7

While reading the Wikipedia page on voiced bilabial trill, I came across a transcription in the occurrence section which looks like:

[tʙ̩˥˩]

The word is from Lizu language and means 'bean'. What is bothering me is the last V-shaped letter that I can't find. It seems to be two characters, but when I search them, Google gives nothing helpful. How is this supposed to be pronounced? What sound(s) is this?

wjandrea
  • 125
  • 7

1 Answers1

15

It's not a sound, but a contour tone letter applying to the whole word (or syllable). This case specifically is a high falling tone, like the fourth tone in Mandarin.

The Pumi example from the same table has another example: [pʙ̩˥], a word with a high register tone.

phipsgabler
  • 508
  • 3
  • 14
  • Oh... I was really confused because I searched different IPA charts and guides but couldn't find a trace of it. Thank you so much! –  Jun 18 '21 at 15:33
  • 6
    On the official IPA chart, they can be found in the lower right-hand corner in a small section called "Tones and Word Accents", labeled as "extra high" and "extra low". – chepner Jun 18 '21 at 23:51