tontonton

Tibetan Sounds

This is a quick cheat sheet for the sounds found in Tibetan.

The i sound

There are at least 2 i sounds in Tibetan. In terms of all possible i sounds, there is the basic most common i sound, the secondary i sound, and the tertiary i sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.

iiLike "ee" sound.i
i5i$German i sound.y ɨ ʏ

The e sound

There are at least 3 e sounds in Tibetan. In terms of all possible e sounds, there is the basic most common e sound, the secondary e sound, and the tertiary e sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.

eeLike "day" sound.e
EELike "eh" in "pet".ɛ
e5e$Danish e sound.ø

The a sound

There is at least 1 a sound in Tibetan. In terms of all possible a sounds, there is the basic most common a sound, the secondary a sound, and the tertiary a sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.

aaLike "ah" in father sound.a ɑ ä

The o sound

There is at least 1 o sound in Tibetan. In terms of all possible o sounds, there is the basic most common o sound, the secondary o sound, and the tertiary o sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.

ooLike "oh" sound.o

The u sound

There are at least 2 u sounds in Tibetan. In terms of all possible u sounds, there is the basic most common u sound, the secondary u sound, and the tertiary u sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.

uuLike "oo" in "you" sound.u
2u$English r sound (Tone treats this as a vowel).ɹ

The m sound

There is at least 1 m sound in Tibetan. Notice the English m and mmm have a similar shape.

mmRegular mm

The n sound

There is at least 1 n sound in Tibetan. Notice the English n and nnn have a similar shape.

nnRegular nn

The q sound

There is at least 1 q sound in Tibetan.

qqRegular ngŋ ɴ

The p sound

There are at least 2 p sounds in Tibetan.

ppRegular pp
p%ph~Aspirated p

The t sound

There are at least 4 t sounds in Tibetan.

ttRegular tt
t^th~Aspirated t
t4TRetroflex t (used a lot in Indian languages)ʈ
t4^Th~Aspirated retroflex t (used a lot in Indian languages)ʈʰ

The k sound

There are at least 2 k sounds in Tibetan.

kkRegular kk
k%kh~Aspirated k

The h sound

There is at least 1 h sound in Tibetan.

hhRegular hh

The y sound

There is at least 1 y sound in Tibetan. Notice the English y and yyy have a similar shape, although the Tone yyy is like a Tone OOO with a tail.

yyRegular yj

The w sound

There is at least 1 w sound in Tibetan. Notice the English w and www have a similar shape.

wwRegular ww

The ' sound

There is at least 1 ' sound in Tibetan. This is a glottal stop in its base form.

''Regular ', used a lot in Hebrew and Arabic, amongst other languagesʔ

The sh sound

There are at least 2 sh sounds in Tibetan.

x4XRetroflex shʂ
x5xy~Palatalized shʃʲ ɕ

The l sound

There is at least 1 l sound in Tibetan.

llRegular ll

The s sound

There is at least 1 s sound in Tibetan.

ssRegular ss

The ch sound

There are at least 3 ch sounds in Tibetan.

t4x4TXRetroflex ch sound (used in Chinese and Indian, for example)ʈʂ
tx5txy~Palatalized ch sound (Used in Chinese, for example)
t4x4^TXh~Aspirated retroflex ch soundʈʂʰ