Locale Bn Bd

Reference data for the Bengali (Bangladesh) locale — endonym বাংলা (বাংলাদেশ), written in the Bengali script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

• BCP 47 tag: bn-BD
• ISO 639-1: bn
• ISO 639-3: ben
• Script: Beng (Bengali)
• Region: BD (Bangladesh)
• Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

• L1 (native): 165,000,000
• L2 (additional): 5,000,000
• L1+L2 (total): 170,000,000

Base locale

This is a regional variant of Locale Bn 001 (Bengali), the base/macro locale for this language.

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

• one — i = 0 or n = 1 (e.g. 0, 1)
• other — everything else (e.g. 2~17, 100, 1000, 10000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Apply Locale Bn 001 with the conventions of Bangladesh. Bengali is the sole national and official language, and the Bangla Academy sets the standard.

• Vocabulary: Bangladesh Bengali uses many Perso-Arabic words: পানি (water, India: জল), গোসল (bath, India: স্নান), দাওয়াত (invitation, India: নিমন্ত্রণ), রোজা (fasting).
• Currency and calendar: taka (৳ or টাকা); the Bangla calendar (Bangabda) with its reformed form is used officially (Pohela Boishakh, 14 April); Gregorian dates in business.
• Digits: Bengali digits are common in government and print; Arabic digits in UI.
• Tone: polite, respectful of elders, with attention to religious holidays.

Common pitfalls

• Using West Bengal vocabulary (জল, স্নান) for a Bangladeshi audience.
• Mixing the two spelling conventions.
• The general pitfalls in Locale Bn 001 also apply.

Learn more

• Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
• Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
• Bangla Academy (https://banglaacademy.gov.bd)