The rest of the alphabet:

The rest of the alphabet:

ga, ge, gi, go, gu

ga is pronounced as the ga in the word GARB;
ge, is pronounced as the syllabi ge in GERMAN
gi is pronounced as the letters gi in the word GIST;
go is pronounced as the letters go in the word GO;
gu is pronounced never as the gu in GUN but as the gu in GURU!

ha, he, hi, ho, hu

ha is pronounced normally as the letters ha in the word HARP;
he is pronounced just like the letters he in the word HELM;
hi is pronounced as the letters hi in the word HIT;
ho is prounced precisely as the letters ho in the word HOT:
hu is never pronounced as the hun in HUNT but always as the hu in the word HOOK. >>>>>>



ja, je, ji, jo, ju

ja is pronounced as the letters ja in the word JAM;
je is pronounced exactly as the je in the word JET:
ji is pronounced more or less like the letters ji in JILT;
jo is pronounced just as the jo in the name JOE or JORDAN or JOHANNESBURG.
ju is never pronounced as the ju in JUST but as the ju in JUKEBOX!

ka, ke, ki, ko, ku

ka is pronounced just as the letters ka in KARATE;
ke is pronounced like the ke in the name KENT;
ki is pronounced exactly like the letters ki in KILLER;
ko is pronounced like the co in COB or COLT;
ku is pronounced like the letters coo IN COOL.
It is cool, isn't it so far dear students ?

la, le, li, lo, lu

la is pronounced like the la in the word LAMENTATION:
le is pronounced like the le in LEND;
li is pronounced like the li in the word LIST;
lo is pronounced like the lo in the word LOST;
lu is pronounced like the lu in the word LUNATIC.

ma, me, mi, mo, mu.

ma is pronounced like the ma in the word MAST;
me is pronounce like the letters me in the word MELT;
mi is pronounced like the letters mi in the word MIST;
mo is pronounced like the letters mo in the word MOIST:
mu is prounced like the mu in the word MUSIC.

na, ne, ni, no, nu

na is pronounced like the na in the word NAZI;
ne is pronounced like the ne in the words NEST, NEXT;
ni is pronounced like the ni in the word NIP;
no is pronounced exactly as the word NO!
nu is pronounced like the nu in the word NUISANCE!

pa, pe, pi, po, pu.

pa is pronounced like the pa in PAPA;
pe is pronounced like the pe in the word PEST;
pi is pronounced like the pi in PISTON;
po is pronounced like the po in the word POT;
pu is pronounce like the pu in PUT.

ra, re, ri, ro, ru
ra is pronounced as the ra in the word RAM;
re is pronounced as the re in the word REST;
ri is pronounced as the ri in the word RISK;
ro is pronounced as the ro in the word ROCK;
ru is pronounced as the ru in the word RUDE.

sa, se, si, so, su

sa is pronounced as the sa in the word SAND; or the si in the word SIR;
se is pronounced like th se in the words SET AND SEND;
si is pronounced like the si in th word si or name SINDBAD;
so is pronounced like the word so in the word SONG;
su is pronounced like the su in the word SULTAN.


ta, te, ti, to, tu

ta is pronounced like the ta in the word TAP;
te is pronounced like the te in the word TEST;
ti is pronounced like the ti in the word TICK;
to is pronounced like the to in the word TOP;
tu is pronounced always like the tu in TUPAC.

va. ve. vi, vo, vu

va is pronounced like the va in the word VAST;
ve is pronounced like the ve in the word VEGETABLE;
vi is pronounced like the vi in the word VINTAGE;
vo is always pronounced like the vo in VOICE;
vu is pronounce like the voo in VOODOO!


wa, we, wi, wo, wu
wa is pronounced like the wa in WANT;
we is pronounced like the we in WELL;
wi is pronounced like the wi in WITCH, WITH.
wo is pronounced like the wo in WOLF;
and wu is pronounced like the wu in the german WUNSCH! or the woo in WOOL!

ya, ye, yi, yo, yu

ya is pronounced like the ya in YAP or YAM;
ye is pronounced like the ye in YELTSIN or YELLOW;
yi is pronounced like the yi in YING;
yo is pronounced like yo in YOGHURT;
yu is pronounced like the yu in YUSSUPH or just simply YOU!

za, ze, zi, zo, zu

za is pronounced like the za in ZANZIBAR;
ze is pronounced like the ze in ZAIN;
zi is pronounced like the zi in ZIMBABWE;
zo is pronounced like the zo in ZOMBIE;
zu is pronounced like the zu in JACOB ZUMA!


Special exercise:

There are certain syllabi/phoneme in Kiswahili which takes on more than two consonants. See below. Juggle with their pronounciation:

mchuzi-
mchwa-
mchango-
mshenzi-
mwalimu-
mheshimiwa-
mkufunzi-
mshindi-
mshindani -

How well did you try them. Remember just to pronounce the m there as mm e.g. mmshndi (competitor) or mmtoto (child) !

Assignment:

LOOK for the following Kiswahili newspaper online:
-Habari Leo.
-Tanzania Daima.
-Mtanzania.
-Mwananchi.
-Uhuru/Mzalendo.

and serarch for RADIO and TV in Kiswahili from all over the world to get a grasp of the spoken language. Kwaheri kwa leo!!!