Dzongkha is a tone language and has two register tones: high and low. The tone of a syllable determines the allophone of the onset and the phonation type of the nuclear vowel.
Consonants[]
| Bilabial | Dental/ alveolar |
Retroflex/ palatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | ʈ ⟨ť⟩ | k | ʔ ⟨'⟩ |
| aspirated | pʰ ⟨p⟩ | tʰ ⟨t⟩ | ʈʰ ⟨ť⟩ | kʰ ⟨k⟩ | ||
| voiced | b | d | ɖ ⟨ď⟩ | ɡ | ||
| breathy | bʱ ⟨b⟩ | dʱ ⟨d⟩ | ɖʱ ⟨ď⟩ | ɡʱ ⟨ɡ⟩ | ||
| Affricate | voiceless | ts | tɕ ⟨ʃ⟩ | |||
| aspirated | tsʰ ⟨ś⟩ | tɕʰ ⟨ʃ⟩ | ||||
| voiced | dz | dʑ ⟨ʒ⟩ | ||||
| breathy | dzʱ ⟨ź⟩ | dʑʱ ⟨ʒ⟩ | ||||
| Sibilant | voiceless | s | ɕ ⟨š⟩ | |||
| voiced | z | ʑ ⟨ž⟩ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | ɸ ⟨f⟩ | θ ⟨q⟩ | ç ⟨c⟩ | x | h |
| voiced | β ⟨v⟩ | ð ⟨ł⟩ | ʝ ⟨j⟩ | ɣ | ||
| Rhotic | ʙ ⟨ṿ⟩ | r | ||||
| Continuant | ʋ | ɬ l ⟨l⟩ | j ⟨ĩ⟩ | ɰ ʟ ⟨w⟩ | ||
All consonants may begin a syllable. In the onsets of low tone syllables, consonants are voiced. Aspirated consonants (indicated by the superscript h), /ɬ/, and /h/ are not found in low tone syllables. The rhotic /r/ is usually a trill [r] or a fricative trill [r̝], and is voiceless in the onsets of high tone syllables.
/t, d, ts, dz, s, z/ are dental.Descriptions of the palatal affricates and fricatives vary from alveolo-palatal to plain palatal.
Only a few consonants are found in syllable-final positions. Most common among them are /m, n, p/. Syllable-final /ŋ/ is often elided and results in the preceding vowel nasalized and prolonged, especially word-finally. Syllable-final /k/ is most often omitted when word-final as well, unless in formal speech. In literary pronunciation, liquids /r/ and /l/ may also end a syllable. Though rare, /ɕ/ is also found in syllable-final positions. No other consonants are found in syllable-final positions.
Vowels[]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː yː ⟨i⟩ | ɨ ɨː ⟨ɨ⟩ | ɯ u uː ⟨u⟩ |
| Close-mid | e eː øː ⟨e⟩ | o oː ⟨o⟩ | |
| Open-mid | ɛ ɛː ⟨ɛ⟩ | ʌ ɔ ɔː ⟨ɔ⟩ | |
| Open | æ æː ⟨æ⟩ | ɐ ⟨y⟩ | ɑ ɑː ɒ ⟨a⟩ |
- When in low tone, vowels are produced with breathy voice.
- In closed syllables, /i/ varies between [i] and [ɪ], the latter being more common.
- /yː/ varies between [yː] and [ʏː].
- /e/ varies between close-mid [e] and open-mid [ɛ], the latter being common in closed syllables. /eː/ is close-mid [eː]. /eː/ may not be longer than /e/ at all, and differs from /e/ more often in quality than in length.
- Descriptions of /øː/ vary between close-mid [øː] and open-mid [œː].
- /o/ is close-mid [o], but may approach open-mid [ɔ] especially in closed syllables. /oː/ is close-mid [oː].
- /ɛː/ is slightly lower than open-mid, i.e. [ɛ̞ː].
- /ɑ/ may approach [ɐ], especially in closed syllables.
- When nasalized or followed by [ŋ], vowels are always long.
Phonotactics[]
Many words in Dzongkha are monosyllabic. Syllables usually take the form of CVC, CV, or VC. Syllables with complex onsets are also found, but such an onset must be a combination of an unaspirated bilabial stop and a palatal affricate. The bilabial stops in complex onsets are often omitted in colloquial speech.