View source for Appendix:Tpaalha pronunciation

{{LangBar|Tpaalha}}

The [[Tpaalha language]] has 27 consonants, 8 vowels, and 2 glides.

== Standard Romanization ==

{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Letter
! IPA
! English example
! Notes
|-
| '''a'''
| a
| f'''a'''ther
| 
|-
| '''b'''
| b
| '''b'''og
|
|-
| '''d'''
| ɖ
| '''d'''og (''Indian English'')
| 
|-
| '''dy'''
| ɟ
| '''g'''ules
| 
|-
| '''e'''
| ɛ
| b'''e'''t
|
|-
| '''f'''
| ɸ
| '''f'''ood
| 
|-
| '''g'''
| g
| '''g'''ood
|
|-
| '''gh'''
| ɣ
| —
| Approximately like the '''r''' in French '''''r'''ouge''.
|-
| '''h'''
| h
| '''h'''am
|
|-
| '''i'''
| i
| mach'''i'''ne
| 
|-
| '''k'''
| k
| s'''k'''ill
|
|-
| '''kh'''
| x
| lo'''ch''' (''Scottish English'')
| 
|-
| '''l'''
| ɭ
| — 
| Like the '''rl''' in Swedish ''so'''rl'''''.
|-
| '''lh'''
| ꞎ
| — 
| Like the '''ll''' in Welsh '''''Ll'''ewelyn'', but with the tongue curled backwards.
|-
| '''ly'''
| ʎ
| mi'''lli'''on
|
|-
| '''m'''
| m
| '''m'''an
|
|-
| '''n'''
| n ~ ɳ
| '''n'''o, — 
| The latter is pronounced like '''rn''' in Swedish ''ga'''rn'''''.
|-
| '''ng'''
| ŋ
| si'''ng'''
| 
|-
| '''ny'''
| ɲ
| o'''ni'''on
| 
|-
| '''o'''
| ʌ
| c'''u'''t
| 
|-
| '''p'''
| p
| s'''p'''an
|
|-
| '''r'''
| ɻ
| — 
| Like the '''r''' in English '''''r'''ed'', but with the tongue curled backwards.
|-
| '''s'''
| s
| '''s'''ee
| 
|-
| '''sh'''
| ʂ
| '''sh'''eep
| 
|-
| '''sy'''
| ç
| '''h'''uge
| 
|-
| '''t'''
| ʈ
| '''t'''ime (''Indian English'')
| 
|-
| '''ty'''
| c
| '''c'''ute
| 
|-
| '''u'''
| ɯ
| r'''u'''de (''some Calfornia varieties'')
| Like the '''u''' in ''r'''u'''de'' in most English varieties, but with the lips unrounded.
|-
| '''v'''
| β
| '''v'''oice 
|
|-
| '''w'''
| ʍ
| '''wh'''at (''some varieties'')
|
|-
| '''y'''
| j
| '''y'''awn
| 
|-
| '''z'''
| z
| '''z'''oo
| 
|-
| '''zh'''
| ʐ
| a'''z'''ure
| 
|-
| '''zy'''
| ʝ
| — 
| Like the '''h''' in "'''h'''uge" but voiced.
|}

'''Notes:'''
* Long vowels are written by doubling the vowel letter.

== Phonetics ==

Some notable features of Tpaalha's sound system are the retroflex series of consonants including a lateral fricative, as well as unrounded back vowels.

=== Consonants ===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" | 
! Labial
! Alveolar
! Retroflex
! Palatal
! Velar
! Glottal
|-
! colspan="2" | Nasal
| m [n] || colspan=2 |  n [n ~ ɳ]  || ny [ɲ] || ng [ŋ] ||
|-
! rowspan="2" | Plosive
! <small>voiceless</small>
| p [p] ||  || t [ʈ] || ty [c] || k [k]||
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
| b [b] ||  || d [ɖ] || dy [ɟ]  || g [g] ||
|-
! rowspan="2" | Fricative
! <small>voiceless</small>
| f [ɸ] || s [s] || sh [ʂ] || sy [ç] || kh [x] || h [h]
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
| v [β] || z [z] || zh [ʐ] || zy [ʝ] || gh [ɣ] || 
|-
! rowspan="2" | Lateral
! <small>voiceless</small>
|  ||  || lh [ꞎ] ||  ||  ||
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
|  ||  || l [ɭ] || ly [ʎ]  ||  ||
|-
! rowspan="2" | Approximant
! <small>voiceless</small>
| w [ʍ] ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
| ([w]) ||  || r [ɻ] || y [j]  ||  ||
|}

'''Notes:'''

* [w] is of uncertain status as a phoneme. [ʍ] is more common, and usually is what is meant by '''w''' in the romanization.

=== Vowels ===
Tpaalha has five vowel qualities, with the three cardinal vowels having two lengths, making up a total of eight monophthongs:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan=2 |
! Front
! Central
! Back
|-
! rowspan=2 | Close !! <small>short</small>
| i [i]
|
| u [ɯ]
|-
! <small>long</small>
| ii [iː]
|
| uu [ɯː]
|-
! colspan=2 | Mid
| e [ɛ]
| 
| o [ʌ]
|-
! rowspan=2 | Open !! <small>short</small>
| 
| a [a]
|
|-
! <small>long</small>
|
| aa [aː]
|
|}

==== Diphthongs ====

There are a number of diphthongs, for example '''uo''' [ɯʌ] and '''ou''' [ʌɯ].

[[Category:Pronunciation by language]]
[[Category:Tpaalha language]]