Shigatse Tibetan — Pronunciation for English Speakers
This guide is based on a phoneme-by-phoneme comparison of Shigatse Tibetan and English. Shigatse Tibetan and English share 15 sounds — about 27% of Shigatse Tibetan's inventory. The remaining sounds are where English speakers will need to focus their practice.
Sounds to learn from scratch (41)
These phonemes exist in Shigatse Tibetan but not in English. English speakers will need to learn to produce and perceive them as new categories — not just a variation of an existing English sound.
Familiar sounds (15)
These phonemes exist in both Shigatse Tibetan and English. You already produce and perceive them — though they may appear in different positions or syllable structures.
English sounds not used in Shigatse Tibetan (30)
These English phonemes don't exist in Shigatse Tibetan. Native Shigatse Tibetan speakers learning English will face the reverse challenge with these sounds.