Bengali letter ssa

Ordinary Bengali speech usually merges their sounds. The traditional name murdhanya sha means “retroflex sha”: Sanskrit distinguishes this sound with the tongue curled back. Bengali generally keeps the spelling distinction without that pronunciation contrast.

Sanskrit-derived words called tatsama retain Sanskrit spelling despite changed Bengali pronunciation. Joined consonant forms, called conjuncts, need separate attention: their fused shapes and sounds are not always predictable from the individual letters.

The letter evolved through earlier Indian scripts

Bengali's script developed from Brahmi through eastern Indian forms, including Kutila. Historian R. D. Banerji traces an earlier ṣa form in northeastern Indian inscriptions of the 6th century. The 12th-century Deopārā inscription shows the Bengali form nearly developed. The Pancaraksa manuscript, a Buddhist protective text from c. 1289, records a complete Bengali alphabet.