Help:IPA/Nguni
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| This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Nguni on Wikipedia. It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Nguni in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. |
The charts below show the way in which the IPA is used to transcribe the Nguni languages Swazi, Xhosa, and Zulu. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.
The click consonants do not have any equivalent phoneme in English. The nearest equivalents to English-speakers are the Tut-tut or Tsk! Tsk!, tchick!, and clip-clop! interjections.
| IPA | Xhosa | Swazi | Zulu | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | bh | book | ||
| ɓ | b | bag, but implosive | ||
| d | d | dip | ||
| dʒ | j | just | ||
| dz | dz | dads | ||
| dv | dv | hand valve | ||
| f | f | find | ||
| ɡ | g | give | ||
| ɠ | k | good, but implosive | ||
| h | h | have | ||
| ɦ | hh | behind | ||
| j | y | yet | ||
| k | kh | can | ||
| kʼ | k | back, with glottalization | ||
| k̬ | k | Glottalized bag | ||
| kxʼ | kr | kl | No English equivalent | |
| kʟ̝̊ | kr | kl | Similar to clinic | |
| l | l | like | ||
| ɬ | hl | No English equivalent; Welsh llwyd | ||
| ɮ | dl | No English equivalent; Welsh llwyd, but voiced | ||
| m | m | mode | ||
| n | n | night | ||
| ŋ | ngʼ | ng[1] | sing | |
| ɲ | ny | canyon | ||
| p | ph | pin | ||
| pʼ | p | lip, with glottalization | ||
| r | r | right, but trilled | ||
| s | s | see | ||
| ʃ | sh | ship | ||
| t | th | tip | ||
| tʼ | t | bit, with glottalization | ||
| ts | ts | cats | ||
| tsʼ | ts | cats, with glottalization | ||
| tf | tf | thoughtful | ||
| tʃʼ | tsh | catch, with glottalization | ||
| v | v | vine | ||
| w | w | wind | ||
| x | rh | Scottish loch | ||
| ɣ | gr | No English equivalent; Spanish amigo | ||
| ʒ | zh | pleasure | ||
| z | z | zip | ||
| ʔ | (ʔ) | Pause in uh-oh! | ||
| IPA | Orthography |
|---|---|
| ᵏǀ | c |
| ᵏǀʼ | c |
| ᵏǁ | x |
| ᵏǁʼ | x |
| ᵏǃ | q |
| ᵏǃʼ | q |
| ᶢǀ | gc |
| ᶢǁ | gx |
| ᶢǃ | gq |
| ᵑǀ | nc |
| ᵑǁ | nx |
| ᵑǃ | nq |
| IPA | Description |
|---|---|
| ◌̃ | Nasalization (placed above consonant) |
| ◌ʰ | Aspirated consonant (placed after consonant) |
| ◌ʱ | Breathy voice (placed after consonant) |
| ◌ʲ | Palatalisation (placed after consonant) |
| ◌̠ | Retracted consonant (placed below consonant) |
| ◌̤ / ◌̈/ ◌̥ / ◌̊ | Slack voice (placed above or below consonant)[clarification needed] |
| IPA | Orthography | English approximation |
|---|---|---|
| a[2] | a | cat or father[3] |
| ɛ | e | bed |
| e | e | bay |
| i | i | beat |
| ɔ | o | British English off |
| o | o | story |
| u | u | cool |
| ː | long vowel |
| Diacritic | Tone letter | Description |
|---|---|---|
| á | ˦ | High tone |
| à | ˨ | Low tone |
| âː | ˥˩ | Long falling tone |
| ǎ̤ | ˨˦ | Breathy/slack rising tone |
| à̤ | ˨ | Breathy/slack low tone |
| a̤᷈ː | ˨˧˨ | Long breathy/slack peaking tone |
Notes
[edit]- ↑ The velar nasal [ŋ] may be pronounced as [ŋg] in Swazi.
- ↑ /a/ is phonetically realised as an open front unrounded vowel [a] in Swazi, an open central unrounded vowel [ä] in Zulu and an open back unrounded vowel in Xhosa [ɑ].
- ↑ Realized similar to cat in Swazi, similar to father in Xhosa, and in between the two in Zulu