Kiswahili Alphabet

The English language has the following alphabet:
a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p, q,r,s,t,u,v,w,x,y and z.

Kiswahili alphabet is made up similar manner with the exception of letter q and x.

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF KISWAHILI WORDS

For the normal or ordinary vocaabulary you need to write and speak good Kiswahili one must master the basic building blocks of the language.

Below are the basic building blocks:

the vowels just as in English:

a, e, i, o, u.

However a is pronounced as a in America; e not as e in England or English but as e in Embassy; i is pronounced as i in Mix; and o as o in pot; and u as u in put.

Next the remaining alphabet with the excetption of a,e,i,o,u,q and x is simplified and presented below to provide the basic building blocks of the language:

ba, be, bi, bo, bu
cha,che, chi, cho, chu,
da,de, di, do, du,
fa, fe, fi, fo, fu,
ga, ge, gi, go, gu,
ha, he, hi, ho, hu,
ja,je, ji, jo, ju
ka,ke, ki, ko, ku
la, le, li, lo, lu,
ma, me, mi, mo, mu,
na, ne, ni, no, nu.
pa, pe, pi, po. pu,
ra, re, ri, ro, ru,
sa, se, si, so, su,
ta, te, ti, to, tu,
va, ve, vi, vo, vu,
wa, we, wi, wo, wu,
ya, ye, yi, yo, yu,
and,
za, ze, zi, zo, zu.


Next we match these letters with proper sounds in Kiswahili language using the English equivalents.