gb
Reading Gb
gb belongs to the consonant inventory as one unit.
How It Works
Read gb together at the beginning or inside a word. Do not insert a vowel between its letters. The digraph itself takes no tone accent: tone is marked on vowels and syllabic nasals.
In gbé, “carry,” the whole digraph begins one syllable. A teaching breakdown of àgbàdo, “maize,” is à-gbà-do: three syllables, with gb beginning the middle one. These hyphens are a reading aid; ordinary spelling is àgbàdo.
The same consonant appears in gbin, “plant.” Its presence alone does not determine meaning. Later word-formation lessons must keep the consonant together and establish the particular derived form from evidence rather than treating the written letters as two separate onsets.
Examples (3)
- Ó ti gbé ìwé.
He or she has carried a book.
Gb begins the syllable gbé.
- A ti gbin àgbàdo.
We have planted maize.
Gb occurs in the verb and inside the object noun.
- Àgbàdo díẹ̀.
A little maize.
Noun-phrase fragment with word-internal gb.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Read the two letters as one consonant.
Related Patterns
Practice gb in Bubblegum
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