Bengali phonology (ধ্বনিতত্ত্ব) has a rich vowel system including nasalized vowels and a distinctive set of consonant clusters. Bengali does not distinguish certain consonant sounds as sharply as Hindi in casual speech, and has characteristic vowel harmony patterns.
- ›Bengali has 7 oral vowel phonemes, each of which can also be nasalized
- ›Consonants are classified by place (labial, dental, retroflex, palatal, velar) and manner (stop, nasal, fricative) of articulation
- ›A notable feature: the Bengali script's 'ব' letter is pronounced closer to /b/ in most positions, but historically represented /w/ in Sanskrit loanwords