Proposal for a Roman Alphabet

This is a working proposal for a Roman-based alphabet for Burushaski proposed by research assistants Piar Karim and Tyler Utt and modified by Dr. Sadaf Munshi. The proposed Roman symbols are accompanied by a phonetic description and examples for illustration.

Symbol Phonetic description Example
VOWELS    
a
Low Central Short Vowel bar ‘talk (n.)’
, dan 
Low Central Long Vowel bāsr ‘language’ 
, dāri 
High Front Short Vowel ime ‘his tooth’, bik 
, bis 
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High Front Long Vowel dīmi ‘he came’, bīk 
Mid High Front Short Vowel

bes ‘why’

, men ‘who’ 

Mid High Front Long Vowel  mēn
, tēle ‘there’, bezēle ‘how’
Mid High Back Round Short Vowel mos
, tol
, toq ‘mud’, thalo ‘seven’
Mid High Back Round Long Vowel mōq ‘smile’, ōs ‘keep; Imperative’ 
High Back Round Short Vowel bur ‘hair’
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, urk ‘wolf’  
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, ume ‘their teech’, jumu ‘gown’
High Back Round Long Vowel būr
, mūl ‘her belly’, YB. ūll ‘belly’
Diphthongs    
ai 
[ai] *(marginal) bai ‘he is’
, SB. hukaints ‘dogs’
au 
[au] *(marginal) SB. baum ‘mare’ (<Shina baum), qau 
     
CONSONANTS    
Stops:    
Voiceless Unaspirated Bilabial Stop pūn ‘jar’, paqo ‘(type of) bread’ 
ph 
Voiceless Aspirated Bilabial Stop phitti ‘(type of) bread; food’ (Dial. Var.), phallo 
, phulghu 
Voiced Bilabial Stop bar ‘talk (n.)’
, bāsr ‘language’
Voiceless Unaspirated Dental Stop tili ‘walnut’ (YB. telle
th 
Voiceless Aspirated Dental Stop tham ‘king’ 
Voiced Dental Stop dan ‘stone’ 
tt 
Voiceless Unaspirated Retroflex/Alveolar Stop ttam ‘close’  
, ttingan ‘egg’  
tth 
Voiceless Aspirated Retroflex/Alveolar Stop tthām ‘broom’, thang ‘push’ 
dd 
Voiced Retroflex/Alveolar Stop ddauddo ‘(kind of) soup’
ddaddang ‘drum’
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Voiceless Unaspirated Velar Stop kāko ‘brother (honorific)’, kaman ‘a little’
kh 
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Voiceless Aspirated Velar Stop khapun ‘spoon’, kharetti ‘basket’
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Voiced Velar Stop gar ‘marriage’, YB. gamburi ‘flower’
Voiceless Unaspirated Uvular Stop qarqāmuts ‘hens’
, qaw ‘call (n.)’
qh, x  
Voiceless Aspirated Uvular Stop *(marginal) qhurma ‘date’ (SB. xurma) 
Affricates:    
ch
Voiceless Unaspirated Palatal Affricate chagha ‘talk (n.)’ 
chh
Voiceless Aspirated Palatal Affricate chhap ‘meat’ 
Voiced Palatal Affricate jott ‘small’ 
ts 
Voiceless Unaspirated Dental Affricate tsatt ‘hole’
, tsaka ‘prop supporting a (wooden) beam’
tsh 
Voiceless Aspirated Dental Affricate tshil ‘water’ (YB. tshell) 
cr 
Voiceless Unaspirated Retroflex Affricate cruk ’embroidery; act of inserting (a needle)’ 
crh 
Voiceless Aspirated Retroflex Affricate crhin ‘sparror’ (YB. crhen) 
Fricatives:    
Voiceless Labio-dental fricative *(marginal) faraq ‘difference’ (<Ur. farq) 
Voiced Labio-dental fricative *(marginal) valto ‘four’
, varaq ‘page’ (YB. waraq)
Voiceless Velar Fricative (varies with <qh> or <q> in HB)  xurma ‘dates’
, xurxamas ‘garbage’
, SB. rax ‘desire’ (HB. raq), YB. xat ‘mouth’
gh 
Voiced Velar Fricative ghashu ‘onion’
, haghur ‘horse’ 
Voiceless Glottal Fricative hun ‘wood’
, har ‘ox’ 
Voiceless Alveolar Fricative sar ‘thread’
, sa ‘sun’
Voiced Alveolar Fricative zizi ‘mother (address term)’
, bezēle ‘how’ 
sr 
Voiceless Retroflex Fricative sri ‘eat (Imperative)’, busray ‘cultivated land’
, sraqal ‘bee’ 
zr 
Voiced Retroflex Fricative zruk ‘kidney’, zrakun ‘donkey’
sh 
Voiceless Palatal Fricative shuqa ‘woollen coat’ (YB. shoqa), bush ‘cat’
,  shughulu ‘friend’
Nasals:    
Bilabial Nasal mamu ‘milk’
,  muk ‘pearl’
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Alveolar Nasal SB. nimas ‘story’
, dan ‘stone’, chuuni ‘wood’
ng 
Velar Nasal (occurs only in non-initial positions) shangali ‘(door) chain’
, thating ‘cold’, hing ‘door’, ingi ‘in-front’
ny 
Palatal Nasal *(marginal) YB. nyuh ~ nyu ‘elder’ 
, YB. minyas ‘story’
Approximants:    
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Voiced Lateral Liquid/Approximant leel ‘knowledge’
, tshil ‘water’,  baalt ‘apple’
lh
Voiceless Lateral Liquid *(Yasin dialect) YB. baalht ‘apple’
, YB. alhtan ‘two’
ll 
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Velarized/Pharyngealized l “Dark l” *(Yasin) YB. mall ‘field’
, YB. llamaan ‘hem of shirt’, tshell ‘water’
Voiced Alveolar Liquid/Approximant yar ‘early’, varts ‘right’, SB. rax ‘desire’ 
rh 
Voiceless Alveolar Liquid/Approximant *(Yasin) YB. sharhphat ‘promptly’ 
Labio-velar Approximant *(marginal; may vary with <v> waw (etas) ‘shout’
, walimi ‘(it) fell (down)’
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Palatal Glide ya ‘beer’, yar ‘early’
, yaare ‘below’
yr
Retroflex Glide yrayr ‘fast’
, YB. crayrayra ‘flying roach’