This is a quick cheat sheet for the sounds found in Hausa.
There are at least 2 i sounds in Hausa. In terms of all possible i sounds, there is the basic most common i sound, the secondary i sound, and the tertiary i sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| i | i | Like "ee" sound. | i |
| i% | i_ | Long "ee" sound. | iː |
There are at least 2 e sounds in Hausa. In terms of all possible e sounds, there is the basic most common e sound, the secondary e sound, and the tertiary e sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| e | e | Like "day" sound. | e |
| e% | e_ | Long "day" sound. | eː |
There are at least 2 a sounds in Hausa. In terms of all possible a sounds, there is the basic most common a sound, the secondary a sound, and the tertiary a sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| a | a | Like "ah" in father sound. | a ɑ ä |
| a% | a_ | Long "ah" sound. | aː |
There are at least 2 o sounds in Hausa. In terms of all possible o sounds, there is the basic most common o sound, the secondary o sound, and the tertiary o sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| o | o | Like "oh" sound. | o |
| o% | o_ | Long "oh" sound. | oː |
There are at least 2 u sounds in Hausa. In terms of all possible u sounds, there is the basic most common u sound, the secondary u sound, and the tertiary u sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| u | u | Like "oo" in "you" sound. | u |
| u% | u_ | Long "oo" sound. | uː |
There is at least 1 m sound in Hausa. Notice the English m and mm have a similar shape.
| m | m | Regular m | m |
There is at least 1 n sound in Hausa. Notice the English n and nn have a similar shape.
| n | n | Regular n | n |
There is at least 1 g sound in Hausa.
| g | g | Regular g | ɡ ɢ |
There are at least 2 d sounds in Hausa. Notice the English d and dd have a similar shape.
| d | d | Regular d | d |
| d06 | d? | Implosive d (used in Vietnamese, some African languages, etc.) | ɗ |
There is at least 1 b sound in Hausa. Notice the English b and bb have a similar shape.
| b | b | Regular b | b |
There is at least 1 t sound in Hausa.
| t | t | Regular t | t |
There are at least 3 k sounds in Hausa.
| k | k | Regular k | k |
| k93 | k! | Ejective k | kʼ |
| k33 | kw~ | Labialized k | kʷ |
There is at least 1 h sound in Hausa.
| h | h | Regular h | h |
There is at least 1 y sound in Hausa. Notice the English y and yy have a similar shape, although the Tone yy is like a Tone OO with a tail.
| y | y | Regular y | j |
There is at least 1 w sound in Hausa. Notice the English w and ww have a similar shape.
| w | w | Regular w | w |
There is at least 1 ' sound in Hausa. This is a glottal stop in its base form.
| ' | ' | Regular ', used a lot in Hebrew and Arabic, amongst other languages | ʔ |
There is at least 1 sh sound in Hausa.
| x | x | Regular sh | ʃ |
There is at least 1 f sound in Hausa.
| f6 | F | Soft f (basically blowing out between your lips) | ɸ |
There is at least 1 l sound in Hausa.
| l | l | Regular l | l |
There is at least 1 s sound in Hausa.
| s | s | Regular s | s |
There is at least 1 z sound in Hausa.
| z | z | Regular z | z |
There is at least 1 r sound in Hausa.
| r5 | R | Retroflex r (used in some Indian languages) | ɽ |
There is at least 1 dj sound in Hausa.
| dj | dj | Regular dj (as in "judge") | dʒ |
There is at least 1 ch sound in Hausa.
| tx | tx | Regular ch sound (like English "chip") | tʃ |