Santali/Alphabet

Letters The values of the Ol Chiki letters are as follows: LetterNameIPATransliterationShapeALA-LCZideDeva.Beng.Odiaᱚla/ɔ/aọअঅଅburning fireᱛat/t/ttतতତ୍the Earthᱜag/kʼ/, /g/gkʼगগଗ୍vomiting mouth, which produces the same sound as the name of the letterᱝang/ŋ/ṃṅंংଂblowing airᱞal/l/llलলଲ୍writingᱟlaa/a/āaआআଆworking in the field with a spadeᱠaak/k/kkकকକ୍bird (sound of a swan)ᱡaaj/cʼ/, /ɟ/jcʼजজଜ୍person pointing towards a third person with the right hand (saying “he”)ᱢaam/m/mmमমମ୍person pointing towards a second person with the left hand (saying “you”)ᱣaaw/w/, /v/wwवওয়ୱ୍opening lipsᱤli/i/iiइইଇbending treeᱥis/s/ssसসସ୍plowᱦih/ʔ/, /h/ẖhहহହ୍hands upᱧiny/ɲ/ññञঞଞ୍person pointing towards himself/herself with the left handᱨir/r/rrरরର୍sickle used for cutting or reapingᱩlu/u/uuउউଉvessel used for preparing foodᱪuch/c/ccचচଚ୍peak of a mountain which is usually highᱫud/tʼ/, /d/dtʼदদଦ୍mushroom or umbrellaᱬunn/ɳ/ṇṇणণଣ୍picture of a flying bee (which Is described by Santali speakers as making this sound)ᱭuy/j/yyयয়ୟ୍a man bending towards the ground to cut somethingᱮle/e/eeएএଏoverflowing rivers changing courseᱯep/p/ppपপପ୍person receiving with both handsᱰedd/ɖ/ḍḍडডଡ୍a man with two legs stretching towards his chest and mouthᱱen/n/nnनনନ୍threshing grains with two legsᱲerr/ɽ/ṛṛड़ড়ଡ଼୍a path that turns to avoid an obstruction or a dangerᱳlo/o/ooओওଓa mouth when sounding this letterᱴott/ʈ/ṭṭटটଟ୍camel humpᱵob/pʼ/, /b/bpʼबবବ୍curly hairᱶov/w̃/ṅw̃ङঙଙ୍nasalizedᱷoh/ʰ/h(C)hहহହ୍a man throwing something with one hand Aspirated consonants are written as digraphs with the letter ᱷ: ᱛᱷ /tʰ/, ᱜᱷ /gʱ/, ᱠᱷ /kʰ/, ᱡᱷ /jʱ/, ᱪᱷ /cʰ/, ᱫᱷ /dʱ/, ᱯᱷ /pʰ/, ᱰᱷ /ɖʱ/, ᱲᱷ /ɽʱ/, ᱴᱷ /ʈʰ/, and ᱵᱷ /bʱ/. Other marks Ol Chiki employs several marks which are placed after the letter they modify (there are no combining characters): MarkNameDescriptionᱹgăhlă ṭuḍăgThis baseline dot is used to extend three vowel letters for the Santal Parganas dialect of Santali: ᱚᱹ ŏ /ɔ/, ᱟᱹ ă /ə/, and ᱮᱹ ĕ /ɛ/. The phonetic difference between ᱚ and ᱚᱹ is not clearly defined and there may be only a marginal phonemic difference between the two. ᱚᱹ is rarely used. ALA-LC transliterates ᱟᱹ as "ạ̄".ᱸmũ ṭuḍăgThis raised dot indicates nasalization of the preceding vowel: ᱚᱸ /ɔ̃/, ᱟᱸ /ã/, ᱤᱸ /ĩ/, ᱩᱸ /ũ/, ᱮᱸ /ẽ/, and ᱳᱸ /õ/. ALA-LC transliteration uses "m̐" after the affected vowel.ᱺmũ găhlă ṭuḍăgThis colon-like mark is used to mark a nasalized extended vowel. It is a combination of mũ ṭuḍăg and găhlă ṭuḍăg: ᱚᱺ /ɔ̃/, ᱟᱺ /ə̃/, and ᱮᱺ /ɛ̃/.ᱻrelāThis tilde-like mark indicates the prolongation of any oral or nasalized vowel. Compare ᱮ /e/ with ᱮᱻ /eː/. It comes after the găhlă ṭuḍăg for extended vowels: ᱮᱹᱻ /ɛː/. It is omitted in ALA-LC transliteration.ᱽahadThis special letter indicates the deglottalization of a consonant in the word-final position. It preserves the morphophonemic relationship between the glottalized (ejective) and voiced equivalents of consonants. For example, ᱜ represents a voiced /g/ when word initial but an ejective /kʼ/ when in the word-final position. A voiced /g/ in the word-final position is written as ᱜᱽ. The ahad is used with ᱜ, ᱡ, ᱦ, ᱫ, and ᱵ which can form cursive ligatures with ᱽ in handwriting (but not usually in printed text). ALA-LC transliteration uses an apostrophe (ʼ) to represent an ahad.ᱼphārkāThis hyphen-like mark serves as a glottal protector (the opposite function as the ahad.) It preserves the ejective sound, even in the word-initial position. Compare ᱜᱚ /gɔ/ with ᱜᱼᱚ /kʼɔ/. The phārkā is only used with ᱜ, ᱡ, ᱫ, and ᱵ. It is omitted in ALA-LC transliteration. Numerals Ol Chiki has its own numerals: Hindu-Arabic numerals0123456789Ol Chiki᱐᱑᱒᱓᱔᱕᱖᱗᱘᱙