How does Kiswahili Sound like?

Because Kiswahili is spoken both as a first and second language, you may hear different pronunciation. However, there is a set of vowels and consonants that are crucial for your pronunciation.

Vowels

There are five distinct vowel sounds in Kiswahili.

a	alama ‘sign’
e	eleza ‘explain’
i	ili ‘so that’
o	okota ‘pick up’
u	ukuta ‘wall’

Consonants

b	baba ‘father’
c	chai ‘tea’
d	dada ‘sister’
f	fika ‘arrive’
g	gari ‘motorcar’
h	habari ‘news’
j	jana ‘yesterday’
k	kaka ‘brother’
l	lala ‘sleep’
m	mama ‘mother’
n	nazi ‘coconut’
p	paka ‘cat’
r	ramani ‘map’
s	soko ‘market’
t	tia ‘put’
v	vizuri ‘good’
w	watu ‘people’
y	yai ‘egg’
z	zawadi ‘present’

th	theluji	‘snow’
dh	dhahabu	‘gold’
gh	ghasia	‘chaos’
sh	shimo	‘pit’

The following chart represents the nasal consonants and nasal consonant clusters found in this language.

ny	nyanya	‘grandmother’
ng'	ng'ombe	‘cow’
ng	ngoma	‘drum/dance’
nd	ndege	‘bird’
mb	mbuzi	‘goat’
mw	mwalimu	‘teacher’

mchana	‘day time ’
mdudu	‘bug’
mfalme	‘king’
mganga	‘medicinal healer ’
mhenga	‘a wise person’
mji	‘town or city’
mkia	‘tail’
mlinzi	‘guard’
mmea	‘plant’
mnene	‘fat’
mpira	‘ball’
mrefu	‘tall’
msitu	‘forest’
mtoto	‘child’
mvuvi	‘fisherman’
mzazi	‘parent’
mbwa	‘dog’
mchwa	‘termit’
mnyama	‘animal’
ncha	‘tip’
nywele	‘hair’