Burushaski vs Lak

Sound inventory comparison

Only in Burushaski

Shared

Only in Lak

Only in Burushaski 36

dʑ o oː ũː ũ õ õː ĩ ĩː ɖʐ ʐʲ ɖ ʌ ʌ̃ æ ɛ ɛː äː ŋ ɛ̃ ɛ̃ː ã̈ː ts ɕ t tɕ tɕʰ p f ʈʂ ʈʂʰ ʂ ʈ ʈʰ q k

Shared sounds 23

l n z d r w u uː m b j i iː ɢ ɡ tsʰ s tʰ pʰ h qʰ x kʰ

Only in Lak 46

ø̞ˤ ʒ ɢʷ a aː e̞ˤ æˤ tsʷʰ tsʷʼ tsʼ t͈s t͈sʷ s͈ tʼ t͈ pʼ p͈ ʔ t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃʷʰ t̠ʃʷʼ t̠ʃʼ t̠͈ʃ t̠͈ʃʷ ʃ ʃʷ ʃ͈ ʃ͈ʷ ħ χ χʷ χ͈ χ͈ʷ qʷʰ qʷʼ qʼ q͈ q͈ʷ xʷ x͈ x͈ʷ kʷʰ kʷʼ kʼ k͈ k͈ʷ

What this means for learners

Burushaski and Lak share 23 sounds — roughly 33% of Lak's inventory overlaps with Burushaski. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 46 sounds found only in Lak represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Burushaski 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, Burushaski has 36 sounds not used in Lak. Native Lak speakers learning Burushaski 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

Burushaski vs Garo Burushaski vs Lahu Burushaski vs Dafla Burushaski vs Yao Burushaski vs Hakka Chinese Burushaski vs SEDANG Burushaski vs Kharia Burushaski vs Bhumij Burushaski vs Kota Burushaski vs Kabardian Burushaski vs Ket Burushaski vs Karen