How to read and say Igbo
Letters, sounds and stress from Wikivoyage's Igbo phrasebook. Then hear the phrases and practice them, free.
▶ Practice Igbo phrasesIgbo is a tonal language with a high, mid, and low range, in addition there are rising and falling tones. Accents are used to indicate the high and low tones; an acute accent such as 'ó' is used for high tones, and a grave accent such as 'è' is used for a low tone. There are further accents that indicate nasal or backed vowels. The lower dotted accent such as 'ọ' combined with a grave accent ('ọ̀') is used to indicate a low backed vowel, and an upper dotted accent such as 'ė' or a lower dotted accent with an acute accent ('ọ́') is used for a high backed vowel. The trema (¨) such as 'ö' or a simple dot underneath is used for a mid backed vowel. Other diacritics include the caron (ˇ) for rising tones, the circumflex (ˆ) for falling tones, and the macron (¯) for down-steps or long vowels.
Vowels
Vowels in Igbo are very similar to those in English when there is little tone stress on them. Most of the times vowels in Igbo are written with accents indicating this tone.
| vowel | English equiv. | vowel | English equiv. | vowel | English equiv. | vowel | English equiv. |
| a | like 'a' in "father" | e | like 'e' in "get" | i | like 'ee' in "seen" | ị | low tone nasal 'i' |
| o | like 'o' in "coat" | ọ | low tone nasal 'o' | u | like 'oo' in "pool" | ụ | low tone nasal u |
Consonants
Consonants do not have a tone in Igbo apart from 'n' and 'm', which are the only letters that can be written with accent marks.
| consonant | English equiv. | consonant | English equiv. | consonant | English equiv. | consonant | English equiv. |
| b | like 'b' in "bit" | d | like 'd' in "dim" | f | like 'f' in "feline" | g | like 'g' in "give" |
| h | like 'h' in "hinge" | j | like 'j' in "jelly" | k | like 'k' in "kettle" | l | like 'l' in "limb" |
| m | like 'm' in "mint" | n | like 'n' in "nit" | ñ | like 'n' "drink" | p | like 'p' in "pit" |
| r | like 'r' in "rent" | s | like 's' in "seam" | t | like 't' in "tea" | v | like 'v' in "villa" |
| w | like 'w' in "win" | y | like 'y' in "yield" | z | like 'z' in "zink" |
Common diphthongs
| diphthong | English equiv. | diphthong | English equiv. | diphthong | English equiv. | diphthong | English equiv. |
| ch | like 'ch' in "cheese" | gb | an explosive sound not found in English, but a 'b' sound is made while shaping the mouth for 'g' | gh | like 'gh' in "ghost" | gw | like 'gw' in Welsh "Gwyn" |
| kp | not in English, but a 'p' sound is made while shaping the mouth for 'k' | kw | like 'q' in "queen" | nw | like 'w' in "wag", but nasal like a baby crying | ny | like 'ny' in "canyon" |
| sh | like 'sh' in "ship" |