The World’s First (and Only) Truly Phonemic Alphabet


EXAMPLES OF NEW AND BORROWED LETTERS USED IN NAVLIPI

  • (Borrowed from Greek): Ω as in English ball;
  • (Borrowed from Greek): ε as in English hey; ƞ (as in English inch- palatal nasal).
  • ɔ (invertedc, as in English Jack); ƪ (inverted-j, as in English Jack).
  • ŧ and đ (for Hindi and , which are, respectively the unvoiced and voiced retroflex plosives).
  • ր (for Hindi , retroflex nasal).
  • q, as in English nature; contrast to a (as in English but) and aa (as in English father. (This is the schwa of Western phonetics.)
  • (New letters):
    • ȓ (for Dewanaagari ऋ, vocalic r-sound);
    • (Tamil , common Latin transcription zh, lateral, jaw-forward approximant or semivowel);
    • Ƹ This letter has not yet been assigned; kept as reserve for now.

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