Lingala

Lesson 3: Consonants in Lingala

I. Simple Consonants 

Lingala consist of about 12 simple consonants. These include:

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! 

 

 

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Resources for Self-Instructional Learners of Less Commonly Taught Languages Copyright © by University of Wisconsin-Madison Students in African 671 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.