Reference

language

Every Diafon letter with its readings, and each language's own table. Pick a language to see its table. An example and the typing box are below the tables.

Diafon: every letter in use

covers

32languages

~4.3Bnative speakers

letters in use

78letters

Every letter any language uses, grouped by how many keys it takes, then by operator. Long sounds and diphthongs are not listed: a long sound adds w, and a diphthong is two letters in a row.

typed	Diafon	kind	main reading	other readings
1 keystroke
p	p P	consonant	/p/voiceless bilabial plosive29 languages · ~3.8B native speakers	/pʼ/ejective voiceless bilabial plosiveქართული Georgian
t	t T	consonant	/t/voiceless alveolar plosive28 languages · ~3.5B native speakers	/t̪/dental voiceless alveolar plosiveবাংলা Bengali, हिन्दी / اردو Hindi-Urdu, தமிழ் Tamil /tʼ/ejective voiceless alveolar plosiveქართული Georgian
k	k K	consonant	/k/voiceless velar plosive31 languages · ~4.3B native speakers	/kʼ/ejective voiceless velar plosiveქართული Georgian
b	b B	consonant	/b/voiced bilabial plosive25 languages · ~3.1B native speakers	/ɓ/voiced bilabial implosiveTiếng Việt Vietnamese
d	d D	consonant	/d/voiced alveolar plosive24 languages · ~2.4B native speakers	/d̪/dental voiced alveolar plosiveবাংলা Bengali, हिन्दी / اردو Hindi-Urdu /ɗ/voiced alveolar implosiveTiếng Việt Vietnamese
g	g G	consonant	/g/voiced velar plosive20 languages · ~2.6B native speakers
f	f F	consonant	/f/voiceless labiodental fricative22 languages · ~3.2B native speakers
v	v V	consonant	/v/voiced labiodental fricative22 languages · ~1.5B native speakers	/ʋ/labiodental approximantहिन्दी / اردو Hindi-Urdu
s	s S	consonant	/s/voiceless alveolar fricative30 languages · ~4.0B native speakers
z	z Z	consonant	/z/voiced alveolar fricative21 languages · ~1.9B native speakers
m	m M	consonant	/m/bilabial nasal32 languages · ~4.3B native speakers
n	n N	consonant	/n/alveolar nasal32 languages · ~4.3B native speakers
l	l L	consonant	/l/alveolar lateral approximant31 languages · ~4.2B native speakers
r	r R	consonant	/r/alveolar trill23 languages · ~2.3B native speakers	/ɹ/alveolar approximantEnglish
h	h H	consonant	/h/voiceless glottal fricative21 languages · ~2.2B native speakers	/ɦ/voiced glottal fricativeČeština Czech, Українська Ukrainian
a	a A	vowel	/a/open central unrounded vowel24 languages · ~3.3B native speakers	/ə/mid central vowel (schwa)हिन्दी / اردو Hindi-Urdu /æ/near-open front unrounded vowelEnglish, Eesti Estonian, Suomi Finnish, فارسی Persian /ɐ/near-open central vowelPortuguês Portuguese /ɑ/open back unrounded vowelNederlands Dutch, Kiswahili Swahili /ɒ/open back rounded vowelMagyar Hungarian
e	e E	vowel	/e/close-mid front unrounded vowel21 languages · ~1.9B native speakers	/ɛ/open-mid front unrounded vowelČeština Czech, Nederlands Dutch, English, Deutsch German, Magyar Hungarian, 한국어 Korean, Polski Polish, Kiswahili Swahili, Українська Ukrainian
i	i I	vowel	/i/close front unrounded vowel29 languages · ~3.4B native speakers	/ɪ/near-close front unrounded vowelEnglish, Deutsch German, हिन्दी / اردو Hindi-Urdu
o	o O	vowel	/o/close-mid back rounded vowel23 languages · ~1.9B native speakers	/ɔ/open-mid back rounded vowelNederlands Dutch, Deutsch German, Polski Polish, Kiswahili Swahili, Українська Ukrainian
u	u U	vowel	/u/close back rounded vowel28 languages · ~3.2B native speakers	/ʊ/near-close back rounded vowelEnglish, Deutsch German, हिन्दी / اردو Hindi-Urdu
2 keystrokes
j hushed or soft · more open; on a, the schwa
p+j	p̓ P̦	consonant	/pʲ/palatalized voiceless bilabial plosive1 language · ~145M native speakers
t+j	ț Ț	consonant	/c/voiceless palatal plosive2 languages · ~24M native speakers	/tʲ/palatalized voiceless alveolar plosiveEesti Estonian, Русский Russian, Українська Ukrainian
k+j	k̦ K̦	consonant	/kʲ/palatalized voiceless velar plosive1 language · ~145M native speakers
b+j	b̦ B̦	consonant	/bʲ/palatalized voiced bilabial plosive1 language · ~145M native speakers
d+j	d̦ D̦	consonant	/ɟ/voiced palatal plosive3 languages · ~40M native speakers	/ʝ/voiced palatal fricativeEspañol Spanish /dʲ/palatalized voiced alveolar plosiveРусский Russian, Українська Ukrainian
g+j	g̓ G̦	consonant	/gʲ/palatalized voiced velar plosive1 language · ~145M native speakers
f+j	f̦ F̦	consonant	/fʲ/palatalized voiceless labiodental fricative1 language · ~145M native speakers
v+j	v̦ V̦	consonant	/vʲ/palatalized voiced labiodental fricative1 language · ~145M native speakers
s+j	ș Ș	consonant	/ʃ/voiceless postalveolar fricative16 languages · ~2.2B native speakers	/ʂ/voiceless retroflex fricative普通话 Mandarin Chinese /sʲ/palatalized voiceless alveolar fricativeEesti Estonian, Русский Russian, Українська Ukrainian /ɕ/voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative日本語 Japanese, Polski Polish
z+j	z̦ Z̦	consonant	/ʒ/voiced postalveolar fricative9 languages · ~916M native speakers	/ʐ/voiced retroflex fricative普通话 Mandarin Chinese /zʲ/palatalized voiced alveolar fricativeРусский Russian, Українська Ukrainian /ʑ/voiced alveolo-palatal fricativePolski Polish
m+j	m̦ M̦	consonant	/mʲ/palatalized bilabial nasal1 language · ~145M native speakers
n+j	n̦ N̦	consonant	/ɲ/palatal nasal11 languages · ~1.2B native speakers	/nʲ/palatalized alveolar nasalEesti Estonian, Русский Russian, Українська Ukrainian
l+j	l̦ L̦	consonant	/ʎ/palatal lateral approximant2 languages · ~304M native speakers	/lʲ/palatalized alveolar lateral approximantEesti Estonian, Русский Russian, Українська Ukrainian
r+j	r̦ R̦	consonant	/rʲ/palatalized alveolar trill2 languages · ~178M native speakers	/r̝/raised alveolar trillČeština Czech
a+j	ạ Ạ	vowel	/ə/mid central vowel (schwa)7 languages · ~714M native speakers	/ʌ/open-mid back unrounded vowelEnglish
e+j	ẹ Ẹ	vowel	/ɛ/open-mid front unrounded vowel6 languages · ~730M native speakers
i+j	ị Ị	vowel	/ɪ/near-close front unrounded vowel2 languages · ~58M native speakers
o+j	ọ Ọ	vowel	/ɔ/open-mid back rounded vowel6 languages · ~730M native speakers
c adds a hiss · lip rounding swapped
t+c	c C	consonant	/ts/voiceless alveolar affricate12 languages · ~1.5B native speakers	/tsʼ/ejective voiceless alveolar affricateქართული Georgian
d+c	x X	consonant	/dz/voiced alveolar affricate6 languages · ~167M native speakers
r+c	ṛ Ṛ	consonant	/ɾ/alveolar tap4 languages · ~888M native speakers	/ɽ/retroflex flapবাংলা Bengali, हिन्दी / اردو Hindi-Urdu
a+c	ä Ä	vowel	/ɑ/open back unrounded vowel2 languages · ~6.5M native speakers	/ɒ/open back rounded vowelفارسی Persian
e+c	ö Ö	vowel	/ø/close-mid front rounded vowel5 languages · ~184M native speakers	/œ/open-mid front rounded vowelDeutsch German
i+c	ü Ü	vowel	/y/close front rounded vowel7 languages · ~1.1B native speakers	/ʏ/near-close front rounded vowelDeutsch German
o+c	ë Ë	vowel	/ɤ/close-mid back unrounded vowel4 languages · ~1.0B native speakers	/ə/mid central vowel (schwa)普通话 Mandarin Chinese /ʌ/open-mid back unrounded vowel한국어 Korean
u+c	ï Ï	vowel	/ɯ/close back unrounded vowel4 languages · ~309M native speakers	/ɨ/close central unrounded vowel普通话 Mandarin Chinese, Polski Polish, Română Romanian, Tiếng Việt Vietnamese
q c and j together
t+q	c̦ C̦	consonant	/tʃ/voiceless postalveolar affricate14 languages · ~2.1B native speakers	/tʂ/voiceless retroflex affricate普通话 Mandarin Chinese /tɕ/voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate日本語 Japanese, 한국어 Korean, Polski Polish, Русский Russian, ไทย Thai, Tiếng Việt Vietnamese /tsʲ/palatalized voiceless alveolar affricateУкраїнська Ukrainian /tʃʼ/ejective voiceless postalveolar affricateქართული Georgian
k+q	q Q	consonant	/q/voiceless uvular plosive2 languages · ~460M native speakers	/qʼ/ejective voiceless uvular plosiveქართული Georgian
d+q	x̦ X̦	consonant	/dʒ/voiced postalveolar affricate10 languages · ~1.8B native speakers	/dʑ/voiced alveolo-palatal affricate日本語 Japanese, Polski Polish
a+q	r̈ R̈	vowel	/ɝ/rhotacized mid central vowel1 language · ~380M native speakers	/ɚ/rhotacized schwa普通话 Mandarin Chinese /ɻ/retroflex approximantதமிழ் Tamil
e+q	ọ̈ Ọ̈	vowel	/œ/open-mid front rounded vowel1 language · ~80M native speakers
i+q	ụ̈ Ụ̈	vowel	/ʏ/near-close front rounded vowel1 language · ~25M native speakers
x a fixed nearby sound · the glide: i to j, u to w
t+x	ṭ Ṭ	consonant	/θ/voiceless dental fricative4 languages · ~1.3B native speakers
k+x	ḳ Ḳ	consonant	/x/voiceless velar fricative13 languages · ~2.3B native speakers	/χ/voiceless uvular fricativeქართული Georgian
d+x	ḍ Ḍ	consonant	/ð/voiced dental fricative3 languages · ~773M native speakers
g+x	ġ G̣	consonant	/ɣ/voiced velar fricative2 languages · ~98M native speakers	/ʁ/voiced uvular fricativeالعربية Arabic (MSA), Français French, ქართული Georgian, Deutsch German, עברית Hebrew, Português Portuguese
n+x	ṇ Ṇ	consonant	/ŋ/velar nasal11 languages · ~1.9B native speakers	/ɴ/moraic (uvular) nasal日本語 Japanese
l+x	ḷ Ḷ	consonant	/ɭ/retroflex lateral approximant1 language · ~79M native speakers
h+x	ḥ Ḥ	consonant	/ʔ/glottal stop5 languages · ~571M native speakers
i+x	j J	glide	/j/palatal approximant27 languages · ~2.8B native speakers
u+x	w W	glide	/w/labial-velar approximant14 languages · ~1.5B native speakers
y the language's own variant · nasal
t+y	t̖ T̖	consonant	/ʈ/voiceless retroflex plosive3 languages · ~819M native speakers	/tˤ/pharyngealized voiceless alveolar plosiveالعربية Arabic (MSA)
k+y	k̖ K̖	consonant	/ħ/voiceless pharyngeal fricative1 language · ~380M native speakers
d+y	d̖ D̖	consonant	/ɖ/voiced retroflex plosive2 languages · ~740M native speakers	/dˤ/pharyngealized voiced alveolar plosiveالعربية Arabic (MSA)
g+y	g̔ G̖	consonant	/ʕ/voiced pharyngeal fricative1 language · ~380M native speakers
n+y	n̖ N̖	consonant	/ɳ/retroflex nasal2 languages · ~579M native speakers
a+y	à À	vowel	/ã/nasalized open central unrounded vowel2 languages · ~480M native speakers	/ɑ̃/nasalized open back unrounded vowelFrançais French, हिन्दी / اردو Hindi-Urdu
e+y	è È	vowel	/ẽ/nasalized close-mid front unrounded vowel3 languages · ~980M native speakers	/ɛ̃/nasalized open-mid front unrounded vowelPolski Polish
i+y	ì Ì	vowel	/ĩ/nasalized close front unrounded vowel3 languages · ~980M native speakers
o+y	ò Ò	vowel	/õ/nasalized close-mid back rounded vowel3 languages · ~980M native speakers	/ɔ̃/nasalized open-mid back rounded vowelPolski Polish
u+y	ù Ù	vowel	/ũ/nasalized close back rounded vowel3 languages · ~980M native speakers
3 keystrokes
x a fixed nearby sound · the glide: i to j, u to w
ic+xfrom ü	j̈ J̈	glide	/ɥ/labial-palatal approximant1 language · ~80M native speakers
y the language's own variant · nasal
sj+yfrom ș	s̖ S̖	consonant	/sˤ/pharyngealized voiceless alveolar fricative1 language · ~380M native speakers	/ʂ/voiceless retroflex fricativePolski Polish, Русский Russian /ʃ/voiceless postalveolar fricativeУкраїнська Ukrainian
zj+yfrom z̦	z̖ Z̖	consonant	/ðˤ/pharyngealized voiced dental fricative1 language · ~380M native speakers	/ʐ/voiced retroflex fricativePolski Polish, Русский Russian /ʒ/voiced postalveolar fricativeУкраїнська Ukrainian
tq+yfrom c̦	c̖ C̖	consonant	/tʂ/voiceless retroflex affricate1 language · ~40M native speakers	/tʃ/voiceless postalveolar affricateУкраїнська Ukrainian
dq+yfrom x̦	x̖ X̖	consonant	/dʐ/voiced retroflex affricate1 language · ~40M native speakers	/dʒ/voiced postalveolar affricateУкраїнська Ukrainian
ej+yfrom ẹ	ẹ̀ Ẹ̀	vowel	/ɛ̃/nasalized open-mid front unrounded vowel2 languages · ~580M native speakers
oj+yfrom ọ	ọ̀ Ọ̀	vowel	/ɔ̃/nasalized open-mid back rounded vowel2 languages · ~580M native speakers

The languages

32 languages so far. Pick one for its own table. A mapping marked reviewed has been checked against the literature or by a native speaker.

language	speakers		phonemes used
	native	overall	consonants	vowels
普通话 Mandarin Chinese reviewed	~940M	~1.1B	19	8
हिन्दी / اردو Hindi-Urdu	~500M	~850M	32	17
Español Spanish	~485M	~560M	18	5
العربية Arabic (MSA)	~380M	~460M	28	6
English reviewed	~380M	~1.5B	24	16
বাংলা Bengali	~240M	~280M	29	12
Português Portuguese	~240M	~265M	21	13
Русский Russian	~145M	~255M	35	5
日本語 Japanese	~123M	~126M	19	10
Tiếng Việt Vietnamese	~85M	~86M	21	11
Türkçe Turkish	~84M	~90M	20	8
한국어 Korean	~81M	~82M	21	8
فارسی Persian	~80M	~130M	23	6
Français French	~80M	~310M	20	14
தமிழ் Tamil	~79M	~86M	16	10
Deutsch German	~76M	~135M	22	19
Italiano Italian	~64M	~68M	21	7
Bahasa Indonesia Indonesian	~44M	~270M	18	6
Polski Polish	~40M	~45M	28	8
Українська Ukrainian	~33M	~39M	29	6
Nederlands Dutch	~25M	~30M	18	16
Română Romanian	~24M	~28M	22	7
ไทย Thai	~21M	~61M	21	18
Kiswahili Swahili	~16M	~80M	22	5
Ελληνικά Modern Greek	~13M	~14M	17	5
Magyar Hungarian reviewed	~13M	~13M	24	14
Čeština Czech	~11M	~13M	24	10
Suomi Finnish	~5.4M	~5.8M	13	16
עברית Hebrew	~5.0M	~9.0M	20	5
ქართული Georgian	~3.8M	~4.0M	28	5
Eesti Estonian	~1.1M	~1.2M	15	18
Latina Latin	none	none	15	10

Try it

Check a font

Show every Diafon letter on this page in another font. A red outline means the font leaves the mark out; amber means another font steps in.

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Sample texts

Longer texts in the picked language, read from their usual spelling and shown in Diafon. Texts in a language other than English come with an English translation.

size usual spelling

EnglishThe North Wind and the Sun (Aesop)

Ḍạ Nórṭ Wind ạnd ḍạ Sạn wr̈ dispjútiṇ wic̦ wáz ḍạ stróṇr̈, wen ạ travạlr̈ kejm ạlóṇ rapt in ạ wórm klowk. Ḍej ạgríd ḍat ḍạ wạn hú fr̈st sạksídid in mejkiṇ ḍạ travạlr̈ tejk hiz klowk óf șud bí kạnsidr̈d stróṇr̈ ḍan ḍạ ạḍr̈. Ḍen ḍạ Nórṭ Wind blú az hárd az hí kud, bạt ḍạ mór hí blú ḍạ mór klowslí did ḍạ travạlr̈ fowld hiz klowk r̈awnd him; ạnd at last ḍạ Nórṭ Wind gejv ạp ḍạ ạtempt. Ḍen ḍạ Sạn șajnd awt wórmlí, ạnd imídíạtlí ḍạ travạlr̈ tuk óf hiz klowk. Ạnd sow ḍạ Nórṭ Wind wáz ạblajx̦d tú kạnfes ḍat ḍạ Sạn wáz ḍạ stróṇr̈ ạv ḍạ tú.

The North Wind and the Sun were disputing which was the stronger, when a traveler came along wrapped in a warm cloak. They agreed that the one who first succeeded in making the traveler take his cloak off should be considered stronger than the other. Then the North Wind blew as hard as he could, but the more he blew the more closely did the traveler fold his cloak around him; and at last the North Wind gave up the attempt. Then the Sun shined out warmly, and immediately the traveler took off his cloak. And so the North Wind was obliged to confess that the Sun was the stronger of the two.

EnglishSonnet 18 (Shakespeare)

Șal Aj kạmper ḍí tú ạ sạmr̈z dej?
Ḍaw árt mór lạvlí ạnd mór temprạt:
Rạf windz dú șejk ḍạ dárliṇ bạdz ạv Mej,
Ạnd sạmr̈z lís haṭ ól tú șórt ạ dejt;
Sạmtajm tú hát ḍạ aj ạv hevạn șajnz,
Ạnd ófạn iz hiz gowld kạmplekșạn dimm'd;
Ạnd evr̈í fer frạm fer sạmtajm diklajnz,
Baj c̦ans ór nejc̦r̈z c̦ejnx̦iṇ kórs untrimm'd.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd.

EnglishUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1

Ól hjúmạn bíiṇz ár bórn frí ạnd íkwạl in dignạtí ạnd rajts. Ḍej ár endawd wiḍ rízạn ạnd kánșạns ạnd șud akt tuwórdz wạn ạnạḍr̈ in ạ spirạt ạv brạḍr̈hud.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.