The following table shows how different vowels and consonants are pronounced.
| Letters | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Vowels (inyajwi) | ||
| a | broad as in 'far' | amata a-ma-ta > |
| e | long like 'a' in 'hay' or short like 'e' in 'bet' | ejo ay-joh > |
| i | long like 'ee' in 'bee' or short like 'i' in 'bit' | igiti ee-ji-tee > |
| o | long like 'o' in 'tone' or short like 'o' in 'lot' | amahoro a-ma-haw-ro > |
| u | like 'oo' in 'food' | umuntu oo-moon-hoo > |
| Consonants (ingombajwi) | ||
| d, f, g, h, k, m, n, p, s, t, v, w | pronounced the same as in English | |
| b | softer than in English with the lips barely touching | ibibabi i-bi-ba-bi > |
| c | like 'ch' in 'church' | icupa i-choo-pah > |
| j | soft like 'z' in 'azure' | ijuru i-joo-roo > |
| l | almost like 'r' | leta lay-tah > |
| r | as in English but with slight trill sound | amarira a-ma-ree-rah > |
| y | like 'y' in 'you' and never a vowel like 'sky' | ikiyiko ee-chee-yee-koh > |
| z | like 'z' in 'zone' | izuba ee-zoo-bah > |
| Consonant combinations (ibihekane) | ||
| bw | as 'bg' (even written 'bg' in some older books) | ubwoba oob-go-bah > |
| jy | hard 'j' like in 'jam' | kujya koo-jah > |
| mp | as 'mh' | impanga eem-hang-gah > |
| nn | as if there was a slight 'i' between them | ubuvunnyi oo-boo-voo-n-in-yee > |
| nk | as 'ngh' | inka eeng-ha > |
| nt | as 'nh' | umuntu oo-moon-hoo > |
| rw | as if there were a 'g' between them | u Rwanda oor-gwan-dah > |
| ry | as 'rdj' or 'dy' | umuryango oo-moord-jang-goh > |
| sw | as if there was a slight 'k' between them | umuswa oo-moos-kwa > |
| tw | as if there was a slight 'g' between them | ugutwi oo-goot-gwi > |
Regional variation
- ge and gi are pronounced hard by people living near to the DRC and Burundi, but soft by people from central Rwanda, e.g. tugende sounds like too-jen-day > in Kigali
- ke and ki can be hard or soft. People from Kigali usually pronounce it as chee-ga-ree >. The exception to this rule is when a ke is a result of a contraction of ka+i. For example kenshi is always pronounced with a hard k.
