ্, a small stroke under the letter.

ক + ্ + ত is written ক্ত and read kt. The hasanta itself disappears into the joined shape; you only see it written out when a cluster is being spelled, as it is throughout the tables below.

Five consonants shrink instead of joining

Four consonants are so common as the second half of a cluster that they have a reduced form — a fola — hung on the letter before them rather than merged with it. র has one of its own for the other position: written before a consonant, it becomes a hook riding over the top of it.

Form	Mark	On ক	What it does	In a word
য-ফলা	্য	ক্য	Doubles the consonant it hangs on. Starting a word it colours the vowel instead, to an 'æ' as in cat.	বিদ্যাbidda — learning
র-ফলা	্র	ক্র	Adds an r after the consonant. The only fola that is fully pronounced.	প্রথমprothom — first
ব-ফলা	্ব	ক্ব	Silent in modern Bangla. It doubles the consonant it hangs on, or does nothing at all at the start of a word.	বিশ্বbishsho — world
ম-ফলা	্ম	ক্ম	Usually silent, doubling the consonant before it. In a few words it leaves a nasal behind.	আত্মাatta — soul
রেফ	র্	র্ক	র before another consonant. Read first, but drawn as a hook over the letter that follows it.	কর্মkormo — work

Three of the five are barely pronounced. ব-ফলা and ম-ফলা mostly double the consonant they hang on — বিশ্ব is bishsho, not bishbo — and য-ফলা does the same unless it starts the word. They survive in spelling because the words came into Bangla with them, which is the same reason the three s-letters survive.

Compounds you can read straight off

In most compounds both letters keep their shape, or lose so little of it that the pair is still obvious. Read the first letter, read the second, and you have the cluster.

Compound	Made of	Sounds like	In a word
ক্ত	কত	kt	রক্তrokto — blood
প্ত	পত	pt	গুপ্তgupto — hidden
ন্ত	নত	nt	শান্তিshanti — peace
ন্দ	নদ	nd	আনন্দanondo — joy
ন্ধ	নধ	ndh	বন্ধুbondhu — friend
ন্ন	নন	nn	ভিন্নbhinno — different
ন্ড	নড	nd	ঠান্ডাthanda — cold
ম্প	মপ	mp	সম্পদshompod — wealth
ম্ব	মব	mb	লম্বাlomba — long
ম্ভ	মভ	mbh	আরম্ভarombho — a beginning
স্ত	সত	st	হস্তhosto — hand
স্থ	সথ	sth	স্থানsthan — a place
ষ্ট	ষট	sht	কষ্টkoshto — hardship
ষ্ঠ	ষঠ	shth	শ্রেষ্ঠsreshtho — best
শ্ব	শব	shsh	বিশ্বbishsho — world
ঞ্চ	ঞচ	nch	পঞ্চponcho — five
ঞ্জ	ঞজ	nj	গঞ্জgonj — a market town
ঙ্ক	ঙক	ngk	অঙ্কonko — a sum
ঙ্গ	ঙগ	ngg	বঙ্গbongo — Bengal
ল্প	লপ	lp	অল্পolpo — a little
ল্ল	লল	ll	উল্লাসullash — delight
ব্দ	বদ	bd	শব্দshobdo — sound, word

Compounds you have to learn

A handful fuse into shapes that give nothing away — and these are the common ones, so they are worth learning as shapes in their own right. Several are not even read as their parts suggest: জ্ঞ is জ and ঞ, but it is pronounced gg.

Compound	Made of	Sounds like	In a word
ক্ষ	কষ	kkh	পক্ষpokkho — a side
জ্ঞ	জঞ	gg	বিজ্ঞানbiggan — science
হ্ম	হম	mm	ব্রাহ্মণbrammon — a Brahmin
হ্ন	হন	nh	চিহ্নchinho — a mark
ত্ত	তত	tt	উত্তরuttor — north, an answer
দ্ধ	দধ	ddh	যুদ্ধjuddho — war
ত্র	তর	tr	মিত্রmitro — a friend
দ্ম	দম	dd	পদ্মpoddo — lotus

Reading an unfamiliar one

Look for a letter you recognise at the top or the left — that is almost always the first half. A hook over the top is র being read before everything under it. A mark hung underneath or to the right is one of the five folas. What is left, once you have taken those off, is the letter the cluster started with.

The sixty letters are on the letters pages, and practice drills them one at a time. Compounds are not in the decks: knowing the letters is what makes the shapes readable, and there are 30 on this page alone.