Overview

This keyboard lets you type in Bengali (Bangla) and Assamese. It is one of the ISIS set of keyboards, which allow typing in all Indian languages. The keyboard is phonetic, which means it follows the English (QWERTY) layout. This makes it easy for people who are learning Bengali to use, as well as for Bengali speakers.

If a special font is needed for this language, most computers will download it automatically.

Click here to see other keyboard layouts for Bengali.

Using this Keyboard

Quickstart

Anybody who is familiary with a normal English keyboard can used this keyboard to type Bengali. If you press an English letter, the closest Bengali character will be displayed. You can type long vowels by pressing the vowel key twice. Bengali includes some consonants and vowels which are not in English, so these are typed with spare keys or with [S*].

Most Bengali characters have both consonant and vowel parts, and each part should be typed separately. The consonant part is always typed before the vowel, no matter where the vowel part is written. For example, typing i will produce the vowel ই. If this vowel is typed after a consonant has been typed, it will be combined with a consonant, such as কি,(ki). If you press Backspace once, only the vowel part will be erased, and you can type a different vowel.

Examples

Keyboard Details

The On Screen Keyboard shows the standalone vowels অ আ ই ঈ উ ঊ এ ঐ ও ঔ, and many of the normal consonants: ক গ চ জ ট ড ণ ত দ ন প ব ম য় র ল ষ স হ ড়. Other consonants are typed using more than one key. The keyboard also includes Bengali numbers, as well as punctuation and special characters.

Bengali vowels and consonants are usually combined, so when you type a consonant and a vowel part, they will be joined into one character. If you use the arrow keys to move through the text, you only need to press an arrow key once to move past each character. If you press Delete before (on the left of) a combined consonant and vowel, it will be erased completely, but if you press Backspace after a character, only the vowel part will be erased (even if the vowel part appears before the consonant).

Vowels and Consonants

When you type consonants and vowel parts, you should always type the consonant part first, even when the vowel part appears on the left of the consonant. If you type any of the independent vowels, they will not be combined with consonants.

All the consonants naturally include the vowel sound অ, so if you want to produce a consonant with no vowel, you need to add the ্ mark. You can do this by typing \ right after typing a consonant. After you have typed the ্ mark, you cannot type a vowel to combine with that consonant.

Bengali includes many combined consonants, and these are not shown on the keyboard. To type a combined consonant, type the first consonant, then the ্ mark, then the second consonant. The computer will then combine the two consonants into a single combined character. For example, typing k\k produces the combined consonant ক্ক.

Keystroke Examples

In the following table you can see examples of how to type the different vowels with the consonant ক. For a table of all the normal Bengali characters and how to type them, click here.

Consonant	Vowel	Combined	Keystrokes
ক	্	ক্	k\
	অ	ক	k
	আ	কা	ka
	ই	কি	ki
	ঈ	কী	kii
	উ	কু	ku
	ঊ	কূ	kuu
	ঋ	কৃ
	এ	কে	ke
	ঐ	কৈ	kE
	ও	কো	ko
	ঔ	কৌ	kO

Troubleshooting

Fonts

If you see squares when you type, or the Bengali characters do not appear correctly, please read the KeymanWeb troubleshooting guide.

Problem Solving

If a vowel does not combine with a consonant, make sure you have typed the consonant first. Also check that you have not typed another vowel already, or the ্ mark.

Further Resources

Other Internet Resources

Download ISIS Bengali for Keyman Desktop

Bengali Alphabet at Omniglot.com
Bengali Language at Wikipedia.org
Bengali Script at Wikipedia.org

Technical Information

System Requirements

It is recommended that you use an English QWERTY hardware keyboard with this keyboard.

Unicode Version

This keyboard complies with Unicode 5.1

Keyboard Authorship

This keyboard was created as part of the Indian Script Input System package by Professor Gautam Sengupta of the Center for Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies, University of Hyderabad. Tavultesoft gratefully acknowledges the contribution made by the author in developing this keyboard and making it freely available for use with Keyman Desktop and KeymanWeb. His effort assists in enabling people to communicate in their own language.

Copyright and Terms of Use

The ISIS Bangla Keyboard for Keyman Desktop and KeymanWeb is Copyright Gautam Sengupta. It may be freely distributed and used, but must not be modified or adapted in any way without written permission from the author.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY TAVULTESOFT PTY LTD "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL TAVULTESOFT PTY LTD BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.