If you're trying to learn the Afrikaans Alphabet you will find some useful resources including a course about pronunciation, and sound of all letters... to help you with your Afrikaans grammar. Try to concentrate on the lesson and memorize the sounds. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn Afrikaans. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!
Learning the Afrikaans alphabet is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. Without it, you will not be able to say words properly even if you know how to write those words. The better you pronounce a letter in a word, the more understood you will be in speaking the Afrikaans language.
Below is a table showing the Afrikaans alphabet and how it is pronounced in English, and finally examples of how those letters would sound if you place them in a word.
| Afrikaans Alphabet | English Sound | Pronunciation Example |
|---|---|---|
| A a | aa | short (a) long (aa) |
| B b | bee | similar to English |
| C c | see | either s or k, e.g. sirkel |
| D d | dee | similar to English |
| E e | ee | short (a) long (aa) |
| F f | ef | similar to English |
| G g | gee | two sound possible, soft and gutteral |
| H h | haa | similar to English |
| I i | ie | short (i) long (ie), and not (ii) |
| J j | jot | like English y, e.g. jes(afr) = yes(eng) |
| K k | kaa | similar to English |
| L l | el | similar to English |
| M m | em | similar to English |
| N n | en | similar to English |
| O o | oo | short (o) long (oo) |
| P p | pee | similar to English |
| Q q | kuu | kw used, eg. kwart = 1/4 |
| R r | er | similar to spanish |
| S s | es | similar to English |
| T t | tee | similar to English |
| U u | uu | short (u) long (uu) |
| V v | vau | similar to English f |
| W w | wee | unique sound |
| X x | ex | used in loan words only |
| Y y | y | like English "ay" e.g. yl(afr) = ale (eng) |
| Z z | set | s is often used |
You saw how a letter is written and might be pronounced, but there is nothing better than hearing the sound of the letters in a video or audio. Below you will be able to hear how the letters above are pronounced, just press the play button:
| Afrikaans Pronunciation | |
|---|---|
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The alphabet and its pronunciation have a very important role in Afrikaans. Once you're done with Afrikaans alphabet, you might want to check the rest of our Afrikaans lessons here: Learn Afrikaans. Don't forget to bookmark this page.
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The links above are only a small sample of our lessons, please open the left side menu to see all links.