List of all initial consonants in MTL
The 18 initial consonants in the MTL system are: p, ph, m, b, t, th, n, l, k, kh, h, g, c, ch, s, j, z, zh.
MTL | Approx. | Example | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
p | spin | papaf | father |
ph | pin | phaq | to hit |
m | Mimi | mi | noodle |
b | mumble | baq | meat |
t | stem | tit | straight |
th | Thomas | theh | to take |
n | neat | nii | year |
l | lima | laang | person |
k | ski | kaf | to add |
kh | key | khix | to go |
h | heap | hii | fish |
g | gaggle | go | five |
c(i) | gee | ciaf | here |
ch(i) | cheese | chiaf | car |
s | she / saw | si | is; yes |
j | vision / zeta | jit | sun; day |
z | yards | zef | this |
zh | Tsai (Ts'ai) | zhaix | vegetable |
Note: s and j are "fricatives" when followed by i (IPA: [ɕ], [ʑ])
Frequency
The top five frequently occurring consonants in MoeDict are: k, s, <none>, t, and h. The three least frequently are j, m, and n. K appears nearly 4,300 times, but n appears only 374 times.