a |
as in father, bar; Germ. haben |
a: |
the same sound prolonged |
â |
as in what; Germ. man |
ä |
as in hat, man, ran |
ai |
as in aisle, as i in mine; bind; Germ. Hain |
au |
as ou in out, as ow in how; Germ. Haus |
c |
as sh in shall; Germ. sch in schellen; cio-sho as in show |
d |
pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching the upper teeth |
e |
as e in they, as a in may; Fr. ne |
ê |
as in met, get, then; Germ. denn; Fr. sienne |
g |
as in gig; Germ. geben; Fr. gout |
h |
as in has, he; Germ. haben |
i |
as in pique, machine; ie as ye in English yea |
i: |
the same sound prolonged io as yo in you |
î |
as in pick, pit |
j |
as in judge |
k |
as in kick, kin |
n |
as in no, nun, not |
ñ |
as ng in ring, sing |
o |
as in note, boat |
q |
as ch in Germ. ich |
s |
as in see, sat |
t |
pronounced with the tip of the tongue on the upper teeth |
u |
as in rule; Germ. du; Fr. on in doux |
û |
as in rut, shut |
w |
as in wit, win |
y |
as in yes, yet |
dj |
as j in judge |
tc |
as ch in church; tci-chee as in cheese |
n |
marks nasalized vowels; as an, en, ên, on, ân, ain, etc. |
` |
indicates an aspiration or soft emission of the breadth which is initial or final, thus `h, ên`, o`, etc. |
? |
marks a sudden closure of the glottis preceding or following a sound, thus ?a, o?, i?, â?, etc. |
' |
marks the accented syllable of a word |
t and h in this system are always pronounced separately.