Unit 1 · First Steps · Alifbeetada

The Somali alphabet

Somali is written with the Latin alphabet, and it is one of the most phonetic writing systems in the world: every letter has one sound, and every sound has one letter. Once a child knows the 21 consonants and the 5 vowels, they can read almost any Somali word aloud correctly.

In the app

Alphabet lesson

26 letters with pictures and native audio
A Alphabet quiz with best-score tracking
Practised in Word Weaver and Listen and Tap
Part of Unit 1 · First Steps

Open in Luuqad

Every letter, with audio

Tap a card for the meaning, examples and a native recording.

Consonants

Vowels

A Athe vowel A E Ethe vowel E I Ithe vowel I O Othe vowel O U Uthe vowel U

Quick reference

Somali	English	Say it	Listen
B	the letter B	ba
T	the letter T	ta
J	the letter J	ja
X	the letter X	ha (from deep in the throat)
KH	the letter KH	kha
D	the letter D	da
R	the letter R	ra (rolled)
S	the letter S	sa
SH	the letter SH	sha
DH	the letter DH	dha (tongue curled back)
C	the letter C	'a (a deep, voiced throat sound)
G	the letter G	ga
F	the letter F	fa
Q	the letter Q	qa (from the back of the mouth)
K	the letter K	ka
L	the letter L	la
M	the letter M	ma
N	the letter N	na
W	the letter W	wa
H	the letter H	ha
Y	the letter Y	ya
A	the vowel A	a / aa	—
E	the vowel E	e / ee	—
I	the vowel I	i / ii	—
O	the vowel O	o / oo	—
U	the vowel U	u / uu	—

About the Alphabet topic

A few letters do jobs that English speakers do not expect. C is a deep sound made in the throat (not "k" or "s"), X is a breathy "h", Q comes from the back of the mouth, and DH and KH are single sounds written with two letters. Somali has no P, V or Z, which is why borrowed words change shape: "police" becomes booliis.

In the Luuqad app the Alphabet lesson plays a native speaker saying each letter, then quizzes children on the sounds. On this page you can hear every letter and see example words for each one.

Games that practise alphabet

Word Weaver

Turn a handful of letters into Somali words.

Listen and Tap

Follow the recordings, find pictures, and revisit tricky words.

Questions about alphabet

How many alphabet words does Luuqad teach?

26 entries in the Alphabet topic, each with a picture, native-speaker audio and a quiz in the app.

Is the audio recorded by a native speaker?

Yes. Every entry on this page plays a recording by a Somali speaker; nothing is synthesized.

How do I practise alphabet words with my child?

Tap each word to hear it, say it back together, then take the Alphabet quiz in the Luuqad app and play Word Weaver.

All topics Numbers →

Learn all 26 Alphabet letters with real voices

B, T, J, X, KH, D and more. Then take the quiz in the app.