Key Swahili sounds, stress patterns, and minimal pairs to sharpen listening and pronunciation skills. Front: the sound, word, or pattern. Back: explanation with a plain-English pronunciation note.
35 cards · basic cards · AI-written, checked twice. Edit anything.
- ng'
Show answer
A single nasal velar sound (like "ng" in "singer"), written with an apostrophe; distinct from a plain "ng"- ng'ombe
Show answer
Cow. Pronounced with the soft "ng" sound at the start, not a hard "ng-g"- ny
Show answer
Pronounced like the "ny" in "canyon", a single palatal nasal sound- nyumba
Show answer
House. Starts with the palatal "ny" sound, said as one smooth sound, not "n" plus "y"- dh
Show answer
Pronounced like the "th" in "this" (voiced th sound)- dhambi
Show answer
Sin. The "dh" is a soft voiced "th" sound, not a hard "d"- th
Show answer
Pronounced like the "th" in "think" (unvoiced th sound)- thelathini
Show answer
Thirty. The "th" is unvoiced, like English "think", not like "t"- gh
Show answer
A soft, breathy sound similar to a gargled "g", made further back in the throat than English "g"- ghali
Show answer
Expensive. The "gh" is a soft back-of-throat sound, distinct from a plain "g"- kh
Show answer
A raspy sound from the back of the throat, similar to the "ch" in the Scottish "loch"- khamsini
Show answer
Fifty (Arabic-origin word). The "kh" is a throaty rasp, not a plain "k"- Stress pattern
Show answer
Swahili word stress almost always falls on the second-to-last syllable, unlike English's varied stress- hoTELi
Show answer
Hotel. Stress falls on "TE", the second-to-last syllable, following the regular Swahili pattern- kiTAbu
Show answer
Book. Stress falls on "TA", the second-to-last syllable
FlashKeepers