c(a) y(a) ny(a) ngv(e) by(a) gy(a) my(a) |
Note: mb is the initial consonant of voiced bilabial plosive, it represents in IPA; nd is the initial consonant of voiced alveolar plosive, it represents [d] in IPA; ng is a velar nasal, it represents [Ó] in IPA; ny is a dorsal nasal, it represents [Á] in IPA. The other compound consonants following the letter “y” represent the palatalized sounds, and the ones following “v” represent the labalized sounds.
Article 4 Zhuang writing system has 108 syllable finals. They are composed of 6 vowels “a(the short a[a] represented by “ae”)、o(the short o[o] represented by “oe”)、e、i、u、w” and the ones combining by the letters of vowels and the other sound endings. The vowels and consonants qualifying to fit in the slots of sound endings are: i、u、w、m、n、ng、p、t、k、b、d、g.
The spellings of Zhuang final sounds are listed as following:
word group with unchecked final | single- vowel syllable final | without consonant ending | a (ae) e i o (oe) u w |
compound syllable final | with final -i with final -u with final -w | ai ae ei oi ui wi au aeu eu iu ou aw |
nasal syllable final | with final -m with final -n
withn final -g
| am aem em iem im om oem uem um an aen en ien in on oen uen un wen wn ang aeng eng ieng ing ong oeng ueng ung wng |
word group with checked syllable final
| high tone group | with final -p
with final -t
with final -k
| ap aep ep iep ip op oep uep up at aet et iet it ot oet uet ut wet wt ak aek ek iek ik ok oek uek uk wk |
low tone group | With final -b
with final -d
with final -g
| ab aeb eb ieb ib ob oeb ueb ub ad aed ed ied id od oed ued ud wed wd ag aeg eg ieg ig og oeg ueg ug wg |
Note: ① For the letter-joined compound“ae” and “oe”, each of them is not qualified to sit in the position of a syllable final, here, “ae”represents the short a[a], and “oe” represents the short o[o]. For saving the space of a letter, the sound part of “aei” is represented by “ae”.
② The “e” following the final sounds of “i、u、w” indicates it is the glides of the long vowels of “i、u、w”. Alternatively, some Zhuang regions just treat them as long vowels while reading.
Article 5 Zhuang writing system adopts the measure of having some intonations marked to express its whole tone system. Each of the whole words with intonation has only been presenting with its proper tone category, and the variable tone category for each of them is not to be marked. The word group with open syllable final of Zhuang language has 6 tones, besides the tone 1 unmarked, the other tones are marked with the letter “z、j、x、q、h” respectively; the word group with checked syllable final has 2 tones, and is represented by 2 groups of sound ending, namely the high tone group with the consonant coda “p、t、k” and the low tone group with the consonant coda “b、d、g”. The pronunciation for them are listed as following:
tone category | measure of representation | tone value | example
|
word group with unchecked final | Tone 1 Tone 2 Tone 3 Tone 4 Tone 5 Tone 6 | unmarked | mid-rising | son教 |
following by “z” | low-falling | mwngz你 |
following by “j” | high-level | hwnj上 |
following by “x” | mid-falling | max马 |
following by “q” | high-rising | gvaq过 |
following by “h” | mid-level | dah河 |
word group with checked syllable final
| high tone group | short vowel | with the consonant ending “p、t、k” | high-level | daep肝 |
long vowel | (ditto) | high-rising | dap塔 |
low tone group | short vowel | with the consonant ending “b、d、g” | mid-level | daeb叠 |
long vowel | (ditto) | mid-level | gab挟 |
Article 6 The sequence to transliterate the Zhuang syllables is: initial consonant-syllable final-tone mark. Some syllables are lacking of their initial consonants, some have their tones unmarked, but the syllable finals are the necessary parts for all. The examples are listed as following:
example | initial consonant | syllable final | tone mark |
gaeq 鸡 | g | ae | q |
imq 饱 | - | im | q |
raen 见 | r | aen | - |
ai 膆 | - | ai | - |