Lingala
Lesson 1: Lingala Sounds
The Lingala Alphabet (Afabe Ya Lingala)
There is no standard spelling system in Lingala. The alphabet consists of:
- 22 letters from the latin alphabet
- 2 special letters
- 7 vowels (Today’s lesson)
- 12 simple consonants and a number of combined consonants
- 13 consonant combinations
The Vowels in Lingala (Mileli Ya Lingala)
Formal Lingala has 7 vowels while Standard Lingala has 5 vowels (lacks ε and ɔ). These vowels are phonemes. It means that depending on the vowel one picks, the meaning of the word completely changes. Lingala has two tones: high and low. The high tone is represented with an acute accent (e.g; í), while the low tone is unmarked (e.g.: i).
Now, let’s learn and practice some vowels in Lingala!
| i – u | mbíla | palm tree nut | mbúla | rain | ||
| i – e | kolímwa | dissapear | kolémwa | to get angry | ||
| e – ε* | kobéla | to boil | kobÉla | to be sick | ||
| ε – a | mbélé | pottery | mbálá | potatoes | ||
| a – ɔ | kosana | to play | kosɔnɔ | to sew | ||
| ɔ* – o | nzɔ’tɔ’ | stars | nzóto | body | ||
| o – u | kobóta | to give birth | kobúta kobútwa |
monter |
Resources:
1. Bwantsa-Kafungu. J’apprends le Lingala tout seule en trois mois. Kinshasa, DRC
2. The encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages – https://omniglot.com/writing/lingala.htm
