Consonants — Character and Classes

§8–12. CHARACTER OF CONSONANTS

f = as in English "father"
h = always aspirated, as in "house" (never silent)
k = as in "keep" — replaces c and q of other systems
l = a liquid sound softer than English l, intermediate between l and r
m = as in English — before b and p (nasal element of mb, mp)
n = as in English — before d, j, g (nasal element of nd, nj, ng)
s = always as in "see," never as in "zeal"
t = as in English "top"
v = as in English "very"
w = as in English "wet" (semi-vowel before vowels)
y = as in English "yet" (semi-vowel before vowels)

§13–14. CLASSES OF CONSONANTS

SIMPLE consonants: f, h, k, l, m, n, s, t, v
NASAL (prenasalized) consonants — nasal + stop:

mb (= b) mp (= p) nd (= d) nj (= j) ng (= g) — always hard and nasal: nge = "ngweh", ngi = "ngwee"

COMPOUND consonants (digraphs):

ng = nasal + g, always hard: never as in "sing" nj = nasal + j (= "ndj")

§15. CONSONANTAL DIPHTHONGS
The combinations lw, sw, tw, etc., where w follows a consonant before a vowel,
occur in rapid speech creating consonant clusters, as in:

okwami = okwami (from oku + ami)