| Letter |
IPA sound |
Note |
| a |
/a/ |
Like "father" |
| e |
/e/ |
Like "bed" |
| i |
/i/ |
Like "meet" |
| o |
/o/ |
Like "boat" |
| u |
/u/ |
Like "boot" |
| ö |
/ə/ |
Like "about" |
| ' |
ʔ |
The "hiccup" (Glottal) |
| b |
/b/ |
Standard "b" as in "boat") |
| mb |
/ⁿb/ |
Pre-nasalized (soft 'm' before 'b') |
| d |
/d/ |
Standard "d" (as in "day") |
| ndr |
/ⁿdr/ |
Pre-nasalized trill (unique Nias sound) |
| f |
/f/ |
Standard "f" (as in "five") |
| g |
/ɡ/ |
Standard "g" (as in "goose") |
| h |
/h/ |
Standard "h" (as in "house") |
| k |
/k/ |
Standard "k" (as in "cool") |
| l |
/l/ |
Standard "l" (as in "eleven") |
| m |
/m/ |
Standard "m" (as in "moon") |
| n |
/n/ |
Standard "n" (as in "noon") |
| p |
/p/ |
Standard "p" (as in "pipe") |
| r |
/r/ |
Rolled or tapped "r" |
| s |
/s/ |
Standard "s" (as in "see") |
| t |
/t/ |
Standard "t" (as in "true") |
| v |
/v/ |
Standard "v" (as in "victory") |
| w |
/β/ |
Often pronounced as a voiced fricative /v/ or /β/ |
| ŵ |
/w/ |
Standard "w" (as in "when") |
| y |
/j/ |
Standard "y" (as in "yes") |
| z |
/d͡ʒ/ |
Standard "j" (as in "jump") |
| kh |
/x/ |
Like "Bach" |
