 Capital letters are absent in the Bengali script so proper names are unmarked.An apostrophe, known in Bengali as ঊর্ধ্বকমা "urdhbôkôma" "upper comma", is sometimes used to distinguish between homographs, as in পাটা "pata" "plank" and পাʼটা "pa'ta" "the leg".Sometimes, a hyphen is used for the same purpose (as in পা-টা, an alternative of পাʼটা).Bengali text is written and read horizontally, from left to right.