Bengali letter ka

Select a Bengali keyboard and check its phonetic mapping. A phonetic Bangla keyboard converts Latin-letter input into Bengali text. Try k for ক, but do not assume every layout uses the same keys; ITRANS distinguishes k from ka.

ক represents the k sound. In Bengali, a consonant can include an unwritten vowel, called its inherent vowel, so ক may be pronounced kɔ, with an open o sound after k. Surrounding letters and vowel signs determine its reading.

Why does ক change shape?

Consonant combinations and vowel signs change its written appearance. The hasant, also called virama, is a mark that suppresses the inherent vowel. Between consonants it can create a conjunct—a joined consonant group—as in ক্ + ত → ক্ত and ক্ + ষ → ক্ষ.

Fonts may show these combinations joined, stacked, or with a visible hasant. Some vowel signs are entered after ক but appear before it or on both sides. Keep the typing order; visual placement is handled by the text-rendering system.

Where did ক come from?

It evolved through earlier eastern Indian scripts. A near-modern triangular ka appears in the 7th century. From the 8th century, the earlier Siddhamātrikā script developed toward Gauḍī, an ancestor of Bengali. Early Bangla forms appear in the 9th–10th centuries; a developed Bengali script appears on the Sundarban copper plate inscription of 1196.

The script served literature on leaves or bark and land records on copper. ক is used in Bengali, Assamese and Sanskrit text; the language and its spelling conventions determine how you read it.