This is a quick cheat sheet for the sounds found in Xhosa.
There are at least 2 i sounds in Xhosa. 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 3 e sounds in Xhosa. 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 | Like "eh" in "pet". | ɛ |
| e% | e_ | Long "day" sound. | eː |
There are at least 2 a sounds in Xhosa. 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 Xhosa. 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.
| 1 | o$ | British oah sound. | ɔ |
| o% | o_ | Long "oh" sound. | oː |
There are at least 2 u sounds in Xhosa. 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 Xhosa. Notice the English m and mm have a similar shape.
| m | m | Regular m | m |
There is at least 1 n sound in Xhosa. Notice the English n and nn have a similar shape.
| n | n | Regular n | n |
There is at least 1 q sound in Xhosa.
| q | q | Regular ng | ŋ ɴ |
There are at least 2 p sounds in Xhosa.
| p93 | p! | Ejective p | pʼ |
| p% | ph~ | Aspirated p | pʰ |
There are at least 2 t sounds in Xhosa.
| t05 | t! | Ejective t | tʼ |
| t^ | th~ | Aspirated t | tʰ |
There are at least 2 k sounds in Xhosa.
| k93 | k! | Ejective k | kʼ |
| k% | kh~ | Aspirated k | kʰ |
There is at least 1 h sound in Xhosa.
| h | h | Regular h | h |
There is at least 1 y sound in Xhosa. 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 Xhosa. Notice the English w and ww have a similar shape.
| w | w | Regular w | w |
There is at least 1 ' sound in Xhosa. 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 Xhosa.
| x | x | Regular sh | ʃ |
There is at least 1 f sound in Xhosa.
| f | f | Regular f | f |
There is at least 1 l sound in Xhosa.
| l | l | Regular l | l |
There are at least 2 s sounds in Xhosa.
| s | s | Regular s | s |
| s5 | S | Rough s (used a lot in Native American languages) | ɬ |
There is at least 1 ch sound in Xhosa.
| tx^ | txh~ | Aspirated ch sound | tʃʰ |