ii
ph ... ... ... up-hill.
bh ... ... ... cab-horse.
But these form one sound, not two as in the English words above, and these aspirated letters may occur even at the beginning of a word, as Bhába, in which case also the aspirate must be distinctly given.
Note that th is not sounded as in thin, nor ph as in physic.
Each letter in Bengali is to be distinctly and fully pronounced, and no syllable is to be, as a rule, accented more than another.
The vowels are to be pronounced thus:
a as o in hot. This must be specially noted, as it is the vowel which occurs most frequently, representing what in Sanscrit is called the inherent vowel. ai is similarly pronounced oi.
á as a in father.
e as a in fare.
i as i in fit, or e in he.
í as ee in feet.
u as oo in foot.
ú as oo in room.
o as o in note.
au, as ou in house.
