African Language Learning
Wolof
11 lessons available
Diaspora Bridges
Lesson 1
The Alphabet
The Wolof alphabet with pronunciation guides. Wolof has several sounds with no direct English equivalent, particularly the special vowels and prenasalized consonants.
🌍 Cultural Context
Wolof was primarily an oral language for centuries — written forms were standardized relatively recently. The script uses Latin letters with diacritical marks to capture sounds unique to West African phonology.Pronounced as in 'Kit'
Pronounced as in 'Met'
No English equivalent
Pronounced as in 'Fun'
Pronounced as in 'But'
Pronounced as in 'Fat'
Pronounced as in 'Pot'
Pronounced as in 'Book'
Pronounced as in 'Meat'
Pronounced as in 'Fair'
No English equivalent
Pronounced as in 'Girl'
Pronounced as in 'Far'
Pronounced as in 'Boy'
Pronounced as in 'Goat'
Pronounced as in 'Food'
Pronounced as in 'Bad'
Pronounced as in 'Chair'
Pronounced as in 'Door'
Pronounced as in 'Father'
Pronounced as in 'Good'
Pronounced as in 'Job'
Pronounced as in 'Kit'
Pronounced as in 'Like'
Pronounced as in 'Mother'
Pronounced as in 'Noon'
Pronounced as 'Señor' in Spanish
Pronounced as in 'Sing'
Pronounced as in 'Part'
No English equivalent
Pronounced as in 'Rice'
Pronounced as in 'Sit'
Pronounced as in 'Talk'
Pronounced as in 'Word'
Pronounced as 'Juan' in Spanish
Pronounced as in 'Yes'
No English equivalent
No English equivalent
No English equivalent
No English equivalent