Rongmei Naga: Syllables

Friday, October 2, 2026

Zelianrong - Alphabet

1. Alphabet

Capital Letter Small Letter Pronunciation As in (English)

1. A - a - a = afternoon

2. B - b - ba = barter

3. C - c - ca = chapter

4. D - d - da = darling

5. E - e - e = egg

6. F - f - fa = father

7. G - g - ga = garden

8. H - h - ha = half

9. I - i - i = if

10. J - j - dzei = jean

11. K - k - ka = kabaddi

12. L - l - la = laugh

13. M - m - ma = mother

14. N - n - na = narcotic

15. O - o - o = olive

16. P - p - pa = pen

17. Q - q - qiu = queen

18. R - r - ra = ram

19. S - s - sa = Saturday

20. T - t - ta = target

21. U - u - u = urdu

22. V - v - va = varnish

23. W - w - wa = water

24. X - x - x = x-ray

25. Y - y - ya = yam

26. Z - z - zet = zebra

Vowels: a, e, i, o, u,

Consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z.

Diphthongs: ai, ao, au, eu, ia, oi, ou, ua ui,

Pronunciation Guide:

1. Three vowels, namely “a,” “o,” and “i” can sometimes stand alone.

E.g.: a = my; a pui = my mother; o! = o!; I = I

2. Four diphthongs, namely “ai”, “au”, “ei” and “eu” can either stand alone or form a separate syllable.

E.g.: ai = I (in Rongmei); au = is (in Zeme); “ei”= okay; “eu” = yes (in Zeme).

3. With the exception of the letters “m” and “n” all other consonants cannot stand alone. They form syllables only with the help of either vowels or diphthongs.

E.g.: bata = ba.ta; herakesia = he.ra.ke.sia; mina = mi.na

But mta = m.ta (free); mpet = m.pet (come out); kemtak = ke.m.tak (rest)

nda = n.da (in the past); nsung = n.sung (remember); nroi = n.roi (axe)

4. The nasal sound “ng” is written with the combination of the letters “n” and “g” = “ng”:

E.g.: nang = nang; hangna = hang.na; ngkap = ng.kap (lost/destroy)

5. If double consonants (other than “ng”) appear in word, the first consonant goes with the preceding vowel, and the second consonant goes with the following vowel.

E.g.: rampau = ram.pau; hangdeu = hang.deu (earth)

6. The letter “w” is used at the beginning of the syllable or word.

E.g., wang = come; wige = there

7. The letter “u” comes always after a consonant.

E.g., heguang = king; hekuak = plate.

8. Proper nouns will start with capital letter

E.g., Haingambe, Peren, Tening, Tamenglong, etc.) but all other nouns will be written in small letters.

9. We use the letter “e” when a word ends with a consonant

E.g., bam e; wang e; din e); but “ye” when a word ends with a vowel (sa ye; ke ye; wi ye; kambo ye; and ku ye).

Common Syllables.

a e i o u ai au eu ia oi ua

b = ba be bi bo bu bai bau beu bia boi bua