Hausa Pronunciation Tips for English Speakers

The sounds English speakers most often get wrong in Hausa: the ejective consonants, the rolled r, ts and sh, and vowel quality, with practice words.

Hausa spelling is mostly phonetic, so once you know the sounds, you can read aloud from the start. A few need practice.

Vowels

Hausa vowels are pure and don't glide as English vowels do:

a — like the a in "father" (baba, father/big)
e — like e in "bed" or a slightly longer ay without the glide (shekara, year)
i — like ee in "see" (gida, house)
o — like o in "more", without the glide (goma, ten)
u — like oo in "food" (mutum, person)

Diphthongs: ai (like eye: mai, owner or oil) and au (like ow in "cow": auna, to weigh).

Consonants you know

Most consonants work as in English: b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, w, y, z. But note that c is ch, sh is sh, j is j, and r has two varieties.

The R sounds

Hausa has two kinds of r: a tapped r (flapped, like the tt in American "butter") and a rolled r (trilled, in some words). Both are written r. Native speakers distinguish them, but learners can use a light tap and be understood.

Ejective sounds

The sounds ts and ƙ are ejectives: they're made with a sharp burst of air from a closed throat.

ts as in tsaya (stop, stand), tsakiya (middle)
ƙ as in ƙasa (ground, country), ƙarami (small)
ƙw as in ƙwarai (very much)

To practise ejectives, say English k or t with a small "pop" by tightening the throat and releasing the sound sharply.

Implosive sounds

ɓ and ɗ are implosives (or glottalised): made with a slight inward or "swallowed" quality.

ɓ as in ɓoye (to hide)
ɗ as in ɗaya (one), ɗan (son of)

See our article on hooked letters.

Sounds with two letters

sh — as in English: shinkafa (rice), shi (he)
kw and gw — pronounce the w clearly: kwana (night), gwamna (governor)

Glottal stop

The apostrophe ' marks a glottal stop, the catch in the throat as in "uh-oh": ma'aikaci (worker), ma'ana (meaning).

Stress and rhythm

Hausa syllables have fairly even timing, and pitch (tone) matters more than stress. Don't stress syllables strongly as in English.

Practice words

sannu (hello, well done)
na gode (thank you)
ruwa (water)
abinci (food)
kasuwa (market)
makaranta (school)
gida (home)
shinkafa (rice)
ƙasa (country)
yaro (boy), yarinya (girl)

Tips for learners

Listen to native audio every day: BBC Hausa, radio and songs.
Practise ejectives in front of a mirror.
Keep vowels pure and short.
Don't add extra sounds at the ends of words.
Repeat greetings aloud.

Common mistakes

Gliding the vowels (o like "oh-oo").
Pronouncing c as k or s.
Losing the glottal stop.
Replacing ts with ch or t.

Dictionary note

Check spellings, including hooked letters and apostrophes, to get sounds right.

Check Hausa spellings with English Hausa Dictionary →