The Prefixes
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A prefix is an unpronounced letter at the beginning of a syllable. Although the prefixes are never pronounced, they modify the pronunciation of some root letters (the letter that follows them). When consonants from the third column of the alphabet are prefixed, they lose aspiration while remaining low in tone. The nasal consonants in the fourth row, when prefixed, should be pronounced in a higher tone than when not prefixed.
| The Five Prefixes | ||||
| ག | ད | བ | མ | འ |
| Examples of Words with Prefixes | ||
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| གནམ་ | nahm | Sky |
| གཉིས་ | nyî | Two |
| དཀར་པོ་ | kar-po | White |
| དབྱར་ཁ་ | jyar-kha | Summer |
| བཙོན་པ་ | tsön-pa | Prisoner |
| བདུན་ཕྲག་ | dün-thak | Week |
| མཚོ་ | tsho | Lake |
| མངར་མོ་ | ngar-mo | Sweet |
| འཁོར་ལོ་ | kor-lo | Wheel |
| འབྲས་ | trë | Rice |