Lesson 13-Somo la Kumi na Tatu

A Dhow in Zanzibar ---Dhow----mtumbwi( pronounced as mh-two-mbwih)



A.SWAHILI ALPHABET

THE swahili alphabet includes:
1.23 single letters,a, b, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, v, w, y, z.

2.The letters q and x are not used.The letter c though present is never used alone.

3.9 digraphs : ch, dh, gh, kh, ng', ny, sh, th, ts.



B.SIMPLE CONSONANTS

Spelling Phoneme Example
B, b [b] baba (father)
D, d [d] dada (sister)
F, f [f] kufaa (to suit)
G, g [g] gari (car)
H, h [h] haya ! (O.K. !)
J, j [ʤ] juu (on top)
K, k [k] kuku (chicken)
L, l [l] lala ! (sleep !)
M, m [m] Mama (mother)
N, n [n] na (and, with)
P, p [p] papa (shark)
R, r [r] rangi (colour)
S, s [s] saa (clock, time)
T, t [t] taa (lamp)
V, v [v] kuvaa (to wear)
Z, z [z] -zuri (nice, good)

Most of the consonants in Swahili are similar to English and do offer much difficulty,special attention must be paid to the following:

a) "f":it always has the sound of "f" in "fat" never that of the "f" in "of".
b)"g" is always hard like in "got".Don't pronounce it soft like "g" in "gin"
c)"s" has the sound of the "s" in "sad",not that of the "s" in "easy"