শ, ষ and স: the three s-letters
Bangla writes three separate s-letters and, in ordinary speech, pronounces almost all of them as sh. The distinction is one of spelling and inheritance rather than sound.
| Letter | Name | How it sounds | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| শ | তালব্য শ | 'sh' — the default s-sound in Bangla | শাড়ি |
| ষ | মূর্ধন্য ষ | Also said 'sh'; a spelling distinction only | ষাঁড় |
| স | দন্ত্য স | Usually 'sh' too, though a true 's' in some clusters | সূর্য |
For a learner this is good news for listening and bad news for spelling: you will rarely mishear these letters, and you will have to memorise which one a given word uses.