ᱪᱷᱟᱸᱪ:IPA key The charts below show the way in which the IPA is used to transcribe the Nguni languages Swazi, Xhosa, and Zulu. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-ss}}, {{IPA-xh}}, {{IPA-zu}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

A superscript X marks a sound or spelling found specifically in Xhosa, and Z specifically in Zulu. Sounds marked * only appear in loanwords.

Consonants Vowels Tones
Non-click
IPA Orthography
b bh
ɓ b
d d
j
f f
ɡ g
ɠ
h h
ɦ hh
j y
yh
kh
k
kxʼ klᱪᱷᱟᱸᱪ:Sm, krᱪᱷᱟᱸᱪ:Sm
l l
ɬ hl
ɮ dl
m m
mh
n n
nh
ɲ ny
ph
p
r r
s s
ʃ sh
th
t
tsʼ ts
tʃʼ tsh
v v
w w
wh
x rhᱪᱷᱟᱸᱪ:Sm
z z
Click
IPA Orthography
ᵏǀ c
ᵏǁ x
ᵏǃ q
ᵏǀʰ ch
ᵏǁʰ xh
ᵏǃʰ qh
ᶢǀʱ gc
ᶢǁʱ gx
ᶢǃʱ gq
ᵑǀ nc
ᵑǁ nx
ᵑǃ nq
ᵑǀʱ ngc
ᵑǁʱ ngx
ᵑǃʱ ngq
Vowel
IPA Orthography
a[] a
ɛ e
e e
i i
ɔ o
o o
u u
ː
Tone mark Tone Bar
Tones
á ˦
à ˨
âː ˥˩
ǎ̤ ˨˦
à̤ ˨
a̤᷈ ː ˨˧˨
  1. /a/ is phonetically realised as an open front unrounded vowel [a] in Swazi, an open central unrounded vowel [ä] in Zulu and an open back unrounded vowel in Xhosa [ɑ].