Mwaiseni (Welcome)

Welcome = Mwaiseni

As discussed in Lesson 8 – Learn How to Read and Pronounce Bemba Words, the Bemba language uses the same letters of the alphabet as English. Before learning to make sentences in Bemba, you need to know about the building blocks.

This lesson covers

• Vowels
• Special vowel sounds (Double vowels)
• Consonants and
• Syllables.

The lesson also includes Audio to help you learn the sounds. Once you have mastered the simple basics, you will find it easier to read and write Bemba words and sentences.

VOWELS

Definition:

Vowel = A sound made by allowing air to flow freely through the mouth and throat.

Apart from “O” vowels are pronounced differently in Bemba, compared to English:

A

A

E

E

I

I

O

O

U

U

While the sound of a vowel can change in English, it does not change in Bemba. As an example, in English the “E” sound is different in the word “End” compared to the word “English.” This does not happen in Bemba. This makes it much easier to read Bemba words.

 

Double Vowels

Bemba is a very musical language. Some words change their meaning merely by the way they are pronounced. The vowels are drawn out to make a different sound. A caret is used to show such vowels. An alternative way is to write the vowel twice to denote the drawn out sound.

â (aa)

Aa

ê (ee)

Ee

î (ii)

Ii

ô (oo)

Oo

û (uu)

Uu

Examples:

â (aa) e.g. Laanga = Show

Laanga

ê (ee) e.g. Leenga = Draw

Leenga

î (ii) e.g. Fiimba = Cover

Fiimba

ô (oo) e.g. Boomba = be Wet

Boomba

û (uu) e.g. Fuuma = Spray (v.)

 Fuuma

 

CONSONANTS:

Definition:

A consonant is a sound made by the partial or total obstruction of air flow in the mouth and throat. This can be done with the lips (e.g. “B”), the teeth (e.g. “T”), the tip of the tongue or the back of the tongue (e.g. “K”).

• There are no Bemba words that use the letters J , Q, R, V, X, or Z.
• The Bemba alphabet is different in another way; it contains a unique letter “ɧ” . To make life easier when typing and writing, this letter can be represented by “N’g”. It is pronounced “”n’g” as in the English word “singer” (soft “G”). The good news is that there are just a small number of words that use this special character sound.

Examples:

• Ng’anda = House,
• Nganda
• Ng’wena = Crocodile,
• Ngwena
• Ng’uni = Honey bird,
• Nguni
• Nang’ana = Be lazy 
• Nang’ana
• etc.
• Other special consonant features:
  • B – The letter “B” is a soft sound in Bemba.  e.g.
    • “Bowa” (Mushroom)Bowa
    • “Bomba” (Work)Bomba
    • “Kabwe” (Stone)Kabwe
  • In every day usage, you will hear the “B” sound used as a hard sound, e.g. in describing the language as “Bemba” or in pronouncing the name “Banda.” These are adapted sounds and are not original Bemba sounds.
  • C – In English, the letter “C” can be a soft sound (e.g. “Church” or a hard sound (e.g. “Candle.” In Bemba, it only exists as a soft sound.
  • D – The letter “D” only exists in combination with a preceding consonant,

e.g. “Ndeya.” (I am going)

Ndeya

 “Ndusha.” (Bile)

Ndusha

There are no Bemba words that start with the letter “D.”

• • G – As for the letter “D”, the letter “G” exists only in combination with a preceding consonant and there are no Bemba words starting with the letter “G.”
  • “Hanging” Consonants:

Most Bemba words end with a vowel. As more foreign words are incorporated into the language, you come across adapted words that end with a consonant. The Bemba tend to finish the word off with a vowel.

Examples:

Golf becomes Gofu Gofu

Salad becomes SaladiSaladi

Scarf becomes ShikafuShikafu

Book becomes BukuBuku

Abigail becomes AbigeloAbigelo

Bell becomes BeluBelu

Jam becomes JamuNjamu

Queen becomes KwiniKwini

Bus becomes BashiBashi

 

SYLLABLES

Definition:

A syllable is made up of letters in a word that are pronounced as one unit

Features:

• Syllables can be formed by the combination of a consonant and a vowel.

Examples:

BaBa

BeBe

BiBi

BoBo

BuBu

• The sound of the vowel does not change.
• Syllables can be formed by a combination of two consonants and a vowel.

Examples:

ChaCha

CheChe

ChiChi

ChoCho

ChuChu

• Syllables can be formed by a combination of three consonants and a vowel.

Examples:

MfwaMfwa

MfweMfwe

MfwiMfwi

(Mfwo)

(Mfwu)

 

• Syllables can be formed by a combination of vowels

Note that vowels, alone, can also make syllables.

 

Reading Exercise: 

For words you are not sure how to pronounce, identify the vowels in the word. Say the vowels out loud and then mix each one with the consonant(s) that come before the vowel. e.g. In “Chibale“, the vowels are “i”, “a” and “e”:

• Make the “i”  sound and then mix it with the “Ch..” sound.
• Next, make the “a” sound (there is only one way to pronounce “a” in Bemba) and then mix it with “b” (soft sound for “b”).
• Finally, make the “e” sound and then mix it with the “L” (once more, there is only one way to pronounce the “e” in Bemba.

Look up some words that challenge your pronunciation and break them up in the same way. You will find it easier to feel your way through each word.

This knowledge of vowels, consonants and syllables forms an important part of the foundation for the forthcoming lessons on How to Construct Sentences in Bemba.

 

Shalenipo (Bye)

Shalenipo

 

You can silently leave or, better still, you can let me know what you think of this lesson by leaving your comment below.