Afrikaans Pronunciation

How to pronounce Afrikaans sounds

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Spelling	IPA	Approximate English pronunciation
a	/ɐ/	short ah
aa	/ɑː/	long ah
ai	/aj/	similar to diphthong in eye or high
ce, ci, cy	/s/	as in soon
ca, co, ca	/k/	as in kite
ch	/ʃ/ /k/ /x/	as in shut, kite, or guttural Bach (mostly in loan words)
ë	/ə/	schwa sound, as in sofa
ee	/iə/	ee and uh together
ei	/ɛi/	short eh and ih together; similar to play but shorter
eu	/eø/	long eh and ih together, but with lips rounded for ih
g	/x/	guttural Bach
gh	/g/	as in go
h	/h/	slightly softer; may sound like y as in yes before e
i, ie	/i/	as in eat
j	/j/	as in yes
oe	/u/	as in boot
oei	/ui/	oo and ee together
oo	/uə/	oo and uh together
ou	/ɵu/	similar to oh
q	/k/	as in kite
r	/r/	rolled / trilled r
sj	/ʃ/	as in shut
tj	/tʃ/ /k/	as in chat; but also kite in the ending -tjie
u	/œ/	long eh with rounded lips
ui	/œy/	ay like bait
uu	/y/	ee but with rounded lips
v	/f/	as in fine
w	/v/	as in vase
x	/ks/	as in box
y	/ɛi/	short eh and ih together; similar to play but shorter

At the end of word, the /d/ and /b/ sounds become /t/ and /p/.

Afrikaans Vocabulary and Grammar