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Sesotho Pronunciation Guide

SOUND           SESOTHO WORD(translat.) AS IN ENGLISH
-----           ----------------------- -------------
a               araba (answer)          a in far
e               lebelo (speed)          e in we
e               mema (invite)           ai in hair
i               bina (sing)             i in it
o               noka (river)            o in fort
o               noka (hip)              au in cause
u               bula (open)             u in bull
b               bala (read)             b in able
d               duba (knead)            d in doll
f               fofa (to fly)           f in after
g               galase (glass)          guttural like ch in loch
h               haholo (much)           h in hand
j               kajeno (today)          ch in chunk
k               kena (enter)            ck in back
l               latola (deny)           l in lay
m               madi (blood)            m in him
n               nama (meat)             n in and
p               pula (rain)             p in lip
q               qeta (finish)           click sound*
r               moriri (hair)           r in red
s               sefate (tree)           ss in dress
t               tau (lion)              t in tin
bj              bjara (crush)           b (in bed) + y (in you)
fj              lefjwa (be paid)        f (in far) + y (in you)
hl              hlahloba (examine)      Ll in Welsh Llewellyn
kg              kgaka (guineafowl)      c (in cat) + guttural like ch in loch 
ng              ngwana (child)          ng in linger
ny              nyala (marriage)        ny similar to English Kenya
nq              nqalo (place)           click, but nasalised*
pj              pjatla (boil well)      p (in cup) + y (in you)
sh              mashala (coal)          sh in shoot 
tj              tjeka (dance)           ch in chunk 
tl              tlou (elephant)         tl in little 
ts              tsebe (ear)             ts in sits 
kh              khefi (cafe)            ki in kindle
ph              phiri (hyena)           p in pull
pjh             pjhatla (smash)         p (in cup) + y (in you) + a 
qh              qhobosheane (fortress)  an aspirated click*
th              thaba (mountain)        t in till
tjh             tjhelete (money)        ch in chunk
tlh             tlhaho (origin)         t (in cat) + Ll in Welsh Llewellyn 
tsh             tshwene (baboon)        ch in change 
y               yunibesithi(university) y in you 
w               wena (you)              w in water

 
 * Clicking sound comes from Bushmen (San & Khoi) click but is also found
 in the Zulu and especially Xhosa languages.
 Similar to English "tut-tut". 

 Here is a more difficult explanation:
 "Click sounds are suction sounds made by trapping a body of air between 
 the tongue and the roof of the mouth, i.e. the tongue touches the whole
 edge of the upper teeth as well as the velum. The middle of the tongue
 is lowered without this closure being broken. This lessens the pressure
 of air in the space between the tongue and the palate. When the closure
 is broken at any point, the air from outside rushes into this small 
 space, resulting in a click sound..."


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