The implosives ɓ and ɗ

Why do Comorians say ɓaɓa where you'd say baba? By inhaling. When you pronounce a normal b, your lips close and then open while pushing air out. For the implosive ɓ, it's the exact opposite: the glottis briefly drops and air is drawn inward. The result is a duller, deeper b.

This sound exists in over 80 African languages but not in French or English. It's written with a hooked b: ɓ. Same for the hooked d ɗ (dental implosive).

Method: start to say « b », but just before air escapes, briefly inhale through the throat. You should feel a slight negative pressure in the mouth. The result is a muffled « b ».

Another image: say « ba » as if surprised by something that cut your breath. The « b » becomes implosive naturally.

Same for « d » → « ɗ »: dental production, tongue against the teeth, but inhaling instead of exhaling.

Shikomori has a few words where b and ɓ are phonologically opposed — i.e. the pronunciation difference matches a meaning difference:

• biro (office, French loanword) vs ɓô (good)
• bibiro (baby bottle, loanword) vs ɓaɓa (dad, native)

Rule of thumb: words of Bantu origin tend to have ɓ or ɗ; loanwords from French/Arabic carry standard b or d.

In the INALCO 1988 notation, the two were not graphically distinguished. People talked about « strong b » (= today's ɓ) and « weak b » (= today's b), but both were written « b ». The reader had to guess from context.

That's one of the main reasons the 2019 norm introduced ɓ and ɗ: to make the writing explicit and teachable. Don't be surprised if you read an older text.

These two sounds are the phonetic signature of shikomori. Now that you can hear them apart, you'll catch the difference in every word to come. The next lesson introduces the 10 digraphs (two-letter combinations marking a single sound): dh, dj, dr, dz, ny, pv, sh, th, tr, ts.