There are 24 vowel sounds in the Tuvan language: short vowels: а, э, и, о, ө, у, ү, ы; long vowels: аа, ээ, ии, оо, өө, уу, үү, ыы; pharyngealized vowels: аъ, эъ, иъ, оъ, өъ, уъ, үъ, ыъ. Pharyngealized vowels are pronounced as if with a stifled voice and a tense pharynx. They are indicated by a combination of a vowel with a hard sign in the words "aът - horse"; "эът - meat"; "чүък - cargo"; "оът - grass"; "дүъш - afternoon"; "каът - layer, floor"; "чаъс - rain"; "чөъп - thicket"; "аъш-чем - food". In other words they are written with single letters, i.e. like ordinary short vowels, but in the mini-dictionaries at the end of the manual they are designated according to the scheme “vowel + ъ”.

There are 18 consonants in the Tuvan language: т, п, с, ш, х; weak consonants: т-д, п-б, с-з, ш-ж, к-г, ч; superweak consonants: й, л, м, н, ё, р, г. Strong consonants are always pronounced voiceless and are used only at the beginning of words: "сан – account, number"; "паш – cauldron"; "тас – bald"; "шак – time, hours"; "хол – hand". Weak consonants are used in any position and can be voiceless or voiced, depending on the position and quality of the consonants they combine: "час (weak ch, s)", "эзир (weak z)", "дөжү (weak d, zh)".

1 — бир, 2 — ийи, 3 — үш, 4 — дөрт, 5 — беш, 6 — алды, 7 — чеди, 8 — сес, 9 — тос, 10 — он

20 — чээрби, 30 — үжен, 40 — дөртен, 50 — бежен, 60 — алдан, 70 — чеден, 80 — сезен, 90 — тозан.

In compound numerals, the ten is named first, followed by the unit: 22 = чээрби ийи (literally: twenty-two), 15 = он беш (literally: ten five), 71 = чеден бир (literally: seventy-one). As an adjective, numerals are always used before nouns; in this case, the noun form is not related to the numeral: five days – беш хонук (literally: five day); three pencils – үш карандаш (literally: three pencil); one hundred days – чүс хүн (literally: one hundred day).

1. The predicate in a Tuvan sentence always comes last. 2. The attribute always comes before the word it modifies: кызыл тук – кызыл (red), тук (flag); улуга бажың – улуг (big), бажың (house).