Nasalized Vowels in Ewe: 11 Examples to Practice
Nasalization is a feature in Ewe that describes how air flows during pronunciation. When a vowel is nasalized, air passes through both the mouth and the nose, giving the sound a distinctive nasal quality. This is an important aspect of Ewe pronunciation because it can change the meaning of words.
It’s important to note that in Ewe, nasalization only occurs with vowels. Consonants are never nasalized in this language. This means that when you hear a nasalized vowel, it is the vowel itself that carries the nasal quality, not the surrounding consonants.
Nasalized Vowels in Ewe
Here are some examples of Ewe words with nasalized vowels to help you practice:
- ã – a nasalized version of “a”
- ẽ – a nasalized version of “e”
- ĩ – a nasalized version of “i”
- ɔ̃ – a nasalized version of “ɔ”
ã, ẽ, ĩ, ɔ̃
- Agalã – crab
- Agbalẽ – book
- Fiẽ – evening
- Dzĩ – red
- Lɔlɔ̃ – love
- Alẽ – sheep
- Alɔ̃ – sleep
- Me lɔ̃ wo – I love you
- Kalẽ – strength
- Zã – night
- Akɔ̃ta – mathematics
