Editing Tocharian languages (section)

===Consonants===
[[File:Tocharian.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|Wooden tablet with an inscription showing Tocharian B in its Brahmic form. [[Kucha]], [[Xinjiang]], 5th–8th century ([[Tokyo National Museum]])]]
The following table lists the reconstructed phonemes in Tocharian along with their standard transcription. Because Tocharian is written in an alphabet used originally for Sanskrit and its descendants, the transcription reflects Sanskrit phonology, and may not represent Tocharian phonology accurately. The Tocharian alphabet also has letters representing all of the remaining Sanskrit sounds, but these appear only in Sanskrit loanwords and are not thought to have had distinct pronunciations in Tocharian. There is some uncertainty as to actual pronunciation of some of the letters, particularly those representing palatalized obstruents (see below).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!| &nbsp;
! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Alveolo-palatal consonant|Alveolo-palatal]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]

|-
!| [[Stop consonant|Plosive]]
| ''p'' {{IPA|/p/}}
| ''t'' {{IPA|/t/}}
|
| &nbsp;
| ''k'' {{IPA|/k/}}
|-
!| [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
| &nbsp;
| ''ts'' {{IPA|/ts/}}
| ''c'' {{IPA|/tɕ/}}?<sup>2</sup>
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
!| [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| &nbsp;
| ''s'' {{IPA|/s/}}
| ''ś'' {{IPA|/ɕ/}}
| &nbsp;''ṣ'' {{IPA|/ʃ/}}?<sup>3</sup>
| &nbsp;
|-
!| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| ''m'' {{IPA|/m/}}
| ''n'' {{IAST|''ṃ''}} {{IPA|/n/}}<sup>1</sup>
| &nbsp;
| ''ñ'' {{IPA|/ɲ/}}
| ''ṅ'' {{IPA|/ŋ/}}<sup>4</sup>
|-
!| [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
| &nbsp;
| ''r'' {{IPA|/r/}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
!| [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| ''y'' {{IPA|/j/}}
| &nbsp;''w'' {{IPA|/w/}}
|-
!| [[Lateral consonant|Lateral approximant]]
| &nbsp;
| ''l'' {{IPA|/l/}}
| &nbsp;
| ''ly'' {{IPA|/ʎ/}}
| &nbsp;
|}

# {{IPA|/n/}} is transcribed by two different letters in the [[Tocharian alphabet]] depending on position. Based on the corresponding letters in Sanskrit, these are transcribed {{IAST|''ṃ''}} (word-finally, including before certain [[clitic]]s) and ''n'' (elsewhere), but {{IAST|''ṃ''}} represents {{IPA|/n/}}, not {{IPA|/m/}}.
# The sound written {{IAST|''c''}} is thought to correspond to a alveolo-palatal affricate {{IPAslink|tɕ}} in Sanskrit. The Tocharian pronunciation {{IPA|/tɕ/}} is suggested by the common occurrence of the cluster ''śc'', but the exact pronunciation cannot be determined with certainty.
# The sound written {{IAST|''ṣ''}} seems more likely to have been a palato-alveolar sibilant {{IPAslink|ʃ}} (as in English "'''''sh'''ip''"), because it derives from a palatalized {{IPAslink|s}}.<ref name="ringe-proto-tocharian">Ringe, Donald A. (1996). ''On the Chronology of Sound Changes in Tocharian: Volume I: From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Tocharian''. New Haven, CT: American Oriental Society.</ref>
# The sound ''ṅ'' {{IPA|/ŋ/}} occurs only before ''k'', or in some clusters where a ''k'' has been deleted between consonants. It is clearly phonemic because sequences ''nk'' and ''ñk'' also exist (from [[Syncope (phonology)|syncope]] of a former ''ä'' between them).