1. The basics
This script uses the same 26 letters as English. If a word uses only regular letters — like don (tooth), sat (seven), or pon (path) — you read them exactly like you would in English. Nothing new.
The only additions are letters that Shina needs but English doesn't have. There are about a dozen of them. You'll recognise most of the base letters — they just have a small mark added (a dot underneath, or an accent on a vowel) to show that the sound is different from the English version.
2. The special letters
Here are all the letters that go beyond standard English, grouped by what makes them different.
| Letter | IPA | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ć | /ȶ͡ɕ/ | ćáar "four" |
| ȷ́ | /ȡ͡ʑ/ | ȷ́áro "old man" |
| ś | /ɕ/ | śat "power" |
| ṣ | /ʂ/ | ṣíiṇ "Shin" |
| ṭ | /ʈ/ | ṭíimo "stick" |
| ḍ | /ɖ/ | ḍóori "ladle" |
| ṇ | /ɳ/ | ṣiṇaá "Shina" |
| ṛ | /ɽ/ | báṛo "big" |
| ẓ | /ʐ/ | ẓáa "brother" |
| ŋ | /ŋ/ | śiŋóor "ginger" |
| c | /t͡s/ | ceéri "wood-chip" |
| c̣ | /ʈ͡ʂ/ | c̣aloó "lamp" |
3. Aspirated sounds (the ʰ)
ṣiṇaá has consonants made with a puff of air. The script shows this by adding a small ʰ after the letter. When you backspace over kʰ or tʰ, both delete together as one unit.
| Plain | Aspirated | Example |
|---|---|---|
| k | kʰ | kʰáay "will eat" |
| t | tʰ | tʰey "will do" |
| ṭ | ṭʰ | ṭʰam "sweep" |
| p | pʰ | pʰaáɡ "fig tree" |
| ć | ćʰ | ćʰúmo "fish" |
| c | cʰ | cʰíir "row" |
| c̣ | c̣ʰ | c̣ʰur "knife" |
4. Retroflex sounds (the dots underneath)
A dot underneath a letter always means retroflex. It is a consistent pattern across the whole script.
5. Short and long vowels
Shina has five basic vowels — a, e, o, i, u — just like many languages. It also has long versions of each. A long vowel is held about twice as long when you say it.
Long vowels are written by doubling the letter with an accent mark. The position of the accent tells you the tone (see next section).
| Short | Long falling | Long rising |
|---|---|---|
| a | áa | aá |
| e | ée | eé |
| o | óo | oó |
| i | íi | ií |
| u | úu | uú |
6. Tone — rising and falling
This is the part that makes Shina different from most languages you might have written in Roman script before. Shina uses pitch — the rise or fall of your voice on a long vowel — to change the meaning of a word. Two words can look nearly identical and mean completely different things.
The rule is simple: accent on the first letter = falling tone. Accent on the second letter = rising tone. That's the whole system.
7. How to type it
The easiest way right now is to use the keyboard on this site. Open it on your phone, type what you want, and copy-paste it into WhatsApp, Instagram, wherever you want to use it.
On the keyboard, any key that has more sounds available will show them when you long-press (mobile) or hover/hold (desktop). For example, long-pressing the k key will show you k and kʰ. Tap the one you want.
If you want to implement this keyboard yourself on your own website or app, all the letter mappings are open and documented. The special characters are standard Unicode — no custom fonts needed.