Wolof — Pronunciation for English Speakers
This guide is based on a phoneme-by-phoneme comparison of Wolof and English. Wolof and English share 19 sounds — about 35% of Wolof's inventory. The remaining sounds are where English speakers will need to focus their practice.
Sounds to learn from scratch (35)
These phonemes exist in Wolof but not in English. English speakers will need to learn to produce and perceive them as new categories — not just a variation of an existing English sound.
Familiar sounds (19)
These phonemes exist in both Wolof and English. You already produce and perceive them — though they may appear in different positions or syllable structures.
English sounds not used in Wolof (26)
These English phonemes don't exist in Wolof. Native Wolof speakers learning English will face the reverse challenge with these sounds.