/ˈaɪ.pə/

Central Arrernte vs Kharia

Sound inventory comparison

30
Only in Central Arrernte
14
Shared
33
Only in Kharia

Only in Central Arrernte 30

l̪ lʷ l̪ʷ ȴ ȴʷ n̪ nʷ ȵ n̪ʷ ȵʷ r rʷ mʷ jʷ ɻ ɻʷ ɭ ɭʷ ɳʷ ə ɰ ŋʷ t tʷ t̪ʷ ȶ ȶʷ pʷ ʈʷ kʷ

Shared sounds 14

l n w u m j i ɳ a ŋ t̪ p ʈ k

Only in Kharia 33

d̪ ɗ d̪ʱ ɗʱ ˀɗ ɾ o ou b ˀb bʱ ɦ ɲ ɟ ɟʱ ˀɟ ɽ ɽʱ e æ ui oi ao ɡ ɡʱ tsʰ ts s t̪ʰ ɸ f ʈʰ kʰ

What this means for learners

Central Arrernte and Kharia share 14 sounds — roughly 30% of Kharia's inventory overlaps with Central Arrernte. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 33 sounds found only in Kharia represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Central Arrernte 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, Central Arrernte has 30 sounds not used in Kharia. Native Kharia speakers learning Central Arrernte 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

Central Arrernte vs Lahu Central Arrernte vs Dafla Central Arrernte vs Yao Central Arrernte vs Hakka Chinese Central Arrernte vs SEDANG Central Arrernte vs Bhumij Central Arrernte vs Kota Central Arrernte vs Burushaski Central Arrernte vs Kabardian Central Arrernte vs Lak Central Arrernte vs Ket Central Arrernte vs Garo