This is a quick cheat sheet for the sounds found in Tibetan.
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.
| i | i | Like "ee" sound. | i |
| i5 | i$ | German i sound. | y ɨ ʏ |
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.
| e | e | Like "day" sound. | e |
| E | E | Like "eh" in "pet". | ɛ |
| e5 | e$ | Danish e sound. | ø |
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.
| a | a | Like "ah" in father sound. | a ɑ ä |
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.
| o | o | Like "oh" sound. | o |
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.
| u | u | Like "oo" in "you" sound. | u |
| 2 | u$ | English r sound (Tone treats this as a vowel). | ɹ |
There is at least 1 m sound in Tibetan. Notice the English m and mm have a similar shape.
| m | m | Regular m | m |
There is at least 1 n sound in Tibetan. Notice the English n and nn have a similar shape.
| n | n | Regular n | n |
There is at least 1 q sound in Tibetan.
| q | q | Regular ng | ŋ ɴ |
There are at least 2 p sounds in Tibetan.
| p | p | Regular p | p |
| p% | ph~ | Aspirated p | pʰ |
There are at least 4 t sounds in Tibetan.
| t | t | Regular t | t |
| t^ | th~ | Aspirated t | tʰ |
| t4 | T | Retroflex t (used a lot in Indian languages) | ʈ |
| t4^ | Th~ | Aspirated retroflex t (used a lot in Indian languages) | ʈʰ |
There are at least 2 k sounds in Tibetan.
| k | k | Regular k | k |
| k% | kh~ | Aspirated k | kʰ |
There is at least 1 h sound in Tibetan.
| h | h | Regular h | h |
There is at least 1 y sound in Tibetan. Notice the English y and yy have a similar shape, although the Tone yy is like a Tone OO with a tail.
| y | y | Regular y | j |
There is at least 1 w sound in Tibetan. Notice the English w and ww have a similar shape.
| w | w | Regular w | w |
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 languages | ʔ |
There are at least 2 sh sounds in Tibetan.
| x4 | X | Retroflex sh | ʂ |
| x5 | xy~ | Palatalized sh | ʃʲ ɕ |
There is at least 1 l sound in Tibetan.
| l | l | Regular l | l |
There is at least 1 s sound in Tibetan.
| s | s | Regular s | s |
There are at least 3 ch sounds in Tibetan.
| t4x4 | TX | Retroflex ch sound (used in Chinese and Indian, for example) | ʈʂ |
| tx5 | txy~ | Palatalized ch sound (Used in Chinese, for example) | tɕ |
| t4x4^ | TXh~ | Aspirated retroflex ch sound | ʈʂʰ |