Erli has four consonants that come with a strong puff of breath right after them. They are written as digraphs ending in h, with one exception, čš. The puff is meaningful and can change the word.
| Letter | How it sounds | Minimal pair |
|---|---|---|
| kh | like k, with extra breath | kher (house) vs ker! (make!) |
| ph | like p, with extra breath. Not like English ph in phone, which is just /f/. | pheràv (I fill) vs peràv (I fall) |
| th | like t, with extra breath. Not like English th in this or thin. | thud (milk) vs tut (you, accusative) |
| čš | like č (English ch) followed by a clear š. Church plus sh run together. | čšurì (knife) vs čurì (braid) |
In other Romani varieties the same sound as čš is usually written čh. The Sofia Erli spelling reflects that here the aspiration is pronounced as an audible š instead of just a puff.