Bamana vs SEDANG

Sound inventory comparison

Only in Bamana

Shared

Only in SEDANG

Only in Bamana 43

˦ ˨ l z d r oː uː ɔː ũː ũ õ ɔ̃ ɔ̃ː mʲ b bʷ v iː ĩ ɲʷ ɟ aː eː ɛː ãː ã ɛ̃ ŋʷ ẽ ɡ ɡʷ s t nt fʷ mp mpʲ f c ɲc kʷ ŋk

Shared sounds 15

w o u ɔ m j i ɲ a e ɛ ŋ p h k

Only in SEDANG 40

l̪̥|l̥ n̪̥|n̥ r̪̥|r̥ m̥ j̥ ɲ̥ ŋ̥ l̪|l l̪̰|l̰ n̪|n n̪̰|n̰ n̪d̪|nd d̪̰|d̰ r̪|r r̪̰|r̰ o̰ ṵ ɔ̰ w̰ m̰ mb b̰ ḭ j̰ n̠d̠ʒ ɲ̰ a̰ ḛ ɛ̰ ŋ̰ ŋɡ s̪|s t̪ʰ|tʰ t̪|t ʍ pʰ ʔ t̠ʃ ʃ kʰ

What this means for learners

Bamana and SEDANG share 15 sounds — roughly 26% of SEDANG's inventory overlaps with Bamana. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 40 sounds found only in SEDANG represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Bamana 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, Bamana has 43 sounds not used in SEDANG. Native SEDANG speakers learning Bamana 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

Bamana vs Lahu Bamana vs Dafla Bamana vs Yao Bamana vs Hakka Chinese Bamana vs Kharia Bamana vs Bhumij Bamana vs Kota Bamana vs Burushaski Bamana vs Kabardian Bamana vs Lak Bamana vs Ket Bamana vs Garo