section_path: Writing system/Orthographic depth
section_name: Orthographic depth
paragraph_text: Orthographic depth
  
  The Bengali script in general has a comparatively shallow orthography when compared to the Latin script used for English and French, i.e., in many cases there is a one-to-one correspondence between the sounds (phonemes) and the letters (graphemes) of Bengali. But grapheme-phoneme inconsistencies do occur in many other cases. In fact, Bengali-Assamese script has the deepest orthography (deep orthography) among the Indian scripts. In general, the Bengali-Assamese script is fairly transparent for grapheme-to-phoneme conversion, i.e., it is easier to predict the pronunciation from spelling of the words. But the script is fairly opaque for phoneme-to-grapheme conversion, i.e., it is more difficult to predict the spelling from the pronunciation of the words.
  
  One kind of inconsistency is due to the presence of several letters in the script for the same sound. In spite of some modifications in the 19th century, the Bengali spelling system continues to be based on the one used for Sanskrit, and thus does not take into account some sound mergers that have occurred in the spoken language. For example, there are three letters (শ, ষ, and স) for the voiceless postalveolar fricative, although the letter স retains the voiceless alveolar sibilant sound when used in certain consonant conjuncts as in স্খলন "fall", স্পন্দন "beat", etc. The letter ষ also, sometimes, retains the voiceless retroflex sibilant sound when used in certain consonant conjuncts as in কষ্ট "suffering", গোষ্ঠী "clan", etc. Similarly, there are two letters (জ and য) for the voiced postalveolar affricate. Moreover, what was once pronounced and written as a retroflex nasal ণ is now pronounced as an alveolar when in conversation (the difference is heard when reading) (unless conjoined with another retroflex consonant such as ট, ঠ, ড and ঢ), although the spelling does not reflect this change. The near-open front unrounded vowel is orthographically realised by multiple means, as seen in the following examples: এত "so much", এ্যাকাডেমী "academy", অ্যামিবা "amoeba", দেখা "to see", ব্যস্ত "busy", ব্যাকরণ "grammar".
  
  Another kind of inconsistency is concerned with the incomplete coverage of phonological information in the script. The inherent vowel attached to every consonant can be either or depending on vowel harmony (স্বরসঙ্গতি) with the preceding or following vowel or on the context, but this phonological information is not captured by the script, creating ambiguity for the reader. Furthermore, the inherent vowel is often not pronounced at the end of a syllable, as in কম "less", but this omission is not generally reflected in the script, making it difficult for the new reader.
  
  Many consonant clusters have different sounds than their constituent consonants. For example, the combination of the consonants ক্ and ষ is graphically realised as ক্ষ and is pronounced (as in রুক্ষ "coarse"), (as in ক্ষমতা "capability") or even (as in ক্ষতি "harm"), depending on the position of the cluster in a word. Another example is that there are around 7 or more graphemes to represent the sound. These are 'শ' as in শব্দ ("shabda", pronounced as "shôbdo")(meaning"word"), 'ষ' as in ষড়যন্ত্র ("şaḍjantra", pronounced as "shôḍojontro")(meaning "conspiracy"), 'স' as in সরকার ("sarkāra", pronounced as "shôrkār")(meaning "government"), 'শ্ব' as in শ্বশুর (written as "shbashura" but pronounced with the ব 'b' silent, i.e., as "shoshur")(meaning "father in law"), 'শ্ম' as in শ্মশান (written as "shmashāna" but pronounced with the ম 'm' silent, i.e., as "shôshān")(meaning "crematorium"), 'স্ব' as in স্বপ্ন (written as "sbapna" but pronounced with the ব 'b' silent, i.e., as "shôpno")(meaning "dream"), 'স্ম' as in স্মরণ (written as "smaraṅa" but pronounced with the ম 'm' silent, i.e., as "shôron")(meaning "remember"), 'ষ্ম' as in গ্রীষ্ম (written as "grīşma" but pronounced with the ম 'm' silent, i.e., as "grīshsho")(meaning "summer") and so on. In most of the consonant clusters, only the first consonant is pronounced and rest of the consonants are silent. Examples are লক্ষ্মণ (written as "lakşmaṅa" but pronounced as "lôkkhon")(Lord Rama's brother in the Hindu epic Ramayana), বিশ্বাস (written as "bishbāsa" but pronounced as "bishshāsh")(belief), বাধ্য (written as "bādhja" but pronounced as "bāddho")(bound (to do something))and স্বাস্থ্য (written as "sbāsthja" but pronounced as "shāstho") (health). Some consonant clusters have completely different pronunciation as compared to the constituent consonants. For example, 'হ্য' as in ঐতিহ্য where 'hy' is pronounced as 'jjh' (written as "aiti hy a" but pronounced as "oiti jjh o")(tradition). The same হ্য is pronounced as 'hæ' as in হ্যাঁ (written as "hjāṅ" but pronounced as nasalised "hæ").
  
  Another example of inconsistency in the script is that of words like, অন্য (written as "anja" but pronounced as "onno")(other/different) and অন্ন (written as "ann'a" but pronounced as "ônno")(food grain); in these words, the letter অ is combining with two different consonant clusters ন্য ("nja") and ন্ন ("nna"), and while the same letter অ has two different pronunciations, o and ô, the two different consonant clusters have the same pronunciation, "nno". Thus, same letters and graphemes can often have different pronunciations depending on their position in a word and different graphemes and letters often have the same pronunciation.
  
  The main reason for these numerous inconsistencies is that there have been lots of sound mergers in Bengali, but the script has failed to account for the sound shifts and consonant mergers in the language. Bengali has lots of tatsam words (words directly derived from Sanskrit) and in all these words, the original spelling has been preserved but the pronunciations have changed due to consonant mergers and sound shifts. In fact, most of the tatsam words have a lot of grapheme-to-phoneme inconsistencies while most of the tadbhav words (native Bengali words) have fairly consistent grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence.The Bengali writing system is, therefore, not often a true guide to pronunciation.