Avar vs Hakka Chinese

Sound inventory comparison

Only in Avar

Shared

Only in Hakka Chinese

Only in Avar 51

z zʷ d r w o b ʢ ʢʷ ʒ ʒʷ ʁ ʁʷ a e ɡ ɡʷ tsʷʰ tsʷʼ tsʼ ɬ ɬʷ sʷ tʼ tɬʰ tɬʼ tʷʰ tʷʼ tɬʷʰ tɬʷʼ pʼ hʷ ʜ ʜʷ ʔ t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃʷʰ t̠ʃʷʼ t̠ʃʼ ʃ ʃʷ χ χʷ qʰ qʷʰ qʷʼ qʼ x xʷ kʷʼ kʼ

Shared sounds 13

l n u m j i tsʰ s tʰ pʰ h kʰ kʷʰ

Only in Hakka Chinese 34

˥˩ ˦ ˧ ˧˩ ˨ n̩ ɔ̽ m̩ ʋ ɹ̩ ɲ e̞ ə e̞u iu ä äi äu̽ iäu̽ iɔ̽ i̞ä i̞e̞ u̽i ɔ̽i ŋ ts t p f ç c cʰ k kʷ

What this means for learners

Avar and Hakka Chinese share 13 sounds — roughly 20% of Hakka Chinese's inventory overlaps with Avar. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 34 sounds found only in Hakka Chinese represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Avar speakers. The adult brain tends to map unfamiliar sounds onto the closest native equivalent — a process that produces the characteristic "accent" of a second-language speaker. Learning to hear and produce these sounds as distinct requires focused ear training, not just repetition.

Conversely, Avar has 51 sounds not used in Hakka Chinese. Native Hakka Chinese speakers learning Avar will face the mirror-image challenge with these sounds.

Phoneme inventories from PHOIBLE. Data reflects one documented inventory per language; some variation exists across dialects and sources.

Compare with another language

Avar vs Lahu Avar vs Dafla Avar vs Yao Avar vs SEDANG Avar vs Kharia Avar vs Bhumij Avar vs Kota Avar vs Burushaski Avar vs Kabardian Avar vs Lak Avar vs Ket Avar vs Garo