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The following consonant combinations are also found:
i. Nasal compounds: mp, mb, nt, nd, nc, nj, nk, ng, nf, nv, ns, nz.
When initial the nasal sounds have syllabic value (and tone):
m-pisi
♫
(hyena), n-go
♫
(leopard)
n-diga
♫
(sheep), n-swa
♫
(flying ant)
n-kuba
♫
(rain), n-te
♫
(cow)
n-vunza
♫
(jigger), n-ju
♫
(house)
m-bwa
♫
(dog), n-fudu
♫
(tortoise)
n-cukwe
♫
(terror), n-zige
♫
(locust)
After a vowel the nasal sounds have no syllabic value, but the vowel is always pronounced long (though not written double here):
e-mpisi, e-mbwa, e-nte, etc., bandaba
♫
(they see me or they saw me) —not baandaba.
Also:
ku-kumpanya
♫
(to defraud), ku-kumba
♫
(to show off)
ku-tanda
♫
(to stride), ku-tanta
♫
(to scatter)
ku-kankana
♫
(to shiver), ku-langa
♫
(to plait)
munnanfuusi
♫
(hypocrite), kifunvu
♫
(mound)
ku-myansa
♫
(to flash), ku-vunza
♫
(to cause to rot)
In the last four cases (i.e. before f, v, s, z), the vowel is usually nasalised and the -n- tends to disappear altogether with some speakers. (Compare French danser, envie, etc.)