Inventory of consonants

V = verb N = noun Adv = adverb

Table 1: Plosives

Description	Orthographic	IPA	Examples	Gloss
Voiceless ejective bilabial plosive	p	[p’]	ukupasa impilo	‘to be out of breath’ (V) ‘life’ (N)
Voiceless ejective alveolar plosive	t	[t’]	ukutola itakane	‘to shoot with a bow’ (V) ‘lamb’ (N)
Voiceless ejective pre-palatal plosive	ty	[c’]	ukutya ilitye	‘to eat’ (V) ‘stone / rock’ (N)
Voiceless ejective velar plosive	k	[k’]	ukukoloba ikofu	‘to scrub’ (V) ‘coffee’ (N)
Voiceless aspirated bilabial plosive	ph	[pʰ]	ukuphila isiphoso	‘to be in health’ (V) ‘a mistake’ (N)
Voiceless aspirated alveolar plosive	th	[tʰ]	ukuthetha ithemba	‘to speak’ (V) ‘hope’ (N)
Voiceless aspirated pre-palatal plosive	tyh	[cʰ]	ukutyhala isityholo	‘to push’ (V) ‘false accusation’ (N)
Voiceless aspirated velar plosive	kh	[kʰ]	ukukhangela ikhaya	‘to look at’ (V) ‘home’ (N)
Voiced bilabial plosive	(m)b	[b]	imbuzi	‘goat’ (N)
Voiced alveolar plosive	(n)d	[d]	indoda	‘man’ (N)
Voiced pre-palatal plosive	(n)dy	[Ɉ]	indyebo	‘prosperity’ (N)
Voiced velar plosive	(n)g	[g]	ingubo	‘blanket’ (N)
Devoiced bilabial plosive	bh	[b̥]	ukubhala isibhulelo	‘to write’ (V) ‘threshing floor’(N)
Devoiced alveolar plosive	d	[d̥]	ukudiliza isidima	‘to demolish’ (V) ‘virtue / authority’ (N)
Devoiced pre-palatal plosive	dy	[Ɉ̥]	ukudyiba isidyobo	‘to rub the eyes’ (V) ‘a soiled patch’ (N)
Devoiced velar plosive	g	[ɡ]	ukugalela igama	‘to pour’ (V) ‘name’ (N)
Implosive bilabial plosive	b	[ɓ]	ukubaleka ubisi	‘to run’ (V) ‘milk’ (N)

Table 2: Fricatives

Description	Orthographic	IPA	Examples	Gloss
Voiceless labio-dental fricative	f	[f]	ukufa ilifa	‘to die’ (V) ‘inheritance’ (N)
Voiceless alveolar fricative	s	[s]	ukusela isebe	‘to drink’ (V) ‘branch’ (N)
Voiceless pre-palatal fricative	sh	[ʃ]	ukushiya ubushushu	‘to leave behind’ (V) ‘heat’ (N)
Voiceless velar fricative	rh	[x]	igorha	‘hero’ (N)
Voiceless glottal fricative	h	[h]	ukuhamba ihagu	‘to walk’ (V) ‘pig’ (N)
Voiceless alveo-lateral fricative	hl	[ɬ]	ukuhlamba ubuhlanga	‘to wash’ (V) ‘nationality’ (N)
Voiced labio-dental fricative	v	[v]	ukuvula ivukuthu	‘to open’ (V) ‘rock pigeon’ (N)
Voiced alveolar fricative	z	[z]	ukuzala umzali	‘to give birth’ (V) ‘parent’ (N)
Voiced glottal fricative	h	[ɦ]	ukuhagela ihashe	‘to grow old’ (V) ‘horse’ (N)
Voiced alveo-lateral fricative	dl	[ɧ]	ukudlala isidlele	‘to play’ (V) ‘cheek’ (N)

Table 3: Affricates

Description	Orthographic	IPA	Examples	Gloss
Voiceless ejective labio-dental affricate	(m)f	[ɱȹf’]	imfene	‘baboon’ (N)
Voiceless ejective alveolar affricate	ts	[ts’]	ukutsiba intsomi	‘to jump’ (V) ‘folk tale’ (N)
Voiceless ejective palatal affricate	tsh	[tʃ’]	ukutshixa isitshixo	‘to lock’ (V) ‘a key’ (N)
Voiceless ejective velar affricate	kr	[kx’]	ukukratsha ikratshi	‘to be arrogant’ (V) ‘arrogance’ (N
Voiceless ejective alveo-lateral affricate	(n)tl	[tɬ’]	intloko	‘head’ (N)
Voiced labio-dental affricate	(m)v	[ɱȸv]	imvubu	‘hippopotamus’ (N)
Voiced alveolar affricate	dz	[ʣ]	idzedze	‘flea’ (N)
Voiced palatal affricate	j	[ʤ]	ukujika isijejane	‘to turn around’ (V) ‘cry baby’ (N)
Voiced ejective alveo-lateral affricate	(n)dl	[dɧ]	indlela	‘road’ (N)

Table 4: Continuants

Description
Voiced bilabial nasal	m	[m]	ukumemelela imela	‘to sing softly’ (V) ‘knife’ (N)
Voiced labiodental nasal	m(f)	[ɱ]	imfe	‘sugar cane’ (N)
Voiced alveolar nasal	n	[n]	ukunona inamba	‘become fat’ (V) ‘python’ (N)
Voiced pre-palatal nasal	ny	[ɲ]	ukunyuka inyoka	‘to climb’ (V) ‘snake’ (N)
Voiced velar nasal	ng	[ŋ]	ngaphantsi inkomo	‘downwards’ (Adv) ‘cow’ (N)
Voiced alveo-lateral liquid	l	[l]	ukulala ilekisi	‘to sleep’ (V) ‘sweet’ (N)
Rolled alveolar vibrant (loanwoards)	r	[r]	ukurola irayisi	‘to take out / pay’ (V) ‘rice’ (N)

Doke, C.M. 1954. The Southern Bantu Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Finlayson, R., J. Jones, K. Podile and J.W. Snyman. 1990. An Introduction to Xhosa Phonetics. Hout Bay: Marius Lubbe Publishers.

Oosthuysen, J.C. 2016. The Grammar of isiXhosa. Stellenbosch: SUN Media.