Afrikaans/Pronunciation

right| Afrikaans uses the same alphabet as English. Notable differences include diacritics on the letters (like ê), while certain letters, such as c, exist but are infrequently used. You'll soon find Afrikaans has a very phonetic (phonemic) spelling; that is, unlike in English, French or even its parent language Dutch, Afrikaans words are almost always spelled the way they sound. This chart uses IPA - the international phonetic alphabet to show the exact Afrikaans pronunciation. You can read more about it here. The English words are only an approximate guide. Afrikaans pronunciation can be a bit tricky for English speakers because the language has quite a few sounds that don't exist in English. The best way to learn is to listen to native Afrikaans speakers. You can listen to streaming Afrikaans radio here and hear Afrikaans sound recordings at this site. Letter IPAEnglish ApproximationExample Word a ʌ, a, ɑː plus, jump, awesome kap aa ɑː awesome daad aai aːɪ why laai ai aɪ thai baie au ou goat auditorium b b, p (final position) bat, mapp bevat ch x loch chemie c s (before e, i, and y), k sun, kick Celsius d d, t (final position) dark, hat daar dj c justice djihad e ɛ, iˑǝ, ə, æ bed, erie, about, cat bed ê ɛː (final position), æ hair, cat hê ee iˑe eerie een eeu iːu east + took leeu ei əi play seil ey əi play ceylon eu øː few euforie f f fox familie g x, g, ç loch, golf, hue geld gh g, k (final position) golf, kick gholf h h high hoe i i, ə see, about idee ie i see dankie j j yes ja k k kick kat l l let lughawe m m mall maak n n, ŋ (before c, k, q, and x) nice, sing van ng ŋ sing vang ns nsbarns Afrikaans o ɔ, oˑǝ bog, wisdom obligasie ô ɔ cause môre oe u loot voet oei uiː phooey koei oi oj row + yes boikot oo uˑo loot soom ooi ɔiː oil strooi ou ɔʊ tow mou p p map paar r ɾ rolled r rooi s s sun sein sj ʃ shin sjoe t t top taal tj tʃ (initial position), kj top + shin, kick + yes tjek u ɵ urn uit uu y breed duur û œː no English approximation brûe ui œy play lui uy œy urn + east ly v f fox voël w v, w (after consonant) visit, winter water y əi play ys z z zulu zirkonium <<Back to Introduction On to Lesson One!>>