Modern Literal Taiwanese alphabet

The Modern Literal Taiwanese alphabet was "designed in accord with international usage". It uses 27 letters: one letter more than the English alphabet. The extra letter is the Scandinavian ø.

Letter	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	Ø	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z
Name	a	by	cy	ied	e	ef*	gi	hy	i	ji	ky	ly	my	ny	o	ø	py	kiuq	ar	sy	ty	u	viw	w	ex*	y	zef

• Helper note (*): efhw and exkix.

Consonants

• All 18 initial consonants: p, ph, m, b, t, th, n, l, k, kh, h, g, c, ch, s, j, z, zh.
• Five are aspirated consonants: ph, th, kh, ch, zh. The last one is called "zheq".
• s and j are "fricatives" (turbulent) when followed by i (IPA: [ɕ], [ʑ]).

The initial consonants

File:Initial consonants slow.mp3

All the consonants (slower), plus sw and juo (non-turbulent)

Vowels

• Eight of the letters are always vowels: a, i, u, e, o, ø, y, w.
  • y and w are high tone of i and u
• m and ng are vowels but can be consonants too: "m-", "-m", "-ng"

Song

See also

• Table of all finals
• Modern Literal Taiwanese
• A Beginner's Guide to Taiwanese

External links

• Liim Keahioong (2001). Introduction to MLT (Modern Literal Taiwanese)
• Liim, Keahioong (1986). The Song of Taiwanese Alphabet
• Washington DC Taiwanese School. Modern Literal Taiwanese alphabet