Zulu/Appendix B

Pronunciation

Vowels

Letter	IPA	Example (IPA)	Example (Written)	Meaning	Notes
i	i	'siːza	-siza	"help"	Pronounced somewhat like ease in English.
u	u	u'muːzi	umuzi	"family"	Somewhat like English vowel in the word pool.
e	e	umgiˈɓeːli	umgibeli	"passenger"	Somewhat like bed in English.
	ɛ	ibʰubɛːsi	ibhubesi	"lion"	Pronounced somewhat like bay in English.
o	ɔ	ɔˈgɔːgo	ogogo	"grandmothers"	Somewhat like law in English.
	o	umgoːdi	umgodi	"hole"	Pronounced somewhat like boat in English.
a	a	idaːda	idada	"duck"	Pronounced somewhat like ark in English.

Note the table contains diphthongs and lengthened vowels.

Semi-vowels

Letter	IPA	Example (IPA)	Example (Written)	Meaning	Notes
y	j	ujiːse	uyise	"his/her/their father"	Pronounced as in yes in English.
w	w	iːwele	iwele	"twin"	Pronounced as in wall in English.

Consonants

Letter	IPA	Example (IPA)	Example (Written)	Meaning	Notes
m	m	ujiːse	umama	"my/our mother"	Pronounced as in English.
n	n	uniːna	unina	"his/her/their mother"	Pronounced as in no in English.
ny	ɲ	iːɲɔːni	inyoni	"bird"	Pronounced as in vignette.
ng	ŋ	iːŋɔane	ingane	"child"	Pronounced as in finger.
p	p	iːpiːpi	ipipi	"pipe for smoking"	This consonant is pronounced somewhat as in speech.
ph	pʰ	pʰɛːɠa	-pheka	"cook"	Pronounced as in pin never as in phone
t	t	iːtiːje	itiye	"tea"	Pronounced somewhat as in English.
th	tʰ	tʰaːtʰa	-thatha	"take"	Pronounced somewhat as in English but more fully aspirated i.e. with more air escaping from the mouth.
k	k	umakɔːti	umakoti	"bride"	Pronounced somewhat as in English.
	ɠ	uɠuza	ukuza	"to come"	Pronounced somewhere between k and g in English.
kh	kʰ	iːkʰaːnda	ikhanda	"head"	Pronounced somewhat like c in cat but more aspirated.
g	g	ugɔgɔ	ugogo	"granny"	Pronounced somewhat like in go never as in gem.
b	ɓ	ubaːba	ubaba	"my/our father"	Pronounced with implosion; the movement of the muscles approaches more or less that when smoking a pipe.
bh	b	bala	-bhala	"write"	Pronounced more or less as in English bed.
d	d	iːdaːda	idada	"duck"	Pronounced more or less as in English duck.
f	f	iːfu	ifu	"cloud"	Pronounced more or less as in English fun.
v	v	vaːla	-vala	"close"	Pronounced as in English van.
s	s	iːsiːsu	isisu	"stomach"	Pronounced as in English say.
sh	ʃ	iːʃuːmi	ishumi	"ten"	Pronounced as in English shall.
h	h	haːmba	-hamba	"go"	Pronounced as in English hand.
	ɦ	iːɦaːʃi	ihashi	"horse"	Pronounced as in English behind.
l	l	lala	-lala	"sleep"	Pronounced as in English laugh.
hl	ɬ	ɬaːla	-hlala	"sit"	Pronounced as in Welsh Llanelli. An approximation is pronouncing l and h simultaneously.
dl	ɮ	ɮaːla	-dla	"eat"	This consonant is voiced form of hl. This means the vocal cords are vibrating during articulation.
tsh	tʃ	utʃaːni	utshani	"grass"	Pronounced as the English chin.
j	ʤ	uʤu	uju	"honey"	This consonant is pronounced as the English jump.
kl	kɬ' (*)	kɬ'aːja	-klaya	"split"	To produce this sound: Raise the back of the tongue against the soft palate. Keep the front part of the tongue down behind the lower teeth. Force air through the closure caused by raising the back of the tongue against the soft palate.

(*) IPA transcription by G. Poulos & C.T. Msimang. A linguistic analysis of Zulu. Cape Town: Via Afrika, 1998.

Clicks

Letter	IPA	Example (IPA)	Example (Written)	Meaning	Notes
c	ǀ	ǀela	-cela	request	To produce this sound: Place the tip of the tongue against the upper front teeth and gum. Depress the centre of the tongue. Release the tip of the tongue drawing it slightly backwards.
q	ǃ	ǃala	-qala	begin	To produce this sound: Press the upper part of the tongue-tip against the part between the teeth ridge and the hard palate. Raise the back of the tongue so that it touches the soft palate. Depress the centre of the tongue. Release sharply downwards the tip of the tongue.
x	ǁ	ǁɔːǁɔː	-xoxo	chat, converse	To produce this sound: Place the upper part of the tongue-tip against the part between the teeth ridge and the hard palate. Raise the back of the tongue towards the soft palate. Withdraw one side of the tongue from the upper teeth.

Note: c is often described as the sound in tut-tut while x is the sound used for encouraging horses.

The click sounds can be aspirated, nasalised, voiced or voiced and nasalised together. This is shown in the below table.

Aspirated	Nasalised	Voiced	Voiced and Nasalised
ch	nc	gc	ngc
qh	nq	gq	ngq
xh	nx	gx	ngx