Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

mallam

/ˈmæ.ləm/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.99 in modern English

Syllables
mal-lam
IPA
/ˈmæ.ləm/
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
3
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

In Africa, a teacher of the Qur'an.

Etymology

Etymology tree Arabic عَلَّمَ (ʕallama) Arabic مُعَلِّم (muʕallim)bor. English mallam Borrowed from Arabic مُعَلِّم (muʕallim, “teacher”). First attested in the 1820s.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈmæ.ləm/
  • British English: /ˈmæ.ləm/

Inflected Forms

mallams (plural) maalam (alternative) malam (alternative)

Homonyms

malum

Rhymes With

slalom

Questions

How do you pronounce mallam?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈmæ.ləm/.
What does mallam mean?
In Africa, a teacher of the Qur'an.
Where does mallam come from?
Etymology tree Arabic عَلَّمَ (ʕallama) Arabic مُعَلِّم (muʕallim)bor. English mallam Borrowed from Arabic مُعَلِّم (muʕallim, “teacher”). First attested in the 1820s.

How to pronounce mallam

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “mallam”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈmæ.ləm/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “mallam”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “mallam” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.