Alphabet · Alifbeetada · Consonants

DH

DH

dha (tongue curled back) · Say "d" with the tongue tip pointing up and back, not against the teeth.
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The sound

DH is a single sound with no English equivalent: a d made with the tip of the tongue curled back to touch the roof of the mouth. At the start of a word it sounds like a heavy d; between vowels it sounds closer to a soft r to English ears, which is why "Muqdisho" is sometimes written "Mogadishu".

Example words

Dhabarback (of the body)
Dhagear
Dhismobuilding

Teaching the letter DH

Say the letter with a short a after it, "dha", the way Somali children chant the alphabet, then say each example word slowly and let your child find the letter in it. Somali spelling is completely regular, so once a child knows the sound of DH they can read it in any word.

Learn all 26 Alphabet letters with real voices

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

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