Cyrillic Modifier Te

It marks pronunciation detail in phonetic transcription. In a Russian pronunciation dictionary from 1989, Cyrillic superscript te marks a fleeting [t] or assimilation, a change caused by neighboring sounds. In 1949, a description of Negidal, a Tungusic language, uses it for partial devoicing: a consonant loses some vocal-fold vibration. The source's notation key gives its exact value.

The broader convention predates this modifier. In 1905, Serbian linguist Aleksandar Belić used raised and lowered letters in a dialect study to distinguish stronger and weaker vowel values. Later Cyrillic transcriptions used superscripts for fine sound detail, much like the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a standard notation for speech sounds.