Help:IPA/Nguni

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 {{IPA-ss}}, {{IPA-xh}}, {{IPA-zu}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

A superscript X marks a sound or spelling found specifically in Xhosa, and Z specifically in Zulu. Sounds marked * only appear in loanwords.

Consonants Vowels Tones
Non-click
IPA Orthography
bʱ bh
ɓ b
dʱ d
d̠ʲʱ dyx
dzʱ dz
dʒʱ j
f f
ɡʱ g
ɠ k
h h
ɦ hh
j y
jʱ yh
kʰ kh
kʼ k
kxʼ klz, krx
l l
lʱ lhx
ɬ hl
ɮʱ dl
m m
mʱ mh
n n
nʱ nh
Non-click
IPA Orthography
n̠ʲ ny
n̠ʲʱ nyh
pʰ ph
pʼ p
r r*
rʱ r*
s s
ʃ sh
tʰ th
t̠ʲʼ tyx
t̠ʲʰ tyhx
tʼ t
tsʼ ts
tsʰ tshx or thsx
tʃʼ tsh
tʃʰ tshx or thshx
vʱ v
w w
wʱ wh
x rhx
ɣʱ grx
zʱ z
ʒʱ zh*
Click
IPA Orthography
ǀ c
ǁ x
ǃ q
ǀʰ ch
ǁʰ xh
ǃʰ qh
ǀʱ gc
ǁʱ gx
ǃʱ gq
ǀ̃ nc
ǁ̃ nx
ǃ̃ nq
ǀʱ̃ ngc
ǁʱ̃ ngx
ǃʱ̃ ngq
ǀ̃ˀ nkcX
ǁ̃ˀ nkxX
ǃ̃ˀ nkqX
Vowel
IPA Orthography
a a
ɛ e
e e
i i
ɔ o
o o
u u
ː
Tone mark Tone Bar
Tones
á ˦
à ˨
âː ˥˩
ǎ̤ ˨˦
à̤ ˨
a̤᷈ ː ˨˧˨