Symbol |
Examples |
Description
|
A
|
Open front unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Mandarin 他 tā, German Mann
|
For many English speakers, the first part of the ow sound in cow. Found in some dialects of English in cat or father.
|
Open central unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
American English ah, Spanish casa, French patte
|
|
Open front unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
German Aachen, French gare
|
Long [a].
|
Near-open central vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
RP cut, German Kaiserslautern
|
(In transcriptions of English, [ɐ] is usually written ⟨ʌ⟩.)
|
Open back unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Finnish Linna, Dutch bad
|
|
Open back unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
RP father, French pâte
|
Long [ɑ].
|
Nasal vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
French Caen, sans, temps
|
Nasalized [ɑ].
|
Open back rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
RP cot
|
Like [ɑ], but with the lips slightly rounded.
|
Open-mid back unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
American English cut
|
Like [ɔ], but without the lips being rounded. (When ⟨ʌ⟩ is used for English, it may really be [ɐ] or [ɜ].)
|
Near-open front unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
RP cat
|
|
B
|
Voiced bilabial plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English babble
|
|
Voiced bilabial implosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Swahili bwana
|
Like a [b] said with a gulp. See implosive consonants.
|
Bilabial trill (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
|
Like the brrr sound made when cold.
|
Voiced bilabial fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Spanish la Bamba, Kinyarwanda abana "children"
|
Like [b], but with the lips not quite touching.
|
C
|
Voiceless palatal plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Turkish kebap "kebab", Czech stín "shadow", Greek και "and"
|
Between English tune (RP) and cute. Sometimes used instead for [tʃ] in languages like Hindi.
|
Voiceless palatal fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
German Ich
|
More of a y-coloration (more palatal) than [x]. Some English speakers have a similar sound in huge. To produce this sound, try whispering loudly the word "ye" as in "Hear ye!".
|
Voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Mandarin Xi'an, Polish ściana
|
More y-like than [ʃ]; something like English she.
|
Open-mid back rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
see under O
|
|
D
|
Voiced alveolar plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English dad
|
|
Voiced alveolar implosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Swahili Dodoma
|
Like [d] said with a gulp.
|
Voiced retroflex plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
American English harder
|
Like [d] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
|
Voiced dental fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English the, bathe
|
|
Voiced alveolar affricate (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)1
|
English adds, Italian zero
|
|
Voiced postalveolar affricate (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)1
|
English judge
|
|
တမ်းပလိတ်:Error-small1
|
English mojtear
|
|
|
|
|
Voiced alveolo-palatal affricate (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)1
|
Polish niedźwiedź "bear"
|
Like [dʒ], but with more of a y-sound.
|
Voiced retroflex affricate (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)1
|
Polish dżem "jam"
|
Like [dʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
|
E
|
Close-mid front unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Spanish fe; French clé
|
|
Close-mid front unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
German Klee
|
Long [e]. Similar to English hey, before the y sets in.
|
Mid central vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English above, Hindi ठग [ʈʰəɡ] (thug) "thief"
|
(Only occurs in English when not stressed.)
|
R-colored vowel#R-colored vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
American English runner
|
|
Open-mid front unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English bet
|
|
[ ɛ̃ ]
|
French Agen, vin, main; Polish mięso
|
Nasalized [ɛ].
|
Open-mid central unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
RP bird (long)
|
|
[ ɝ ]
|
American English bird
|
|
F
|
Voiceless labiodental fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English fun
|
|
Voiced palatal plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
see under J
|
|
Voiced palatal implosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
see under J
|
|
G
|
Voiced velar plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English gag
|
(Should look like . No different from a Latin "g")
|
Voiced velar implosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Swahili Uganda
|
Like [ɡ] said with a gulp.
|
Voiced uvular plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
|
Like [ɡ], but further back, in the throat. Found in Persian and some Arabic dialects for /q/, as in Gaddafi.
|
Voiced postalveolar fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
see under Z
|
English beige.
|
H
|
Voiceless glottal fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
American English house
|
|
Voiced glottal fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English ahead, when said quickly.
|
|
[ ʰ ]
|
|
The extra puff of air in English top [tʰɒp] compared to stop [stɒp], or to French or Spanish [t].
|
Voiceless pharyngeal fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Arabic محمد Muhammad
|
Far down in the throat, like [h], but stronger.
|
တမ်းပလိတ်:Error-small
|
see under U
|
|
[ ɮ ]
|
see under L
|
|
I
|
Close front unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
French ville, Spanish Valladolid
|
|
Close front unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English sea
|
Long [i].
|
Near-close near-front unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English sit
|
|
Close central unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Russian ты "you"
|
Often used for unstressed English roses.
|
J
|
Palatal approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English yes, hallelujah, German Junge
|
|
[ ʲ ]
|
Russian Ленин [ˈlʲenʲɪn]
|
Indicates a sound is more y-like.
|
Voiced palatal fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Spanish cayo (some dialects)
|
Like [j], but stronger.
|
Voiced palatal plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Turkish gör "see", Czech díra "hole"
|
Between English dew (RP) and argue. Sometimes used instead for [dʒ] in languages like Hindi.
|
Voiced palatal implosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Swahili jambo
|
Like [ɟ] said with a gulp.
|
K
|
Voiceless velar plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English kick, skip
|
|
L
|
Alveolar lateral approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English leaf
|
|
Velarized alveolar lateral approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English wool Russian малый [ˈmɑɫɨj] "small"
|
"Dark" el.
|
Voiceless alveolar lateral fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Welsh llwyd [ɬʊɪd] "grey" Zulu hlala [ɬaːla] "sit"
|
By touching roof of mouth with tongue and giving a giving a quick breath out. Found in Welsh placenames like Llangollen and Llanelli and Nelson Mandela's Xhosa name Rolihlahla.
|
Retroflex lateral approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
|
Like [l] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
|
တမ်းပလိတ်:Error-small
|
|
A flapped [l], like [l] and [ɾ] said together.
|
Voiced alveolar lateral fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Zulu dla "eat"
|
Rather like [l] and [ʒ], or [l] and [ð], said together.
|
M
|
Bilabial nasal (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English mime
|
|
Labiodental nasal (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English symphony
|
Like [m], but lips touch teeth as they do in [f].
|
[ ɯ ]
|
see under W
|
|
Voiceless labio-velar approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
see under W
|
|
N
|
Alveolar nasal (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English nun
|
|
Velar nasal (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English sing
|
|
Palatal nasal (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Spanish Peña, French champagne
|
Rather like English canyon.
|
Retroflex nasal (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Hindi वरुण [ʋəruɳ] Varuna
|
Like [n] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
|
Uvular nasal (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Castilian Spanish Don Juan [doɴˈχwan]
|
Like [ŋ], but further back, in the throat.
|
O
|
Close-mid back rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Spanish no, French eau
|
|
Close-mid back rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
German Boden, French Vosges
|
Long [o]. Somewhat reminiscent of English no.
|
Open-mid back rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
German Oldenburg, French Garonne
|
|
Open-mid back rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
RP law, French Limoges
|
Long [ɔ].
|
Nasal vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
French Lyon, son; Polish wąż
|
Nasalized [ɔ].
|
Close-mid front rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
French feu, bœufs
|
Like [e], but with the lips rounded like [o].
|
Close-mid front rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
German Goethe, French Deûle, neutre
|
Long [ø].
|
Close-mid central rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Swedish dum
|
Halfway between [o] and [ø]. Similar to [ʊ] but with the tongue slightly more down and front.
|
Open-mid front rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
French bœuf, seul, German Göttingen
|
Like [ɛ], but with the lips rounded like [ɔ].
|
Open-mid front rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
French œuvre, heure
|
Long [œ].
|
Nasal vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
French brun, parfum
|
Nasalized [œ].
|
Voiceless dental fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
see under other
|
|
Voiceless bilabial fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
see under other
|
P
|
Voiceless bilabial plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English pip
|
|
Q
|
Voiceless uvular plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Arabic Qur’ān
|
Like [k], but further back, in the throat.
|
R
|
Alveolar trill (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Spanish perro, Scots borrow
|
"Rolled R". (Generally used for English [ɹ] when there's no need to be precise.)
|
Alveolar tap (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Spanish pero, Tagalog daliri, Malay kabar, American English kitty/kiddie
|
"Flapped R".
|
Uvular trill (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
|
A trill in the back of the throat. Found for /r/ in some conservative registers of French.
|
Retroflex flap (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Hindi साड़ी [sɑːɽiː] "sari"
|
Like flapped [ɾ], but with the tongue curled back.
|
Alveolar approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
RP borrow
|
|
Retroflex approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
American English borrow, butter
|
Like [ɹ], but with the tongue curled or pulled back, as pronounced by many English speakers.
|
Voiced uvular fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
French Paris, German Riemann
|
Said back in the throat, but not trilled.
|
S
|
Voiceless alveolar fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English sass
|
|
Voiceless postalveolar fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English shoe
|
|
Sj-sound (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Swedish sju
|
|
Voiceless retroflex fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Mandarin 少林 (Shàolín), Russian Пушкин (Pushkin)
|
Acoustically similar to [ʃ], but with the tongue curled or pulled back.
|
T
|
Voiceless alveolar plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English tot, stop
|
|
Voiceless retroflex plosive (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Hindi ठग [ʈʰəɡ] (thug) "thief"
|
Like [t], but with the tongue curled or pulled back.
|
Voiceless alveolar affricate (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)2
|
English cats, Russian царь tsar
|
|
Voiceless postalveolar affricate (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်) 2
|
English church
|
|
Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)2
|
Mandarin 北京 Beijing (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်), Polish ciebie "you"
|
Like [tʃ], but with more of a y-sound.
|
Voiceless retroflex affricate (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)2
|
Mandarin zh, Polish czas
|
Like [tʃ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
|
U
|
Close back rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
French vous "you"
|
|
Close back rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
French Rocquencourt, German Schumacher, close to RP food
|
Long [u].
|
Near-close near-back vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English foot, German Bundesrepublik
|
|
Close central rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Australian English food (long)
|
Like [ɨ], but with the lips rounded as for [u].
|
တမ်းပလိတ်:Error-small
|
French lui
|
Like [j] and [w] said together.
|
Close back unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
see under W
|
|
V
|
Voiced labiodental fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English verve
|
|
Labiodental approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Hindi वरुण [ʋəruɳə] "Varuna"
|
Between [v] and [w]. Used by some Germans and Russians for v/w, and by some speakers of British English for r.
|
Voiced velar fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Arabic / Swahili ghali "expensive", Spanish suegro
|
Sounds rather like French [ʁ] or between [ɡ] and [h].
|
Close-mid back unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Mandarin Hénán
|
Like [o] but without the lips rounded, something like a cross of [ʊ] and [ʌ].
|
[ ʌ ]
|
see under A
|
|
W
|
Voiced labial-velar approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English wow
|
|
[ ʷ ]
|
English rain [ɹʷeɪn]
|
Indicates a sound has lip rounding, quick.
|
Voiceless labio-velar approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
what (some dialects)
|
like [h] and [w] said together
|
Close back unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Turkish kayık "caïque"
|
Like [u], but with the lips flat; something like [ʊ].
|
Velar approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Spanish agua
|
|
X
|
Voiceless velar fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Scottish English loch, German Bach, Russian хороший [xɐˈroʂɨj] "good", Spanish joven
|
between [k] and [h]
|
Voiceless uvular fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
northern Standard Dutch Scheveningen, Castilian Spanish Don Juan [doɴˈχwan]
|
Like [x], but further back , in the throat. Some German and Arabic speakers have [χ] for [x].
|
Y
|
Close front rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
French rue
|
Like [i], but with the lips rounded as for [u].
|
Close front rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
German Bülow, French sûr
|
Long [y].
|
Near-close near-front rounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
German Eisenhüttenstadt
|
Like [ɪ], but with the lips rounded as for [ʊ].
|
Palatal lateral approximant (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Italian tagliatelle
|
Like [l], but more y-like. Rather like English volume.
|
တမ်းပလိတ်:Error-small
|
see under U
|
|
Close-mid back unrounded vowel (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
see under V
|
|
[ ɣ ]
|
see under V
|
|
Z
|
Voiced alveolar fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English zoos
|
|
Voiced postalveolar fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English vision, French journal
|
|
Voiced alveolo-palatal fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
formal Russian жжёшь [ʑːoʂ] "you burn", Polish źle
|
More y-like than [ʒ], something like beigey.
|
Voiced retroflex fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Mandarin 人民日报 Rénmín Rìbào "People's Daily", Russian жир "fat"
|
Like [ʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
|
[ ɮ ]
|
see under L
|
|
Other
|
Voiceless dental fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English thigh, bath
|
|
Voiceless bilabial fricative (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
Japanese 富士 [ɸɯdʑi] Fuji, Māori [ˌɸaːɾeːˈnuiː] wharenui
|
Like [p], but with the lips not quite touching
|
Glottal stop (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English uh-oh, Hawai‘i, German die Angst
|
The 'glottal stop', a catch in the breath. For some people, found in button [ˈbʌʔn̩], or between vowels across words: Deus ex machina [ˌdeɪəsˌʔɛksˈmɑːkɨnə]; in some nonstandard dialects, in a apple [ʌˈʔæpl̩].
|
တမ်းပလိတ်:Error-small
|
Arabic عربي carabī "Arabic"
|
A light sound deep in the throat.
|
Dental click (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English tsk-tsk! or tut-tut!, Zulu icici "earring"
|
(The English click used for disapproval.) Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including [ kǀ ], [ ɡǀ ], [ ŋǀ ]. The Zimbabwean MP Ncube has this click in his name, as did Cetshwayo.
|
Alveolar lateral click (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
|
English tchick! tchick!, Zulu ixoxo "frog"
|
(The English click used to urge on a horse.) Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including [ kǁ ], [ ɡǁ ], [ ŋǁ ]. Found in the name of the Xhosa.
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Postalveolar click (ကူညီ·ချက်လက်)
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Zulu iqaqa "polecat"
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(The English click used to imitate the trotting of a horse.) A hollow popping sound, like a cork pulled from a bottle. Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including [ kǃ ], [ ɡǃ ], [ ŋǃ ].
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