The sounds of isiZulu are quite different from other languages in many respects, but they are a lot more consistent than English! Have a look at the following tables and things, and listen to the audio recordings, and hopefully it will help you to pronounce stuff ngesiZulu.
There are three sub-sections on this page: a. The Vowels; b. The Consonants; and c. Stress and Emphasis.
a. The Vowels
The general rule with isiZulu is that there are never two vowels next to each other. Here’s a diagram to show what happens with this:
b. The Consonants
- are all pronounced exactly the same way, every time
- D, F, G, J, L, M, S, SH, V, W, Y and Z are the same as English.
- R doesn’t exist in standard isiZulu, and is replaced with L.
If you’re ever at a loss about the clicks, pronounce them as you pronounce a -ch- in isiZulu, by making the ‘tsk tsk’ noise with your tongue against the back of your front teeth. People will then assume you’re from Gauteng or Mpumalanga, and will make allowances.
c. Stress and Emphasis
In English, the stressed syllable of each word, along with the way that it is spelled, has to be learned.
MAnagement not maNAGEment
NgesiZulu, the primary stress in a word is usually placed on the second-to-last syllable:
umNTWAna, not UMntwana or umtwanA
Any other emphasis can be given to a word, in most instances, so you should listen out for it. Generally, though, this rule holds.