Lingala
Lesson 3: Consonants in Lingala
I. Simple Consonants
Lingala consist of about 12 simple consonants. These include:
| m | like | mamá. (mom) | |
| n | like | náni (who) | |
| p | like | pÉsa (give) | |
| t | like | tálá (see) | |
| k
b |
like
like |
kɔ’pɔ (cup)
bimá (leave) |
|
| d | like | défá (borrow) | |
| g | like | gɔ’igɔ’i (laziness) | |
| f | like | fútá (pay) | |
| s | like | sálá (do) | |
| z
l |
like
like |
zólo (nez)
lingá (to love) |
II. Prenasalized (Combined) Consonants
Beyond simple consonants, there are also prenasalized consonants in Lingala. These usually consist of a combination of a nasal and a semi-vowel.
These include: mp, mb, nt, nd, ns, nk, ,ng, pw, tw, kw, bw, gw, by, sw, zw, tsw, my, ny, mpw, mpy, mbw, nkw, ngw, ndw and nsw.
Examples
- mp like in mpío (cold)
- nt like in ntóngó (morning)
- nk like in nkémbó (glory, honor)
- mb like in mbwá (dog)
- nd like in ndáku (home)
- ng like in ngolu (compassion)
- ns like in nsango (news, announcement)
- nz like in nzúwa (jealousy)
- tw like in kotwá (to spit)
- kw like in kokwa (to search/look for)
- bw like in kobwáka (to throw)
- by like in kobyánga (to call)
- mpw like in mwpÉmpwE (whisper)
- mpy like in mpya (sharpness)
- ndw like in ndwá (bitterness)
- nsw like in nswé (hair)
- mw like in mwási (woman)
- ny like in nyáú (cat)
III. Now let’s practice some consonants!
