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Lesson 2 · worksheet

Swahili Pronunciation

Work through this at your own pace. Read each question in English, answer in Swahili. Nothing is marked, so guess freely.

By the end of this lesson you will be able to

  1. Read any Swahili syllable from the sound table
  2. Use an English anchor word to remember each consonant sound
  3. Sound out a word you have never seen by breaking it into syllables
  4. Keep the stress in the right place while you do it
Part 1

One rule makes Swahili readable

Almost every Swahili syllable is one consonant sound joined to a vowel: a, e, i, o, u. That is the whole system. Because Swahili is written exactly as it is spoken, once you can say the syllables you can read any word, including words you have never met.

How to use this page. Read each row out loud, left to right: BA, BE, BI, BO, BU. Tap a block to hear it and to mark it as practised. Do not try to memorise anything; say it until it feels ordinary.

QWhy can you read a Swahili word you have never seen before?

Part 2

The sound table: B to K

Each row below is one consonant sound moving through the five vowels. The English word beside it is an anchor: it starts with the same sound, so you always have something familiar to reach for.

BA as in bat → ba-bafather
CHA as in Charles → cha-itea
DA as in dance → da-dasister
FA as in father → fu-pishort
GA as in garbage → ga-ricar
HA as in happy → ha-ba-rinews
JA as in jug → ja-nayesterday
KA as in kangaroo → ka-la-mupen

QThe CH sound starts a drink you probably had this week. Type the Swahili word for tea.

Show me the answer
Chai · tea
Part 3

The sound table: L to Z

The second half. Same idea, same rhythm. Say each row aloud before you move on.

LA as in lamp → la-lato sleep
MA as in mother → ma-mamother
NA as in nothing → na-neeight
NYA as in lanyard → nyu-mbahouse
PA as in person → pa-mo-jatogether
RA as in rabbit → ra-ngicolour
SA as in safari → sa-sanow
SHA as in shambles → shu-leschool
TA as in Tabitha → ta-nofive
VA as in value → vi-ta-bubooks
WA as in worthy → wa-tupeople
YA as in young → ya-kehis, hers
ZA as in Zambia → za-wa-digift

QWhich English word is the anchor for the NY sound?

Part 4

Reading a word you have never seen

This is the pay-off. Break the word into consonant-plus-vowel blocks, say each block, then run them together. Nothing else to decode.

kitabu becomes ki + ta + bu. Say the blocks, then join them: ki-TA-bu. It means book.

shikamoo becomes shi + ka + moo. A respectful greeting to an elder, and now you can say it on sight.

ki-ta-bubook
shu-leschool
me-zatable
si-kuday
wa-tupeople

QBreak meza into its two blocks and type them separated by a hyphen.

Consonant plus vowel, twice.

Show me the answer
me-za · table
Part 5

Stress, on new words

Same rule as before: lean on the second to last block. Here it is on words you met today.

ki-ta-bubook · ki-TA-bu
vi-ta-bubooks · vi-TA-bu
pa-mo-jatogether · pa-MO-ja
ma-mamother · MA-ma

QWhere does the stress fall in shi-ka-moo?

Part 6

A note on the rows with no English word

You may have noticed the sound table also holds rows like DHA, THA, GHA, KHA, MBA, NDA, NGA and NJA, with no English anchor beside them. That is not an oversight: English has no single letter for those sounds.

That is the whole of the next lesson. Unique Swahili Sounds takes those rows slowly, one at a time, with words to practise on. Finish here first and they will make far more sense.
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Hongera! You can now read Swahili aloud

Every syllable in the language is on this page. Show yourself: pick any Swahili word you have seen anywhere, break it into blocks, and say it. That is a skill you did not have an hour ago.

Back to the lesson →