The Bengali script ( bangla lipi or bôņgôlipi) is the writing system for the Bengali language. It is also used, with some modifications, for Assamese, Meitei, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Kokborok, Garo and Mundari languages. All these languages are spoken in the eastern region of South Asia. Historically, the script has also been used to write the Sanskrit language in the same region. From a classificatory point of view, the Bengali script is an abugida, i.e. its vowel graphemes are mainly realized not as independent letters like in a true alphabet, but as diacritics attached to its consonant graphemes. It is written from left to right and lacks distinct letter cases. It is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together, a property it shares with two other popular Indian scripts: Devanagari (used for Hindi, Marathi and Nepali) and Gurumukhi (used for Punjabi). The Bengali script is, however, less blocky and presents a more sinuous shaping.
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