Nanwang Puyuma contains 18 consonants and 4 vowels. All the Formosan languages use a writing system derived from the Latin script. Latin scripts for Bunun, Paiwan, Taroko, Atayal, and Amis were created after 1947 for a translation of the Bible. In 2005, the writing systems for the 16 recognized indigenous peoples were formalized and standardized by the Taiwanese government.

Stop Phonemes:

There are nine stop phonemes in Nanwang Puyuma: /b/, /d/, /g/, /dr/, /p/, /t/, /k/, /tr/, /’/.

Nasal Phonemes:

There are three nasal phonemes: /m/, /n/, /ng/.

Fricative Phonemes:

There is only one fricative phoneme: /s/. This sound is a voiceless alveolar fricative, but before the vowels /i/ and /u/ it is palatalised as [ʃ].

Liquid Phonemes:

There are two lateral phonemes: /l/ and /lr/, and one trill phoneme: /r/.

Glide Phonemes:

There are two glide phonemes: /w/ and /y/.

Consonants:

b [b]	d [d]	dr [ɖ]	g [g]	h [h]	k [k/kʰ]	l [l]	lr [ɭ]	m [m]
n [n]	ng [ŋ]	p [p/pʰ]	r [r]	s [s]	t [t/tʰ]	tr [ʈ]	w [w]	y [j]

Vowels:

a [a]

e [ə]

i [i]

u [u/o]