The alphabet and its sounds

The five vowels

Each is a single pure sound. They are never combined into the sliding vowels of English or Portuguese — where two vowels meet, each keeps its own value.

• a/a/as in father, but shortAthu
• e/e/as in they, without the glideÊne
• i/i/as in machineIma
• o/o/as in moreOso
• u/u/as in foodUmoxi

The consonants

• b/b/as in bedKubokona
• d/d/as in dayDijina
• f/f/as in farKufwa
• g/ɡ/hard, as in go — but it only ever follows n, in ngNgânda
• h/h/breathed out, as in hat — not silentHenda
• j/ʒ/as in measureJoso
• k/k/always hard, as in kiteKimoxi
• l/l/as in leafLêlu
• m/m/as in moonMukonda
• n/n/as in noteNâke
• p/p/as in spin, with no puff of airPaze
• s/s/always as in sun, never buzzing like zSambwadi
• t/t/as in stop, with no puff of airTâta
• v/v/as in vanVinyu
• w/w/as in waterWoso
• x/ʃ/as in shipXitu
• y/j/as in yesYoso
• z/z/as in zooIzuwa

Four pairs that are one sound

These four are what make modern spelling look unfamiliar next to older printed Kimbundu. Each pair is a single sound, not two letters read in turn.

• bh/β/a softened b, the lips almost meeting — between b and vBhu
• ph/pʰ/p with a puff of air after it, as in potPhala
• th/tʰ/t with a puff of air after it, as in top — never as in thinkMuthu
• ny/ɲ/as in canyonKwinyi

Nasal pairs

Kimbundu allows no other consonant clusters, and no doubled letters. The nasal belongs to the consonant after it and is not a syllable of its own.

• mb/ᵐb/one sound, as in emberNzāmbi
• nd/ⁿd/one sound, as in wonderHenda
• nz/ⁿz/one sound, as in lendsNzāmbi
• nj/ⁿdʒ/one sound, as in dangerHanji
• ng/ᵑɡ/one sound, as in fingerNgânda

Three letters you will not find

• cThe hard sound is always k, and the soft one s. Two occurrences in 2.9 million letters, both in borrowed names.
• qNever used. Where Portuguese writes qu, Kimbundu writes k or kw.
• rOlder printed Kimbundu uses it constantly; present-day writing almost never does — 52 letters in 2.9 million, and the sequence ri not once. Those words are written with d today.