Consonants
|
IPA |
Shan |
New Tai Lü |
English approximation
|
b
|
ၿ |
ᦢ,ᦥ |
abash
|
d
|
ၻ,ꩨ |
ᦡ,ᦤ |
ado
|
f
|
ၾ |
ᦚ,ᦝ |
food
|
ɡ
|
ၷ |
— |
good
|
h
|
ႁ |
ᦠ,ᦣ |
head
|
j
|
ယ |
ᦊ,ᦍ |
yak
|
k
|
ၵ |
ᦂ,ᦅ |
scan
|
kʰ
|
ၶ |
ᦃ,ᦆ |
can
|
l
|
လ,ꩮ |
ᦜ,ᦟ |
leaf
|
m
|
မ |
ᦖ,ᦙ |
much
|
n
|
ၼ |
ᦐ,ᦓ |
not
|
ŋ
|
င |
ᦄ,ᦇ |
bang
|
ɲ
|
ၺ |
— |
canyon
|
p
|
ပ |
ᦔ,ᦗ |
span
|
pʰ
|
ၽ |
ᦕ,ᦘ |
pan
|
r
|
ရ,꩹ |
ᦣ |
roughly like water (American English)
|
s
|
သ |
ᦉ,ᦌ |
sue
|
sʰ
|
သ |
— |
shoe
|
ʃ
|
သျ |
— |
shoe
|
t
|
တ,ꩦ |
ᦎ,ᦑ |
stable
|
tʰ
|
ထ,ꩧ,ꩪ,ꩩ |
ᦏ,ᦒ |
table
|
ts
|
ၸ |
ᦈ,ᦋ |
Betsy
|
tsʰ
|
ၶျ |
— |
cheese
|
θ
|
ႀ |
— |
thing
|
v
|
— |
ᦛ,ᦞ |
village
|
w
|
ဝ |
ᦛ,ᦞ |
way
|
x
|
— |
ᦃ,ᦆ |
loch in Scottish English
|
z
|
ၹ |
— |
zebra
|
ʔ
|
ဢ |
ᦀ,ᦁ |
the catch in uh-oh
|
|
Tone
|
IPA |
Description
|
a or ā
|
mid [aː˧]
|
à
|
low [a˨˩] or [a˩]
|
â
|
falling [a˥˩] (Tai Lü only)
|
a̰
|
creaky falling [a̰˥˩] (Shan only)
|
á
|
high [aː˥]
|
ǎ
|
rising [a˨˦] (Shan only)
|
a᷄
|
high rising [a˧˥] (Tai Lü only)
|
a᷅
|
lowing rising [a˩˧] (Tai Lü only)
|
|
Vowels
|
IPA |
Shan |
New Tai Lü |
English approximation
|
Short vowels
|
a
|
unmarked |
ᦰ |
cut
|
e
|
ေ,ဵ |
ᦵ |
roughly like say
|
ɛ
|
ႄ, ႅ |
ᦶ |
roughly like bat
|
i
|
ီ |
ᦲ |
happy
|
o
|
ူဝ် |
ᦷ |
go without u sound (shorter)
|
ɔ
|
ေႃ, ွ |
ᦸ |
lot
|
u
|
ု, ူ |
ᦳ |
loot (shorter)
|
ɯ or ɨ
|
ို |
ᦹ |
good
|
ɤ or ə
|
ိူ |
ᦵᦲ |
roughly like hurt (shorter)
|
Long vowels
|
aː
|
ၢ |
ᦱ |
bra
|
|