The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Standard Bemé, Bijun and Columbé pronunciations. English approximations are loose in some cases and are only intended to give a general idea of the pronunciation. For more information, see Help:IPA.
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|
| Vowels
|
| Bemé orthography |
IPA |
Examples |
English approximation
|
 Bemé |
 Bijun |
 Columbé
|
| a |
a |
jamis |
trap
|
| e |
e |
i |
e~ɛ |
bemeh |
may
|
| eh |
ɛ |
bemeh |
bed
|
| i |
i |
bi |
eat
|
| o |
o |
ɔ |
o |
kolo |
yawn (Bijun) off
|
| u |
kolo |
(Bijun) hook
|
| u |
u |
ʊ |
ʌ |
yu |
hook
|
| Diphthongs
|
| Bemé orthography |
IPA |
Examples |
English approximation
|
| ey |
ei̯ |
skey |
may
|
| oi |
oi̯ |
woiwoi |
joy
|
| ow |
ou̯ |
grown |
bow
|
|
The distinction between /kr tr tʃr/, as well as between /gr dʒr/, has been historically neutralised, leading to a varying pronunciation:
The pronunciation of ⟨gr⟩ is less variable; there still exists a distinction between /gr~dʒr/ and /dr/, though /dr/ is extremely rare and only exists in certain words, such as grag "stop (v.)" and drag "drag queen".