Consonants in Swahili generally have English values, but as in the case of vowels, there are considerable differences;note the following:
1. p t k
These are similar to English voiceless stops, but they can be aspirated or unaspirated. That is, speaking the first two words below would release a burst of air that would rustle a sheet of paper held in front of the speaker's mouth; for the second set of words, the sheet of paper would remain still.
Generally, initial p, t, and k of class 9/10 nominals are aspirated in contrast to initial p, t, and k of class 5 nominals:
paa [p(h)aa] pronounced as in 'gazelle'
kaa [k(h)aa] pronounced as in 'crab' versus paa 'roof' to kaa 'piece of charcoal'
2. b d g
As English voiced stops, but they are imploded, that is, in their pronunciation the air is sucked into the mouth as they are released. The g is always hard as in English goat vs. the g in gin.
Examples:
baba 'father
dada 'sister'
gumu 'hard'
3. f v s z
As in English; s is never pronounced as z
Fatuma 'girl's name'
fupi 'short'
kavu 'dry'
vizuri 'well'
sasa 'now'
4. m n
As in English. In some cases where they occur before other consonants, m and n are pronounced as full syllables, but without inserting a vowel sound either before or after. The first two examples are syllabic, but not the second two:
mtu 'person'
nta 'wax' versus
mboga 'vegetable'
ndege 'bird or airplane'
5. ny
As the ~n in Spanish ma~nana 'tomorrow', or as the segment ni in English
'onion': nyanya
'grandmother : 'tomato'
ninyi 'you (plural)'
6. ng'
As the ng in English sing (not as in finger), e.g. ng'ombe 'cow, cattle' The same sound but spelled with 'n' is also heard before 'g', e.g. ngoma 'drum, dance'. Linguists represent this sound with the phonetic symbol for a velar nasal, thus ng'ombe is [(symbol)+ombe] and ngoma is [(symbol) +goma].
7. ch
As the first sound in English 'cheek', not as in 'chemist': chakula 'food' chache 'few'
8. j
As in English job, but without the audible friction associated with the English consonant. Some speakers of English hear this sound when pronounced by a native speaker as y, however, a fairly accurate pronunciation can be achieved by pronouncing it as the sequence dy: hujambo (hudyambo) 'hello' jana (dyana) 'yesterday'
9. w y h
Some people spell Swahili h with 'kh' which symbolizes a sound similar to the ch in Scottish loch . This occurs frequently with Arabic borrowings but is not the practice followed in this manual: watu 'people'
yeye 'the or she'
huyu 'this one, this person'
10. r
Swahili r is quite different from the English one; it is similar to the Spanish tapped r as in pero 'but' or claro 'of course': habari 'news' heri 'good will, blessings, good wishes'
11. l
As in English when in initial position, e.g. 'leak'; second language speakers tend not to distinguish r and l.
lala 'sleep'
leo 'today'
12. th
As in English thin, think, both:
example:- thelathini 'thirty'
13. dh
As in English thy, though, then:
example:- dhambi 'sin' -dhani 'think'
14. gh
This sound is produced by pronouncing g as a fricative; it is similar to the the ch in Scottish loch, but voiced: ghala 'storehouse' ghali 'expensive'
15. sh
As in English 'push'. This sound plus kh, dh, and gh are found in words that have been borrowed into Swahili predominantly from Arabic. Examples of sh: ishirini 'twenty' mshahara 'salary'
16. mw
A combination of m followed immediately by w: mwalimu 'teacher' mwanafunzi 'student'
17. bw
A combination of b and w: bwana 'sir, mr.' mbwa 'dog' Stress.In Swahili stress generally falls on the penultimate syllable:
habari ('new') gani? ('what kind?')
msingi 'foundation'
There are some exceptions to this rule, but only in words of foreign origin that have not been assimilated completely into the language.
There are at least two intonation patterns for questions in Swahili, one used in reading questions or in emphatic contexts, another in non-emphatic or normal contexts. Comparisons and practice words and phrases have been used in most of the lessons.
ENJOY.
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