# Pronunciation
## Vowels

| Letter | IPA | Example (IPA) | Example (Written) | Meaning | Notes |
| i | i | 'siːza | -siza | "help" | Pronounced somewhat like ease in English. |
| u | u | u'muːzi | umuzi | "family" | Somewhat like English vowel in the word pool. |
| e | e | umgiˈɓeːli | umgibeli | "passenger" | Somewhat like bed in English. |
| | ɛ | ibʰubɛːsi | ibhubesi | "lion" | Pronounced somewhat like bay in English. |
| o | ɔ | ɔˈgɔːgo | ogogo | "grandmothers" | Somewhat like law in English. |
| | o | umgoːdi | umgodi | "hole" | Pronounced somewhat like boat in English. |
| a | a | idaːda | idada | "duck" | Pronounced somewhat like ark in English. |
Note the table contains diphthongs and lengthened vowels.

## Semi-vowels

| Letter | IPA | Example (IPA) | Example (Written) | Meaning | Notes |
| y | j | ujiːse | uyise | "his/her/their father" | Pronounced as in yes in English. |
| w | w | iːwele | iwele | "twin" | Pronounced as in wall in English. |

## Consonants

| Letter | IPA | Example (IPA) | Example (Written) | Meaning | Notes |
| m | m | ujiːse | umama | "my/our mother" | Pronounced as in English. |
| n | n | uniːna | unina | "his/her/their mother" | Pronounced as in no in English. |
| ny | ɲ | iːɲɔːni | inyoni | "bird" | Pronounced as in vignette. |
| ng | ŋ | iːŋɔane | ingane | "child" | Pronounced as in finger. |
| p | p | iːpiːpi | ipipi | "pipe for smoking" | This consonant is pronounced somewhat as in speech. |
| ph | pʰ | pʰɛːɠa | -pheka | "cook" | Pronounced as in pin never as in phone |
| t | t | iːtiːje | itiye | "tea" | Pronounced somewhat as in English. |
| th | tʰ | tʰaːtʰa | -thatha | "take" | Pronounced somewhat as in English but more fully aspirated i.e. with more air escaping from the mouth. |
| k | k | umakɔːti | umakoti | "bride" | Pronounced somewhat as in English. |
| | ɠ | uɠuza | ukuza | "to come" | Pronounced somewhere between k and g in English. |
| kh | kʰ | iːkʰaːnda | ikhanda | "head" | Pronounced somewhat like c in cat but more aspirated. |
| g | g | ugɔgɔ | ugogo | "granny" | Pronounced somewhat like in go never as in gem. |
| b | ɓ | ubaːba | ubaba | "my/our father" | Pronounced with implosion; the movement of the muscles approaches more or less that when smoking a pipe. |
| bh | b | bala | -bhala | "write" | Pronounced more or less as in English bed. |
| d | d | iːdaːda | idada | "duck" | Pronounced more or less as in English duck. |
| f | f | iːfu | ifu | "cloud" | Pronounced more or less as in English fun. |
| v | v | vaːla | -vala | "close" | Pronounced as in English van. |
| s | s | iːsiːsu | isisu | "stomach" | Pronounced as in English say. |
| sh | ʃ | iːʃuːmi | ishumi | "ten" | Pronounced as in English shall. |
| h | h | haːmba | -hamba | "go" | Pronounced as in English hand. |
| | ɦ | iːɦaːʃi | ihashi | "horse" | Pronounced as in English behind. |
| l | l | lala | -lala | "sleep" | Pronounced as in English laugh. |
| hl | ɬ | ɬaːla | -hlala | "sit" | Pronounced as in Welsh Llanelli. An approximation is pronouncing l and h simultaneously. |
| dl | ɮ | ɮaːla | -dla | "eat" | This consonant is voiced form of hl. This means the vocal cords are vibrating during articulation. |
| tsh | tʃ | utʃaːni | utshani | "grass" | Pronounced as the English chin. |
| j | ʤ | uʤu | uju | "honey" | This consonant is pronounced as the English jump. |
| kl | kɬ' (*) | kɬ'aːja | -klaya | "split" | To produce this sound: Raise the back of the tongue against the soft palate. Keep the front part of the tongue down behind the lower teeth. Force air through the closure caused by raising the back of the tongue against the soft palate. |
(*) IPA transcription by G. Poulos & C.T. Msimang. A linguistic analysis of Zulu. Cape Town: Via Afrika, 1998.

## Clicks

| Letter | IPA | Example (IPA) | Example (Written) | Meaning | Notes |
| c | ǀ | ǀela | -cela | request | To produce this sound: Place the tip of the tongue against the upper front teeth and gum. Depress the centre of the tongue. Release the tip of the tongue drawing it slightly backwards. |
| q | ǃ | ǃala | -qala | begin | To produce this sound: Press the upper part of the tongue-tip against the part between the teeth ridge and the hard palate. Raise the back of the tongue so that it touches the soft palate. Depress the centre of the tongue. Release sharply downwards the tip of the tongue. |
| x | ǁ | ǁɔːǁɔː | -xoxo | chat, converse | To produce this sound: Place the upper part of the tongue-tip against the part between the teeth ridge and the hard palate. Raise the back of the tongue towards the soft palate. Withdraw one side of the tongue from the upper teeth. |
Note: c is often described as the sound in tut-tut while x is the sound used for encouraging horses.
The click sounds can be aspirated, nasalised, voiced or voiced and nasalised together. This is shown in the below table.
| Aspirated | Nasalised | Voiced | Voiced and Nasalised |
| ch | nc | gc | ngc |
| qh | nq | gq | ngq |
| xh | nx | gx | ngx |