Spelling and Pronunciation

Overview • ߞߊ߲ ߞߊ߯ߓߌ߲

The sounds of Lio Sabaalè are simple and easy to pronounce. There are no consonant clusters. There are no diphthongs. The only consonant that can come at the end of a word is –n. There is no stress or accent, so every syllable receives equal emphasis.

Lio Sabaalè is a tonal language. This means that your pitch—whether high or low—changes the meaning of words. For example, kamà means “wheat” and kàma means “lake”.
Tonal languages are very common outside of Europe. More than 50% of the world’s population speaks a tonal language, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, nearly every language is tonal. Some widely spoken tonal languages are: Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Thai, Punjabi, Zulu, Xhosa, Lingala, Hausa, Maninka/Bambara/Jula, Yoruba, Igbo, and Akan (Twi).

Many of the sounds of Sabaalè have more than one acceptable pronunciation. For example, w can sound like an English “w” or an English “v”. A speaker can choose the pronunciation that they find easiest.

Tap here to hear the pronunciation of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols.

Letters • ߗߌߛߌߓߌ

Lio Sabaalè has two main alphabets: Latin and N’ko.

The Latin Alphabet spelling has 24 letters and one diacritic:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, Ɲ, O, P, R, S, T, U, W, Y, Z, `

The N’ko Alphabet has 25 letters and 5 diacritics:
ߊ ߓ ߗ ߘ ߍ ߝ ߜ ߤ ߌ ߖ ߞ ߟ ߡ ߣ ߢ ߒ ߐ ߔ ߙ ߛ ߕ ߎ ߥ ߦ ߖ߳ ߲ ߬ ߯ ߰ ߱

Consonants • ߗߌߓߍ߬ߕߊߣߊ

These are the 19 consonants, here written in the IPA:

Consonants	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Guttural
Nasal	m	n	ɲ
Plosive	p b	t d	tʃ dʒ	k g
Fricative	f	s z		h
Approximant	w	l	j
Tap		ɾ

Following is the spelling in the Latin Alphabet. The spelling is in bold and the IPA is in /slashes/. The only letters that are pronounced differently from English are c and r, and the only letter that is not present in English is ɲ.

p — /p/ — Like p in “spin”.
t — /t/ — Like t in “stand”.
k — /k/ — Like k in “sky”.
c — /tʃ/ — Like ch in “chill”.
b — /b/ — Like b in “best”.
d — /d/ — Like d in “day”.
g — /g/ — Like g in “go”; never like g in “giant”
j — /dʒ/ — Like j in “juice”.
f — /f/ — Like f in “feel”.
s — /s/ — Like s in “soon”.
h — /h/ — Like h in “how”.
z — /z/ — Like z in “zebra”.
m — /m/ — Like m in “moon”.
n — /n/ — Like n in “now”.
n — /ɴ/ — The word-final nasal. Like n in “thin”, ng in “thing”, or m in “dream”.
ɲ — /ɲ/ — A palatal nasal. Like ñ in Spanish “mañana”, or like ni in “onion”.
w — /w/ — Like w in “well”.
y — /j/ — Like y in “yes”.
l — /l/ — Like l in “leave”.
r — /ɾ/ — A tap, like the tt in “better” in a U.S. American accent, or like the rr in “carry” in a Scottish accent.

The letter <r>
The sound r /ɾ/ can only appear between vowels, never at the beginning of a word.
The sound d can be pronounced as r if it comes after a vowel.

Suffixes that begin with d usually become r after a vowel, and d after n. For example:
ko “thing” + dai “important” → korai “an important thing”

Palatal nasal
The palatal nasal, ɲ, is like the Spanish ñ in “mañana”. Pronounce it with the upper surface of your tongue against the roof of your mouth. If this is too difficult, then pronounce it like ni in “onion”.

If you can’t type ɲ, then you can spell it as ñ, and if you can’t type ñ, then you can spell it as ny.

Syllable-final nasal
The nasal consonant that appears at the ends of syllables is spelled n. It can sound like “ng” or “m” depending on the sound that comes next.

If your native language has an ng sound, then you should pronounce this n as ng when it comes before a vowel. For example, san ìkon should be pronounced like “sang ee-kong”.

It can also be pronounced as a nasalization of the previous vowel. So the word sen “first” can sound like the French word “sain”.

Alternative pronunciations
Following are some alternative pronunciations:

w — /v/ — Like v in “view”
r — /ɹ/ — An approximant, like an American English r in “hairy”.
r — /r/ — A trill, like the Spanish rr in “perro”.
h — /x/ — Like German ch in “Bach”, or Arabic خ kh in خمسة khamsa.
g — /ɣ/ — Like Arabic غ gh in غير ghayr
f — /hʷ/ — Like wh in “why”, or Korean hw in 화 hwa.
c — /ʃ/ — Like sh in “shy”.
j — /ʒ/ — like si in “vision”.

Vowels • ߗߌߗߎߡߌ߲

There are five vowels and one syllabic nasal. Here are the vowels in the IPA:

Vowels	Front	Back	Nasal
Close	i	u
Mid	e~ɛ	o~ɔ	ŋ̍̍
Open		a

Following is the spelling in the Latin Alphabet. The spelling is in bold and the IPA is in /slashes/.

a — /a/ — Between a in “far” and a in “have”.
i — /i/ — Like ee in “sleep”.
u — /u/ — Like oo in “boot”. Should be pronounced far back in the mouth.
e — /ɛ~e/ — Between e in “bed” and ay in “say”.
o — /ɔ~o/ — Between o in “more” and o in “go”.
n — /ŋ̍̍/ — A syllabic nasal.

There are no diphthongs: every vowel is pronounced as its own syllable. However, two vowels can appear next to each other. Here are the permitted sequences of vowels:
aa, ai, ao
ii, ia, iu, ie, io
uu, ua, ui, ue, uo
ee, ea, ei, eo
oo, oa, oi, oe

Notice the double vowels: aa, ii, uu, ee, oo. These are not long vowels; they are just the same vowel repeated, so that it sounds twice as long as a single vowel.

Syllabic nasal
This is a nasal sound (like “n”) that can stand alone as its own syllable. Unlike the other vowels, it cannot follow a consonant. It carries tone, high (n) or low (ǹ).

It can have different pronunciation depending on what comes after it. No matter how it sounds, it is always written with the letter n.

Before a vowel or w, it should sound like “ng” or “n”.
Before k or g, it should sound like “ng”:
nku “oil palm”, ngòn “drum”
Before p, b, or m, it should sound like “m”:
nba “or”, npa “abdomen”
Before j, c, or y, it should sound like ɲ or n.
nje “outside”
Before t, d, s, z, or n, it should sound like n.
nde “people”

Tone • ߌ߬ߞߎߍߞߍߟߌߐ

Lio Sabaalè is a tonal language. This means that the pitch of your voice distinguishes one word from another:
The tones are relative, not specific notes or pitches. These tones are also different from intonation, which is the gradual rise and fall of your voice over the course of a sentence to indicate emotion. You should still speak with intonation in Sabaalè.

In Sabaalè there are two tones: high and low. Every syllable carries either high or low tone.
The low tone can be pronounced with a somewhat breathy or creaky voice, especially at the end of a sentence.
A high tone at the end of a statement can be pronounced with a short falling pitch.

When two vowels occur next to each other within a word, they can only be high-high (aa), low-low (àà), or low-high (àa). They cannot be high-low (aà).

Spelling
The low tone is marked with a grave accent ⟨ ` ⟩. The high tone is not marked in writing.
For example, fa “to send out” and fà “to hit”; kamà “wheat” and kàma “lake”.

N’ko Spelling • ߌ߬ߕߊ߬ߛߌߓߌ ߒߞߏ

Lio Sabaalè can be written in the N’ko (ߒߞߏ) script. N’ko was invented in 1949 by the Guinean writer and educator Sulemaana Kante to write the Manding languages (Bambara, Jula, Maninka, Soninke) and it has also been used to write Fulani.

N’ko is written from right-to-left. Its letters join together at the bottom. There are no capital or lowercase letters.

Here is the N’ko spelling.

ߊ — a
ߌ — i
ߎ — u
ߍ — e
ߐ — o
ߒ — Syllabic nasal.
߲ — n at the end of a syllable.
߬ — Short low tone.
߯߯ — Double vowel, high-high.
߰ — Double vowel, low-low.
߱ — Double vowel, low-high.

ߞ — k
ߕ — t
ߔ — p
ߗ — c
ߜ — g
ߘ — d
ߓ — b
ߖ — j
ߡ — m
ߣ — n
ߢ — ɲ
ߝ — f
ߛ — s
ߖ߭ — z
ߤ — h
ߟ — l
ߙ — r
ߦ — y
ߥ — w

The Latin letter n corresponds to three letters in N’ko:
ߣ: n as in “new”, for example ߣߎߊ nua “sibling”
ߒ: the syllabic nasal, as in ߒߕߌ nti “tree”
߲ (a dot under a vowel letter): syllable-final n, as in ߐߞߊ߲߬ okàn “heart”.

Here are some example sentences written in both N’ko and Latin.

Si nku-nku wulubimà tenmi nsà.
ߛߌ ߒߞߎ-ߒߞߎ ߥߎߟߎߓߌߡߊ߬ ߕߍ߲ߡߌ ߒߛߊ߬
“Some oil palm trees grow in a cluster on the river bank.”