Help:IPA/Kikuyu
< Help:IPA
 | This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Kikuyu on Wikipedia. It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Kikuyu in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. |
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Kikuyu Language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.
| Consonants | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPA | Examples | English approximation |
| β ~ ɸ | barabara [βàɾàβàɾàꜜ ~ ɸàɾàɸàɾàꜜ] 'road' | van, fan |
| ᵐb ~ b | mbeũ [ᵐbɛ̀ó ~ bɛ̀ó] 'seed' | amber, board |
| ð | tha [ðàꜜ] 'compassion, mercy' | that |
| ⁿd ~ d | ndũnyũ [ⁿdòɲó ~ dòɲó] 'market' | handy, hard |
| ⁿdʒ ~ dʒ | njohi [ⁿdʒɔ̀hǐ ~ dʒɔ̀hǐ] 'beer, alcohol' | range, stooge |
| ᵑɡ ~ ɡ | ithangũ [iðàᵑɡǒ ~ iðàɡǒ] 'leaf' | anger, thug |
| ɣ | rũgendo [ɾoɣɛ̀ⁿdɔ̀ꜜ] 'journey' | Scottish loch but voiced |
| h | kĩhaato [kehàːtɔ́ꜜ] 'broom' | ahead |
| j | muoyo [mwɔ̀jɔ̀ꜜ] 'soul' | yellow |
| k | mwaka [mwàkáꜜ] 'year' | scald |
| m | thakame [ðàkámɛ́] 'blood' | mocha |
| n | neneha [nɛ̀nɛ́hà] 'fatten' | ninny |
| ɲ | nyoka [ɲɔ̀káꜜ] 'snake' | canyon |
| ŋ | ng'ombe [ŋɔ̀ᵐbɛ̀ꜜ] 'cow' | sing |
| ɾ | ũraarĩ [oɾàːɾě] 'elegance' | American letter |
| tʃ ~ ʃ ~ s | cũcũ [ʃòʃǒ ~ sòsǒ] 'grandmother, old woman' | charge, shell, sand |
| t | njata [ⁿdʒátá] 'stars' | ten |
| w | waru [wàɾúꜜ] 'potato' | with |
| Vowels | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPA | Examples | English approximation |
| a | barabara [βàɾàβàɾàꜜ] 'road' | fan |
| ɛ | mwene [mwɛ̀nɛ́ꜜ] 'owner of' | let |
| e | ndĩthĩ [ⁿdéðé] 'naked' | day |
| i | mbiti [ᵐbìtí] 'hyena' | meat |
| ɔ | ũhoro [ohɔ̀ɾɔ́ꜜ] 'news' | off |
| o | mũrũ [moɾòꜜ] 'son' | go |
| u | hururu [hùɾúɾǔ] 'chasm, gorge, precipice' | fool |
| ː | haata [hàːtá] 'sweep' | vowel length |
| Tones | |
|---|---|
| IPA | Description |
| á | high level [˥] |
| ǎ | low rising [˩˥] |
| à | low level [˩] |
| a | toneless, low by default, site for one nearby tone to spread |
| ꜜ | downstep |
Bibliography
[edit]- T. G. Benson (1964) Kikuyu-English Dictionary, Internet Archive, Clarendon Press.
- Siri Gjersøe (2015), Downstep and Phonological Phrases in Kikuyu.