diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f892599d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# intermediate build output:
+
+*.o
+
+# libraries
+
+src/libespeak.a
+src/libespeak.so.*
+
+# programs:
+
+src/espeak
+src/speak
+