SeeChuvash language#Phonology at Wikipedia for a thorough look at the sounds of Chuvash. The orthography of Chuvash, however, is rather morphophonemic than being phonemic.
| IPA | Orthography | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /ʋ/ | в | вут(vut) | "fire" | /ˈʋut/ |
| /j/ | й | йӑваш(jăvaš) | "quiet, mild" | /jəˈʋaʃ/ |
| /k/ | к | кайӑк(kajăk) | "bird" | /ˈkajək/ |
| /l/ | л | лайӑх-и(lajăh̬-i) | "hello" | /ˈlaj(ə)χ ˈi/ |
| /m/ | м | мӗн(mĕn) | "what?" | /ˈmʲø̆nʲ/ |
| /n/ | н | начар(nač̬ar) | "bad" | /naˈdʑar/ |
| /p/ | п | пиллӗк(pillĕk) | "five" | /pʲilːʲɘkʲ/ |
| /r/ | р | пӗрре(pĕrre) | "one" | /pʲɘˈrːʲe/ |
| /s/ | с | саккӑр(sakkăr) | "eight" | /ˈsakːər/ |
| /ɕ/ | ҫ | ҫиччӗ(śiččĕ) | "seven" | /ˈɕʲitɕʲː(ɘ)/ |
| /t/ | т | тата(tat̬a) | "and" | /ˈtada/ |
| /χ/ | х | хӑш(hăš) | "which one?" | /ˈχŏʃ/ |
| /tɕ/ | ч | чечек(čeč̬ek) | "flower" | /tɕʲeˈdʑʲekʲ/ |
| /ʃ/ | ш | шурӑ(šură) | "white" | /ˈʃur(ə)/ |
| IPA | Orthography | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /b/ | б | Болгари(Bolgari) | "Bulgaria" | /bolˈɡarʲi/ |
| /ɡ/ | г | Болгари(Bolgari) | ||
| /d/ | д | Андорра(Andorra) | "Andorra" | /anˈdorːa/ |
| /ʒ/ | ж | Азербайджан(Azerbajdžan) | "Azerbaijan" | /azʲerʲbajˈdʒan/ |
| /z/ | з | Азербайджан(Azerbajdžan) | ||
| /f/ | ф | N/A | ||
| /t͡s/ | ц | N/A | ||
Between vowels, and after nasals (/m/, /n/), semivowels (/j/, /ʋ/), or liquids (/l/, /r/); stops, sibilants, and affricates (all consonants except five consonants said above and) are lenited to become lenes (similar to voiced consonants), as inкилччӗ(kilččĕ,“you would come”) /ˈkʲilʲtɕʲː(ɘ)/ vs.килчӗ(kilč̬ĕ,“he came”) /ˈkʲilʲdʑʲ(ɘ)/. Geminate consonants, however, does not experience the lenition. Also, the infix-кала(-kala,“intensive and iterative infix”) is unaffected by lenition (кулкаласа(kulk̬alas̬a) → /kulkalaˈza/, not */kulɡalaˈza/).[1] These voiced consonants are either transcribed with generic voiced consonants, or with caron below diacritic (/t̬/) asthe Wikipedia article does. By the time ofRussian Revolution, geminate consonants began to be simplified to single ones after consonants, leaving pairs like /ˈkʲilʲtɕʲ(ɘ)/ “you would come” vs. /ˈkʲilʲdʑʲ(ɘ)/ “he came” as in above, making the voiced allophones become phonemic (this change was not reflected in the orthography, however).
| Unvoiced | Voiced |
|---|---|
| /k/ | [ɡ] |
| /p/ | [b] |
| /s/ | [z] |
| /ɕ/ | [ʑ] |
| /t/ | [d] |
| /χ/ | [ɣ] |
| /t͡ɕ/ | [d͡ʑ] |
| /ʃ/ | [ʒ] |
| /f/ | [v] |
| /t͡͡s/ | [d͡z] |
Before /k/ and /χ/, /n/ becomes pronounced /ŋ/ (these phonemes were also voiced after /n/ to /ɡ/ and /ɣ/). The phoneme /n/ also becomes /ɲ/ before /tɕ/ (voiced to /dʑ/), regardless of the front vowel preceding or succeeding it.
| IPA | Orthography | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | а | атте(atte) | "father" | /aˈtːʲe/ |
| /ŏ/ | ӑ | вӑрӑм(vărăm) | "long" | /ˈvŏr(ə)m/ |
| /e/ | е, э[2] | эпӗ(epĕ) | "I" | /ˈebʲ(ə)/ |
| /je/ | е[2] | епле(eple) | "how" | /jepʲˈlʲe/ |
| /ø̆/ | ӗ | ӗлӗк(ĕlĕk) | "before" | /ˈø̆lʲɘkʲ/ |
| /i/ | и | иккӗ(ikkĕ) | "one" | /ˈikːʲ(ɘ)/ |
| /u/ | у | улттӑ(ulttă) | "six" | /ˈultː(ə)/ |
| /y/ | ӳ | тӳрӗ(türĕ) | "straiɡht" | /ˈtʲyrʲ(ɘ)/ |
| /ɯ/ | ы | ыран(yran) | "today" | /ɯˈran/ |
| /ja/ | я | ял(jal) | "village, people" | /ˈjal/ |
| /ju/ | ю | юрат(jurat) | "to like" | /juˈrat/ |
| IPA | Orthography | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /o/ | о | Огайо(Ogajo) | "Ohio" | /oˈɡajo/ |
| /jo/ | ё | N/A | ||
Front vowels (/e/, /je/, /ø̆/, /i/, /y/) may cause the preceding and succeeding consonants to be palatalized (мӗн */ˈmø̆n/ → /ˈmʲø̆ɲ/). The soft sign letter ⟨ь⟩ is used to palatalize a consonant without a front vowel, as some words likeпыльчӑклӑ(pylʹčăklă/ˈpɯlʲtɕʲəklə/). Using substitutions for palatalized phonemes of /c/, /ɟ/, /ʎ/, /ɲ/, /ç/, and /ʝ/ (the last one is the expected voiced counterpart of /ç/); for /kʲ/, /ɡʲ/, /lʲ/, /nʲ/, /χʲ/, and /ɣʲ/, respectively; is allowed, but it is not recommended (except /ɲ/,анне(anne) /aˈnːʲe/ → /aˈɲːe/) to use these substitutions due to their uncertainty. In unstressed syllables, reduced vowels /ŏ/ and /ø̆/ becomes /ə/ and /ɘ/, and those vowels can be dropped in positions where it can be elided in fast speech (иккӗ(ikkĕ) → /ˈikːʲ(ɘ)/).[1]
The position of Chuvash stress is predictable, as shown by these rules (stress are denoted by an acute accent):