Rohingya Language

1. Alphabet: 

Rohingyalish uses all 26 English letters plus the two Latin characters ç  (retroflex-r) and ñ (nasal-sound) respectively, for example, Faça, Fañs, Keñça. 

2. Usage of  (c):

Rohingyalish defined "c" as equivalent to English "sh" to simplify words with multiple "sh" sounds. For example Shamish (=for spoon) is written as camic and Shíshshiçímas (=a kind of fish) as cícciçímas, otherwise the words with "sh" would have been very difficult to read.  

3. Usage of  (d) & (dh):

There are two types of d sounds, d and dh for light and heavy sounds respectively. Examples of d are:  dana (=beans), dak (=mark), dabai (medicine). Example of dh are: dhula (=hand bag), dhandha (=rod).

4. Usage of  (t) & (th): 

Similarly there are t and th sounds for light and heavy sounds. Examples for t are: tuta (=parrot), tui (=you). Example of th are: Thala (=lock), Thambu (=tent).  

5. Usage of  (hh) & (h):

There are two different types of h sounds in Rohingya, represented by a double hh or single h. Double hh comes only at the beginning of a word and not in the middle. Examples with double hh are hháñti (=tiger), hháñc (=duck), hháf (=snake), hháwa (=wind), hhácor (=dooms day), etc. Interestingly there exists only about 70 words in this category. These hh can be completely omitted and many people read without it. You can read either as áñc or hháñc and it is up to your choice how you want to read it. 

The example with single h are holom (=pen), hóro (=soar), húci (=happiness), ahálak (=character), bohíl (=miser), etc.   

1. Basic Vowels:

    Soft Vowels:  a  e  i  o  u  ou

    Hard Vowels: á  é  í  ó ú  óu

2. Circular Vowels:

    Soft Vowels:   ai  ei  oi  ui  ooi

    Hard Vowels:  ái  éi  ói  úi  óoi

3. Extended Vowels:

    Normal :       aa  ee ii oo uu

    Descending: áa  ée íi óo úu

    Ascending:   aá  eé ií oó uú

    All High:        áá  éé íí óó úú

 

Vowels:

Vowels can be categorized into two Soft (shown in green) and Hard (shown in violet). But there are four types of vowel as shown in table 1-4 above, namely Basic, Circular, Extended and Extended circular. The  four types of soft vowel sets are; Basic (a-e-i-o-u-ou), Circular (ai-ei-oi-ui), Extended (aa-ee-ii-oo-uu) and Extended Circular (aai-eei-ooi-uui-ooi) as shown in green color above. 

Each soft set is accompanied by a stressed set which are; Basic (á-é-í-ó-ú-óu), Circular (ái-éi-ói-úi) and Extended that includes three variations (aá-eé-ií-oó-uú), (áa-ée-íi-óo-úu) and (áá-éé-íí-óó-úú). Also there are Extended Circular that includes two variations (aái-eéi-oói-uúi-oói) and (áai-éei-óoi-úui-óoi).

Basic Vowels:

There are six basic vowels (a, e, i, o, u, ou). Each basic vowel is strictly defined to have only one sound and all six sounds can be found in an English phrase “america on full tour”. The basic vowels can be either soft or hard. The soft vowels (a, e, i, o, u, ou) are pronounced soft and the corresponding hard vowels (á, é, í, ó, ú, óu) are pronounced hard (stressed). Please note that in óu, only the 1st char is accented and not both. Examples: bura=bad, burá=old, búra=stained. 

Circular Vowels:

You get five circular vowels (ai, ei, oi, ui, ooi) by simply adding (i) to five basic vowels (a, e, o, u, ou). [ Here ou is converted to oo for simplicity]. Each circular vowel is strictly defined to have only one sound only. To know the sounds of five circular vowels, five Rohingya words (bai, beil, boil, tui, ooin) are compared having same sound in English as (by, bail, bouyl, muei, ouin). While (ai, ei, oi, ui, ooi) gives soft sounds (ái, éi, ói, úi,óoi) give you the corresponding stressed sounds. Examples: Lai=basket, zai=go, beil=sun, ooin=fire, bóin=sister.

Extended Vowels:
(a, e, i, o, u) are the 1st five basic short vowels. To get extended sounds of these, double the letters as (aa, ee, ii, oo, uu). Ou is by itself extended so it is omitted in this extended table. You can get stressed extended vowels in three different ways; (áa, ée, íi, óo, úu), (aá, eé, ií, oó, uú) or (áá, éé, íí, óó, úú).  Examples are: Gaa=body, Gaá=sing, Gáa=wound.

Extended-circular Vowels:
Add i to the extended vowel set (aa, ee, oo, uu) and you will get extended-circular vowel set as (aai, eei, ooi, uui). There two emphasize sets as shown above. Examples are: Ooin=fire, Neeillé=came out, Baáizar=overflowing, Beéinna=morning, Foóila=first, Ruúil-mas=a kind of fish, Sáaiféla=filter it out.

                        Rohingya Language Foundation, London, UK,
                                     Date: 20th Dec 2010