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Alphabet

Alphabet

The Nigerian Yoruba alphabet is featured on this page and it has 25 letters & 7 vowels.

If you encounter the Benin Yoruba alphabet, you may find a few differences.

In the following images, see how we have a few additional letters

  • KP & P are now two distinct letters instead of one letter for two sounds
  • is now Ɛ (which is the same character used in the IPA)
  • is now Ɔ (which is the same character used in the IPA)
  • is now SH (which reflects the sound it makes as compared to English)

alphabet


Learn the Alphabet

The following sections will help you learn the Yoruba Alphabet. You can learn how to say the letters (as if you were “singing” your ABC’s), as well as learn how the letter sounds in a word.

A

How to say the letter: “Ah”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /a/

as in Ahead


B

How to say the letter: “Bee”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /b/

as in Bees


D

How to say the letter: “Deh”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /d/

as in Day


E

How to say the letter: “Ay”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /e/

as in Vacation


How to say the letter: “Eh”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /ɛ/

as in Elephant


F

How to say the letter: “Fee”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /f/

as in Fees


G

How to say the letter: “Gi”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /g/

as in Get


GB

How to say the letter: “Gbhee”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /ɡ͡b/

*close your lips as if you want to say “guh” and then release your lips for “buh” – aim to try and pronounce “guh” & “buh” at the same time

you can also click here and tap the play button on the Audio sample to hear a different variation (perhaps more correct than the youtube video to the left)


H

How to say the letter: “He”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /h/

as in How


I

How to say the letter: “Ee”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /i/

as in Even


J

How to say the letter: “Jee”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /d͡ʒ/

as in Jeep


K

How to say the letter: “Key”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /k/

as in Keys


L

How to say the letter: “Lee”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /l/

as in Leaves


M

How to say the letter: “Me”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /m/

as in Me


N

How to say the letter: “Ni”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /n/ or /ŋ̍/

as in Sin or Sing

(Note: Both /n/ and /ŋ̍/ have differen**t sounds, so listen carefully to the word that it is in)


O

How to say the letter: “Oh”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /o/

as in Okay

video linked here will show how to say it, starting at 26 seconds

you can click here and tap the play button on the Audio sample


How to say the letter: “Uh”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /ɔ/

as in All


P

How to say the letter: “Kpwhee”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /k͜p/ or /p/

*close your lips as if you want to say “kuh” and then release your lips for “pwe” – aim to try and pronounce “kuh” & “pwe” at the same time


R

How to say the letter: “Ree”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /ɾ/

as in Better or Restricted


S

How to say the letter: “See”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /s/

as in See


How to say the letter: “She”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /ʃ/

as in She


T

How to say the letter: “Tee”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /t/

as in Tea


U

How to say the letter: “Ooo”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /u/

as in Oops


W

How to say the letter: “Wee”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /w/

as in When


Y

How to say the letter: “Yee”

IPA Pronunciation Key: /j/

as in Yet


Sources:

https://youtu.be/KQTVj7tioEQ

https://youtu.be/RpCVvgP2JGI

https://youtu.be/rRGG9pVTpeU

http://www.africa.uga.edu/Yoruba/phonology.html

International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) help:

https://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Fall_2014/ling115/phonetics.html

https://easypronunciation.com/en/american-english-pronunciation-ipa-chart


Other websites to help you study Yoruba pronuniation:

Letters: https://polyglotclub.com/wiki/Language/Yoruba/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

Basic words: Animals https://polyglotclub.com/wiki/Language/Yoruba/Vocabulary/Animals

Maintained by Stephanie Frantz