Doayo vs Hakka Chinese

Sound inventory comparison

Only in Doayo

Shared

Only in Hakka Chinese

Only in Doayo 32

˨˧ z d ɗ r w o oː uː ɔ ɔː ũː ɔ̃ ɔ̃ː b ɓ ɡb v iː ĩː a aː e eː ɛ ɛː ãː ã ɛ̃ ɛ̃ː ɡ kp

Shared sounds 16

˦ ˧ ˨ l n u m j i ŋ s t p h f k

Only in Hakka Chinese 31

˥˩ ˧˩ n̩ ɔ̽ m̩ ʋ ɹ̩ ɲ e̞ ə e̞u iu ä äi äu̽ iäu̽ iɔ̽ i̞ä i̞e̞ u̽i ɔ̽i tsʰ ts tʰ pʰ ç c cʰ kʰ kʷʰ kʷ

What this means for learners

Doayo and Hakka Chinese share 16 sounds — roughly 33% of Hakka Chinese's inventory overlaps with Doayo. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 31 sounds found only in Hakka Chinese represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Doayo 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, Doayo has 32 sounds not used in Hakka Chinese. Native Hakka Chinese speakers learning Doayo 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

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