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SOUND SESOTHO WORD(translat.) AS IN ENGLISH ----- ----------------------- ------------- a araba (answer) a in far e lebelo (speed) e in we e mema (invite) ai in hair i bina (sing) i in it o noka (river) o in fort o noka (hip) au in cause u bula (open) u in bull b bala (read) b in able d duba (knead) d in doll f fofa (to fly) f in after g galase (glass) guttural like ch in loch h haholo (much) h in hand j kajeno (today) ch in chunk k kena (enter) ck in back l latola (deny) l in lay m madi (blood) m in him n nama (meat) n in and p pula (rain) p in lip q qeta (finish) click sound* r moriri (hair) r in red s sefate (tree) ss in dress t tau (lion) t in tin bj bjara (crush) b (in bed) + y (in you) fj lefjwa (be paid) f (in far) + y (in you) hl hlahloba (examine) Ll in Welsh Llewellyn kg kgaka (guineafowl) c (in cat) + guttural like ch in loch ng ngwana (child) ng in linger ny nyala (marriage) ny similar to English Kenya nq nqalo (place) click, but nasalised* pj pjatla (boil well) p (in cup) + y (in you) sh mashala (coal) sh in shoot tj tjeka (dance) ch in chunk tl tlou (elephant) tl in little ts tsebe (ear) ts in sits kh khefi (cafe) ki in kindle ph phiri (hyena) p in pull pjh pjhatla (smash) p (in cup) + y (in you) + a qh qhobosheane (fortress) an aspirated click* th thaba (mountain) t in till tjh tjhelete (money) ch in chunk tlh tlhaho (origin) t (in cat) + Ll in Welsh Llewellyn tsh tshwene (baboon) ch in change y yunibesithi(university) y in you w wena (you) w in water * Clicking sound comes from Bushmen (San & Khoi) click but is also found in the Zulu and especially Xhosa languages. Similar to English "tut-tut". Here is a more difficult explanation: "Click sounds are suction sounds made by trapping a body of air between the tongue and the roof of the mouth, i.e. the tongue touches the whole edge of the upper teeth as well as the velum. The middle of the tongue is lowered without this closure being broken. This lessens the pressure of air in the space between the tongue and the palate. When the closure is broken at any point, the air from outside rushes into this small space, resulting in a click sound..."