THE TEN FINAL CONSONANTS

The final letters, to be pronounced after the vowel, are:

–G, –D*, –B, –N̂ (sometimes -ƞ particularly in Khaita songs, which are in lower case), –M, –N*, –R, –L, –N, –S*

(finals with * cause the preceding vowel to change according to these rules)

NON VOICED:

• Final –G is pronounced as a very light k, shortening and stopping the preceding vowel, which remains unchanged. For example:

• Final –D* is pronounced like a very light d, the sound of the vowel changes according to these rules:

• Final –B is pronounced as a very light p, shortening and stopping the preceding vowel, which remains unchanged. For example:

NASALS ( pronounced as in English)

• Final –N̂ (-ƞ when in lower case) is pronounced like -ng in ring, vowel remains unchanged:

• Final –M is pronounced m:

• Final –N* is pronounced n, and the sound of the preceding vowel changes according to these rules:

FINAL LETTERS TO BE PRONOUNCED IN A LIGHTER WAY

• Final –R is pronounced as a soft  r:

• Final –L is pronounced l in a lighter way, and the sound of the vowel changes in Central Tibetan. However, according to the pronunciation in Eastern Tibet, the suffix -l does not modify the sound of the vowel:

UNPRONOUNCED FINAL:

• Final –S* is silent (unpronounced) but slightly lengthens and changes the preceding vowel according to these rules:

A note on syllables after the first:

The syllables beyond the first, in  words having more than one syllable, undergo the following changes:

• Aspiration is removed

• Syllables with a voiced variant (GǍ, JǍ, DǍ, BǍ, GYǍ, JYǍ and DRǍ) are pronounced voiced