Pronunciation Key

Vowels

Vowel	English Equivalent	Wolof Examples
a	absorb	banta, tapa, santa
aa	far	laaj, naaj, caabi
e	get	dem, lem, gerte
ee	where	seet, leel
é	say	bés
éé	sane	wéér, réér
ë	bird	kër, dëgër
i	in, pit	nit, simiis, timis
ii	meet	siis, lii, kii
o	moment	xob, romba
ó	awe	nób, sóf
oo	door	loo, soo
óó	phone	góór, fóót
u	cook	nuyu, ubi
uu	moon	tuuru, yuuxu

Consonants

Consonant	English Equivalent	Wolof Examples
b	boy	bunta, ban
c	church	caabi, ceeb
d	dog	def, dara
f	fire	fas, fetel
g	good	dogal, duga
j	job	jambar, jox
k	cool	kaala, kumpa
l	land	loolu, laal
m	moon	meew, dem
n	not	nit, nax
ñ	onion	ñeebe, gaañu
p	park	pare, soopa
r	rat	raxas, réér
s	sign	siis, safara
t	stamp	tubaab, aate
w	war	waaw, rew
x	(see note) *	xale, xaalis
y	your	yaay, yuuxu

*There is no English equivalent for this sound, it is a slightly guttural sound that is between x and k. It may also be pronounced merely as h, especially among non-natives. The closest examples that may be familiar to English speakers is the ch sound in the Scottish word loch or the German name Bach.

Prenasalized Consonants

Prenasalized Consonant	Wolof Examples
mb	mbéy, mbam
nd	ndey, ndigga
nj	njañ, njekk
ng	ngor, ngemb
mp	lampa, dàmp

Velar Nasal

Velar Nasal	English Equivalent	Wolof Examples
ŋ	sing	ŋacc, ŋaañ

Syllables and Stress

Below are examples of Wolof syllables, stress patterns, and their approximate pronunciation, presented with American English-friendly phonetic transcriptions:

bayyi baiy∘yi (cancel)
sàngara saan∘ga∘ra (alcohol)
mbàjj mbaaj (blanket)
bët buht (eye)
simis si∘mis (shirt)

ñépp nyip (all)
penku pen∘koo (east)
ci biti chee bee∘tee (outside)
ndox ndokh (water)
mbedd mbed (street)

Ndax dégg nga angale? ndakh deg nguh an∘ga∘ley (Do you speak English?)

Benn waxtu moo jot. ben wakh∘too moh jot (It’s one o’clock.)

Maangi dem ndakaaru. maan∘gee dem nda∘kaa∘roo (I’m going to Dakar.)

English / Wolof Homonyms

Here are some English words that closely resemble the pronunciation of certain Wolof words, which can help you better understand how Wolof words are spoken:

bought / boot (carry on back)
your / yoo (mosquito)
rare / reer (dinner)

rub / rab (beast)
rat / rat (a type of plant)
rye / raay (caress)

French Pronunciation Key

Consonant Sounds

French Sound	Wolof Sound	English Sound
ti (tiens)	c (caabi)	ch (chat)
di (dieu)	j (jabar)	j (job)
gn (agneau)	ñ (ñaw)	ny (canyon)
r (chercher)	x (xalam)	kh (loch [Scottish])
k (qarib [Arabic])	q (ñaq)	k (kid)
ou (oui)	w (woo)	w (water)
ng (parking [English loan])	ŋ (ŋaam)	ng (sing)

Vowel Sounds

French Sound	Wolof Sound	English Sound
a / ë (avait / Noël)	a (lal)	a (absorb)
a (dans)	à (làkk)	i (life [British])
è or ê (père, tête)	e (set)	e (get)
o (pomme)	o (gor)	o (moment)
o, eau (chose, beau)	ó (jóg)	aw (awe)
ou (trou)	u (bukki)	oo (cook)
an (ban)	ã (sãs)	an (croissant [French])

IPA Pronunciation Key

Consonants

Sound	IPA Symbol	Example Word	Meaning
b	[b]	bëgg	to want
p	[p]	pënd	dust
d	[d]	dëgg	truth
t	[t]	tëdd	to sleep
k	[k]	kër	house
g	[ɡ]	gën	to be better
mb	[mb]	mbind	to write
nd	[nd]	ndaw	young person
ñ	[ɲ]	ñaan	to pray
j	[dʒ]	jabar	wife