Kiswahili has two distinct sounds, they are:
Vowels and Consonants,
In Kiswahili they are called Vokali and Konsonanti respectively.
Vokali (Vowels)
A E I O U
a e i o u
Once you put two sounds together i.e. the vowel and consonant they take a syllable (silabi) for example consonant ‘b’ together with vowel ‘a’ makes a syllable ‘ba’ please note once you put together two or more syllables they make a word for example
ba + ba = baba (father)
VOWELS (IRABU)
Mifano ya maneno (example of words which start with vowels)
A--------------------- a
Askari----------------Policeman
E ----------------------------------- e
Embe ------------------------------------- Mango
I ----------------------------------i
Ishirini-----------------------------------------Twenty --------------20
O --------------------------------------O
Ovaroli -----------------------------Overall
U -------------------------------------- u ---------------flour
Unga
MIFANO MINGINE (OTHER EXAMPLES)
Taa --------------------------------lamp
Yai--------------------------------egg
 Ua---------------------------------flower
 Saa--------------------------------clock
WRITING (KUANDIKA)
A a a a a a a
E e e e e e e
I i i i i i i
O o o o o o o
U u u u u u u
MIFANO (EXAMPLE)
1 Mti ------------------------------tree
2 Paka-------------------------cat
3 Jua---------------------------sun
4 Taa---------------------------lamp
5 Jicho--------------------------eye
6 Saa---------------------------watch
Consonant(consonant)-----capital letters
(Herufi kubwa)
B D DH F G GH H J K L M N
NY NG’ P R S T TH V W Y Z
These consonants are not there C, X and Q -----konsonanti hizi hazipo
Consonant (Konsonanti) ----small letters (Herufi ndogo)
b d dh f g gh h j k l m n ny ny’ p s t th v w y z
KUSOMA NA KUANDIKA (read and right)
Silabi za herufi ‘b’ (mfano)
b
Soma (read)
Bata----------------------------duck
Bendera-----------------------flag
Birika----------------------------kettle
Bomu----------------------------bomb
Bundi------------------------------owl
SILABI ZA HERUFI ch
a |
e |
i |
o |
u |
Cha |
Che |
chi |
cho |
chu |
Chaki |
cherahani |
chifu |
choo |
chura |
chalk |
Sewing machine |
chief |
toilet |
frog |
SILABI ZA HERUFI ‘d’
d
a |
e |
i |
O |
u |
da |
de |
di |
Do |
du |
dawati |
debe |
dirisha |
Dodoki |
duka |
desk |
container |
window |
mopper |
Shop |
MIFANO YA MANENO(*EXAMPLE OF WORDS
Duka----------------------------shop
Mdudu--------------------------insect
TARAKIMU (idadi 1 - 10)
1 moja----------------one
2 mbili-----------------two
3 tatu -----------------three
4 nne------------------four
5 tano-----------------five
6 sita---------------six
7 saba----------------seven
8 nane---------------eight
9 tisa------------------nine
10 kumi---------------------ten
More examples –mifano zaidi Vokali /Vowels
A e I o u
mama |
a |
Mother |
Wewe |
e |
You |
Sisi |
I |
We |
Moto |
o |
Fire |
Kuku |
u |
Hen |
Saa |
aa |
Watch |
Neema |
ee |
Grace |
Bidii |
ii |
Effort |
Choo |
oo |
Latrine |
Kuu kuu |
uu |
old |
Consonants and vowels confine to make syllables and words
b ba be bi bo bu
d da de di do du
f fa fe fi fo fu
g ga ge gi go gu
h ha he hi ho hu
j ja je ji jo ju
k ka ke ki ko ku
l la le li lo lu
m ma me mi mo mu
n na ne ni no nu
p pa pe pi po pu
r ra re ri ro ru
s sa se si so su
t ta te ti to tu
v va ve vi vo vu
w wa we wi wo wu
y ya ye yi yo yu
ch cha che chi cho chu
dh dha dhe dhi dho dhu
gh gha ghe ghi gho ghu
ng nga nge ngi ngo ngu
th tha the thi tho thu
sh sha she shi sho shu
ny nya nye nyi nyo nyu
Tourism (Utalii)
African Wild animals --- wanyama wa porini
Elephant--------- ndovu -------tembo
Lion--------------simba
Rhino --------- kifaru
Zebra -------- punda milia
Snake --------- nyoka
Leopard ------- chui
Tortoise----- Kobe
Giraffe -------- twiga
Mouse---------- panya
Hippo----------- kiboko
Hyena --------- fisi
Baboon--------- nyani
Frog --------- chura
Buffalo---------- nyati |
