Vowels phonems
[a] dikasa (pied / foot)
[ɑ:] citaala (coq / rooster)
[e] cikela (poisson / fish)
[e:] muteelu (chemise / shirt)
[ɪ] diyi (oeuf / egg)
[i:] diitaba (croyance / belief)
[o] dikopu (tasse / cup)
[o:] mukooku (mouton / sheep)
[u] munu (doigt / finger)
[u:] kutuuta (frapper / to hit)

Semi-vowels
[w] mbwa (chien / dog)
[j] kweyela (respirer / to breathe)

Consonants phonems
[b] lubesa (hanche / hip)
[d] wenda (son, sa / his, her)
[dʒ] dibaka (marriage / marriage, wedding)
[f] nkofi (cil / eyelash)
[g] mufungu (muscle / muscle)
[ʒ] kuja (danser / to dance)
[k] nkuvu (tortue / turtle)
[l] lushiku (fin / end)
[m] mwedi, (barbe / beard)
[n] nkala (crabe / crab)
[p] mupanu (pantalon / pants)
[s] lusembo (grenouille / frog)
[ʃ] kushalala (démanger / to itch)
[t] twishi (microbes, germs)
[tʃ] cibasu (planche / board)
[v] mvula (pluie / rain)
[z] kuzenga (découper / to cut)

Diphtongs phonems
[aɪ] kayi (quel(le) / what)
[aʊ] awu (ça là / this)
[eʊ] mpindyewu (maintenant / now)
[oɪ] Ngoyi

Nasals phonems
[ŋ] ngonga (cloche, sonnette / bell)

Aspired phonems
[pʱ] kapyà (feu / fire)

5 thoughts on “[Bwakulu] Phonetics in Ciluba”

  1. Am very happy and grateful for this initiative ,it’s help a lot because we are lost when we want to speak our own language. There’s ciluba bible if you can have it its gonna helpba lot .we can ask also Bible Version to put it in . There’s some translated words, for what I know , have not the very precision, I’ll try my best next time to give you my little contribution. Twasakidila wa buni wa kwetu.


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