A
Tiv Alphabet — Plain Letters
Tiv & English capital and small forms
A/a
English
A/a
B/b
English
B/b
C/c
English
C/c
D/d
English
D/d
E/e
English
E/e
F/f
English
F/f
G/g
English
G/g
H/h
English
H/h
I/i
English
I/i
J/j
English
J/j
K/k
English
K/k
L/l
English
L/l
M/m
English
M/m
N/n
English
N/n
O/o
English
O/o
P/p
English
P/p
Q/q
not in Tiv
R/r
English
R/r
S/s
English
S/s
T/t
English
T/t
U/u
English
U/u
V/v
English
V/v
W/w
English
W/w
X/x
not in Tiv
Y/y
English
Y/y
Z/z
English
Z/z
V
Vowels
— 5 vowel sounds
A/a
/a/
said as "uh" — like u in sun, not a in cat
bar
"salt"
E/e
/e/
like e in bed or net
se
"we / laugh"
I/i
/i/
like ee in feet or ea in beat
ime
"darkness"
O/o
/o/
like o in orbit and story
or
"person"
U/u
/u/
like oo in book or look
bagu
"monkey"
Note on Tiv vowels: Vowels can be short or long. A long vowel is written by doubling the letter — a (short) vs aa (long). Long vowels carry a distinct meaning: or (person) vs oor (to be sick).
C
Consonants
— 19 consonants
B/b
/b/
like b in boy
bam
"Bank"
C/c
/tʃ/
like ch in church — Tiv C always has the "ch" sound
cia
"fear"
D/d
/d/
like d in dog
ada
"bow"
F/f
/f/
like f in fish
fa
"know"
G/g
/ɡ/
like g in go
gar
"city / town"
H/h
/h/
like h in hat
har
"hang"
J/j
/dʒ/
like g in gem — soft j sound
ijen
"hunger"
K/k
/k/
like k in key
koti
"court"
L/l
/l/
like l in love
lam
"speak"
M/m
/m/
like m in man
ma
"drink"
N/n
/n/
like n in now
na
"give"
P/p
/p/
like p in pen
per
"cross"
R/r
/r/
a rounded r — roll it slightly as in Irish English
ruam
"fufu / pounded yam"
S/s
/s/
like s in sun
sar
"spread"
T/t
/t/
like t in top
ter
"father"
V/v
/v/
like v in van
ivo
"goat"
W/w
/w/
like w in water
wase
"help"
Y/y
/j/
like y in yes
ya
"eat"
Z/z
/z/
like z in zebra — used for a polite request to go
za
"go (request)"
D
Digraphs & Special Consonants
— 13 unique blended sounds
Digraphs are two-letter combinations counted as a single sound. They are unique features of the Tiv language and must not be split when reading or writing.
GB/gb
/ɡ͡b/
labial-velar stop — g and b said together as one sound
gba"fall"
KP/kp
/k͡p/
labial-velar stop — k and p said together as one sound
kper"net / tomorrow"
CH/ch
/tʃ/
like ch in church — also written as C alone in some words
chia"fear"
SH/sh
/ʃ/
like sh in shoe or ship
sha"up / away"
NY/ny
/ɲ/
palatal nasal — like ny in canyon
nyam"meat"
GH/gh
/ɣ/
comes at the end of words — silent like gh in dough or borough
sugh"thank"
GW/gw
/ɡw/
g and w blended together — like gw in Gwen
gwa"fame"
KW/kw
/kw/
like qu in queen or kw in awkward
kwase"woman"
TS/ts
/ts/
like ts in cats or fits
tsar"bridge"
MB/mb
/ᵐb/
prenasalized b — hum through the nose before the b
mban"them"
ND/nd
/ⁿd/
prenasalized d — nasal onset before the d
nder"wake up"
NG/ng
/ŋ/
nasal — like ng in sing or ring
nger"write"
BW/bw
/bw/
b and w blended — lips rounded into the b
bwagi"pick / digging tool"
T
Tone Markers
— Tiv is a tonal language
Tone is part of the meaning in Tiv. The same sequence of letters can mean completely different things depending on the pitch at which vowels are spoken. Tones are marked using diacritical accents on vowels.
́ a´
High Tone
Marked with an acute accent (´) above the vowel. The voice rises or stays high.
wánto call
óoyes
kárto read
̀ a`
Low Tone
Marked with a grave accent (`) above the vowel. The voice falls or stays low.
wànto be lost
kàrto lie down
tàrto be tired
― a
Mid / Level Tone
No accent mark. The voice stays at a middle level — the default in many written texts.
wanword / story
tarland
nomthing
Tonal minimal pairs — same letters, different meaning: wán (to call) | wàn (to be lost) | wan (word / story) kár (to read / count) | kàr (to lie down)
✎
Writing System
Direction & Script
Tiv is written left to right using the Latin script. There is no traditional indigenous script — the current writing system was developed in the 20th century with the aid of linguists and missionaries.
Orthography
The standard Tiv orthography used in schools and the Bible translation treats digraphs (gb, kp, mb, nd, ng, ny, ts) as single letters. Tone marks are used in formal linguistic texts but are often omitted in everyday writing.
