Shona Language - Phonology and Alphabet

Phonology and Alphabet

All syllables in Shona end in a vowel. Consonants always belong to the next syllable. For example, mangwanani ("morning") is separated like this: ma/ngwa/na/ni; Zimbabwe is Zi/mba/bwe.

All verbs end in -a:

kutenda – "to thank"
kuda – "to like/love/want"
kuenda – "to go"
kusvika – "to arrive"
kudya – "to eat"

kutamba – "to dance/play"
kurara – "to sleep" (kuvata)
kudzoka – "to come back"
kuseka – "to laugh"
kuchema – "to cry"

Shona's five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are pronounced as in Spanish: . Each vowel is pronounced separately even if they fall in succession. For example, "Uno enda kupi?" (Where do you go?) is pronounced .

The letters of the alphabet are,

Letter	IPA
a	/a/
b	/ɓ/
bh	/b/
ch	/tʃ/
d	/ɗ/
dh	/d/
dy	/dʒɡ/
dzv	/dz͎/
e	/e/
f	/f/
g	/ɡ/
h	/h/
i	/i/
j	/dʒ/
k	/k/
m	/m/
mh	/ʔ/
n’	/ŋ/
n	/n/
o	/o/
p	/p/
r	/r/
sh	/ʃ/
sv	/s͎ ~ sɸ/
svw	/s͎w/
sw	/sw ~ skw/
t	/t/
tsv	/ts͎/
ty	/tʃk/
u	/u/
v	/ʋ/
vh	/v/
w	/w/
y	/j/
z	/z/
zh	/ʒ/
zv	/z͎ ~ zβ/
zvw	/z͎w/
zw	/zw ~ zɡw/