Triparic Pronunciation
The alphabet
The Triparic alphabet, upper and lower case forms, is:
A a, Ä ä, Å å, Ã ã, Æ æ, B b, C c, D d, Ð ð, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ö ö, Ø ø, Ŏ ŏ, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, Þ þ, U u, Ü ü, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z
Consonants
| Consonant | Description |
|---|---|
| b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, t, v, w, z | All as typically used in English. |
| c | Always /k/, except in the digraphs ch and sch (see below). |
| ç | Always /s/. |
| ch | As ⟨ch⟩ in English church. |
| ð | As the ⟨th⟩ in English that. |
| g | Always hard, like in English get. |
| j | Always the voiced affricate like in English jump. |
| q | Pronounced /k/. Occurs in words of Romance origin. |
| r | Throaty rather than trilled. Pronounced like the American English ⟨r⟩. |
| s | Pronounced /s/ in most contexts, except /z/ at the end of words after vowels or voiced consonants. When doubled, ss is always pronounced /s/, not /z/. This is like its behavior in English: consider "has", "kids", "lass". |
| sch | As ⟨sh⟩ in English shoe. |
| þ | As the ⟨th⟩ in English think. |
| x | As in English axe, except at beginning of words, where it is pronounced as /z/. |
| y | When before a vowel, consonantal as in English, as in yet. |
| zh | As ⟨z⟩ in English azure. |
Vowels
| Vowel | IPA | Description |
|---|---|---|
| a, e, i, o, u | /a, e, i, o, u/ | As their common pronunciation in Romance languages |
| u | /u, w/ | When between a velar stop (c, k, q, g) and another vowel, pronounced like w; otherwise, pronounced like ⟨oo⟩ in English soon |
| y | /i/ | When used vocalically, usually at the end of words, pronounced like i |
| ä[1] | /eɪ̯/ | as ⟨a⟩ in English hate |
| å | /æ/ | as ⟨a⟩ in English hat |
| ã | /ʌ/ | as ⟨u⟩ in English hut |
| æ | /aɪ̯/ | as English aye |
| ö[2] | /œ/ | as in German Göttin |
| ø[3] | /ɔɪ̯/ | as ⟨oy⟩ in English boy |
| ŏ[4] | /aʊ̯/ | as ⟨ou⟩ in English out |
| ü | /y/ | as in German müssen |
Sounds eliminated in 2016 Reform
| Original | Sound | Replacement |
|---|---|---|
| î | nasal "i" like in French fin | Replaced with i in most words; å in a few |
| ñ | Palatalized "n" like ⟨ny⟩ in English canyon | Very rare. Replaced with ny if necessary. |
| ô | as ⟨oa⟩ in English boat | No significant difference from o, so replaced with that |
| û | nasal "u" like in French brun | No significant difference from ã, so replaced with that |
Key to Phonetics Symbols
Something written in ⟨angle brackets⟩ is one or more graphemes; that is, it represents something written. Something written in /slashes/ is one or more phonemes; that is, it represents the units of sound that speakers break their language down into. These are most properly written in the International Phonetic Alphabet.