The charts below show the way in which the بین الاقوامی صوتیاتی ابجد represents سواحلی زبان pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. This reflects Standard Swahili, and dialects may have more or fewer phonemes.

English approximations are, in some cases, very loose. They are intended to give only a general idea of the pronunciation.

حرف صحیحs
معاونت:با ابجدیہ Examples Nearest English equivalent
[[|ɓ]] baba [ˈɓɑɓɑ] 'father' bill
[[|ɗ]] dola [ˈɗɔlɑ] 'dollar' delta
[[|ð]] dhambi [ˈðɑᵐbi] 'sin, offence'[1] that
[[|ʄ ~ dʒ]] maji [ˈmɑʄi ~ ˈmɑdʒi] 'water' jab
[[|f]] fisi [ˈfisi] 'hyena' focus
[[|ɠ]] gani [ˈɠɑni] 'what, of which' gag
[[|ɣ]] ghali [ˈɣɑli] 'expensive'[1] Scottish loch but voiced
[[|h]] uhuru [uˈhuɾu] 'freedom' ahead
[[|j]] yeye [ˈjɛjɛ] 'he/she' yellow
[[|k]] kitabu [kiˈtɑbu] 'book' scald
[[|l]] lakini [lɑˈkini] 'but'[2] lack
[[|m]] damu [ˈɗɑmu] 'blood' mocha
[[|m̩]] mtoto [m̩ˈtɔtɔ] 'child' rhythm
ᵐb mbali [ˈᵐbɑli] 'far' clamber
ᶬv mvinyo [ˈᶬviɲɔ] 'spirits' Humvee
[[|n]] nini [ˈnini] 'what' ninny
[[|n̩]] nchi [ˈn̩tʃi] 'country' even (syllabic nasal)
ⁿd muhindi [muˈhiⁿdi] 'corn, maize' handy
ᵑɡ ngoma [ˈᵑɡɔmɑ] 'drum' finger
ⁿdʒ injili [iˈⁿdʒili] 'gospel' range
ⁿz kwanza [ˈkwɑⁿzɑ] 'to begin' pansy
[[|ɲ]] nyoka [ˈɲɔkɑ] 'snake' canyon
[[|ŋ]] ng'ombe [ˈŋɔᵐbɛ] 'cow, ox' sing
[[|p]] kikapu [kiˈkɑpu] 'basket' spill
[[|ɾ]] rafiki [ɾɑˈfiki] 'friend'[2] robot
[[|s]] sisi [ˈsisi] 'we' stole
[[|ʃ]] shamba [ˈʃɑᵐbɑ] 'farm, field' shell
[[|t]] moto [ˈmɔtɔ] 'fire' stand
[[|tʃ]] chumba [ˈtʃuᵐbɑ] 'room' chase
[[|θ]] thelathini [θɛlɑˈθini] 'thirty'[1] think
[[|v]] vitabu [viˈtɑbu] 'books' vittle
[[|w]] watu [ˈwɑtu] 'people' with
[[|x]] subulkheri [suɓulˈxɛɾi] 'good morning'[1] Scottish loch
[[|z]] maziwa [mɑˈziwɑ] 'milk' zoo
مصوتs
معاونت:با ابجدیہ Examples Nearest English equivalent
[[|ɑ]] baba [ˈɓɑɓɑ] 'father' father
[[|ɛ]] ndege [ˈⁿdɛɠɛ] 'bird' let
[[|i]] Kiswahili [kiswɑˈhili] 'Swahili (language)' meat
[[|ɔ]] mtoto [m̩ˈtɔtɔ] 'child' door
[[|u]] uhuru [uˈhuɾu] 'freedom' fool
Suprasegmentals
معاونت:با ابجدیہ Examples Explanation
[[|ˈ]] safari [sɑˈfɑɾi] 'journey' stress[3]
  1. ^ ا ب پ ت Only found in loanwords.
  2. ^ ا ب Swahili [l] and [ɾ] are merged for many speakers as an alveolar lateral flap; /ɺ/
  3. Stress usually falls on the penultimate syllable of a word.

Bibliography

ترمیم
  • Ellen Contini-Morava (1997)، "Swahili phonology"، $1 میں Allen Kaye، Phonologies of Asia and Africa، 1، Eisenbrauns، صفحہ: 841–860 
  • Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed (2001)، Modern Swahili Grammar، Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers Ltd.، ISBN 9966-46-761-0