VLACH uses the following system for the transcription of German dialects. It is based on rules of standard German pronunciation and add missing phonemes from IPA. The following is based on our Sathmar Swabian collection. Further symbols will be introduced after incorporating other collections.
| IPA | listen | VLACH | phonetic description | example (translation) |
| a | ▶ | Aa | near-open central unrounded vowel | Náma (name) |
| b | ▶ | Bb | voiced bilabial plosive | bléiba(to stay) |
| c | ▶ | K'k' | voiceless palatal plosive | K'írche (church) |
| ç | ▶ | Chch | voiceless palatal fricative | ich (I) |
| d | ▶ | Dd | voiced alveolar plosive | Duárf (village) |
| e | ▶ | Ee | (close-)mid front unrounded vowel | Éltera (parent) |
| ə | ▶ | Əə | mid central unrounded vowel | Schóugər (brother in law) |
| ɛ | ▶ | Ɛɛ | open-mid front unrounded vowel | schwεtzt (speaks) Mädla (girl) |
| f | ▶ | Ff | voiceless labiodental fricative | uf (on) |
| ɡ | ▶ | Gg | voiced velar plosive | grába (to burrow) |
| h | ▶ | Hh | voiceless glottal fricative | hɔt (had) |
| i | ▶ | Ii | close front unrounded vowel | ischt (is) |
| j | ▶ | Jj | palatal approximant (sometimes fricative) | gsaj (my/mine), Jɔr (year) |
| k | ▶ | Kk | voiceless velar plosive | kómma (to come) |
| l | ▶ | Ll | alveolar lateral approximant | lang (long) |
| m | ▶ | Mm | bilabial nasal | Muátter (mother) |
| n, ŋ | ▶, ▶ | Nn | alveolar nasal | kénna (to know), eng (narrow) |
| o (ɔ) | ▶ | Oo | (close-)mid back rounded vowel | gnómma (took) |
| ɔ | ▶ | Ɔɔ | open-mid back rounded vowel | schwɔ́bisch (Swabian) |
| closed ö | Vö́gele (bird) | |||
| p | ▶ | Pp | voiceless bilabial plosive | Speck(pork fat) |
| r | ▶ | Rr | alveolar trill or tap | stark(strong) |
| ʁ | ▶ | ʁʁ | voiced uvular fricative | ind. staʁk (strong) |
| s (s̠) | ▶ | Ss ßß | voiceless alveolar sibilant | schießa (to shoot) |
| ʃ | ▶ | Sch sch | voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant | schlägt (strikes) |
| t | ▶ | Tt | voiceless alveolar plosive | Taitz(German) |
| t͡s | ▶ | Tz tz | voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate | schwätza (to speak) |
| t͡ʃ | ▶ | Tsch tsch | voiceless palato-alveolar affricate | Mentsch (human) |
| u | ▶ | Uu | close back rounded vowel | Nóchbau (neighbour) |
| v | ▶ | Ww | voiced labiodental fricative | Wírtshaus (inn) |
| w | ▶ | Ŭŭ | voiced labio-velar approximant | Báura (peasant) |
| x | ▶ | Ch ch | voiceless velar fricative | Hóchzeit (wedding) |
| y | ▶ | Üü | close front rounded vowel | übernómma (to take) |
| z | ▶ | Ss | voiced alveolar sibilant | sáufa (to drink) |
ABBREVIATIONS
| SaSw | Sathmar Swabian |