Aksara lontara terdiri atas 23 symbol atau huruf dan 5 diakritik. Huruf lontara merupakan suku kata yang melanbangkan bunyi /a/. Ke 23 silabel tersebut dinamakan induk huruf (ina sure’), sedang 5 diakritik disebut anak huruf (ana’ sure’).
Ana’ sure’ digunakan untuk bunyi suku kata selain /a/.  

Lontara consists of 23 symbols and 5 diacritics or accents. Bugis lontara
represent word not a lettter and all with vowel [a] and known as ina
sure, while the 5 diacritics called ana sure.
Diacritics is applied when the syllable is not /a/ Apparently there are no syllables equivalent to F,V, Q, X, and Z. 


The Bugis letter is commonly called as LONTARA UGI, or just LONTARA. However, lontara is also could means as family tree. The creation of Bugis Lontara is originated from the mythology of the shape of the earth that is rhombus shaped and is called 

 
 

“sulp aEp wolsoji =   sulapa’ eppa’ wolasoji”   

(Abbas, in Radjab Masse, at al; 1999:4)
The lontara symbol of b /ba/ could stand for bad, bat, bag, bang, etc; this is one of the uniqueness of lontara.


Lontara has no written consonant, but in actual dialect there are some consonants used. Traditionally, adapted name from Arabic, Java or others, which ending with consonant n, is usually pronounced by native buginese as  ng.
 

 
When applying in English terms, the consonant as in the above given reference for bad and bat, could be very difficult to distiguish, we must have an advance experiences on how to get the meaning of the whole sentence.

Syarifuddin = Saripoddding or podding 

Saripodi   Podi

Hasanuddin = Saenodding or nodding 

Saenodi

 Nodi

Another example of words with
consonant but not written as of follows
 

There are many bats hanging on the tamarind tree

“maEga panning ta’gattung ri pong cempaE”, written as:Â