English (New Zealand) vs Hindi-Urdu

Sound inventory comparison

Only in English (New Zealand)

Shared

Only in Hindi-Urdu

Only in English (New Zealand) 30

ð n d w ɒ ɐ ɐː ʉː ɵː ɐʉ v i ɹ ɒɯ e ɛ ɘ iə eə oe æe ɑe æo ʉə ŋ ts θ h ʃ kx

Shared sounds 15

l z oː ʊ m b j iː d̠ʒ ʒ ɡ s pʰ f t̠ʃ

Only in Hindi-Urdu 79

lː l̤ n̪ n̪ː n̪̤ zː d̪ d̪ː d̪̤ d̪̤ː r rː uː ɔo̯ ɔõ̯ ɔ̤ ũː mː ʊ̃ õː m̤ b̤ bː b̤ː ɦ ʋ ʋː ɪ jː ĩː ɪ̃ d̠ʒː d̠ʒ̤ d̠ʒ̤ː ɽ̃ ɖ ɖː ɖ̤ ɖ̤ː ɑ ʁ aː eː ɜ ɪ̈ æe̯ æẽ̯ ãː ẽː ɜ̃ ɡ̤ ɡː ɡ̤ː sː t̪ t̪ʰ t̪ː t̪ʰː p pː pʰː ʔ fː t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃː t̠ʃʰː ʃː ʂ ʈ ʈʰ ʈː ʈʰː χ q qː k kʰ kː kʰː

What this means for learners

English (New Zealand) and Hindi-Urdu share 15 sounds — roughly 16% of Hindi-Urdu's inventory overlaps with English (New Zealand). Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 79 sounds found only in Hindi-Urdu represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for English (New Zealand) 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, English (New Zealand) has 30 sounds not used in Hindi-Urdu. Native Hindi-Urdu speakers learning English (New Zealand) 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

English (New Zealand) vs Dafla English (New Zealand) vs Yao English (New Zealand) vs Hakka Chinese English (New Zealand) vs SEDANG English (New Zealand) vs Kharia English (New Zealand) vs Bhumij English (New Zealand) vs Kota English (New Zealand) vs Burushaski English (New Zealand) vs Kabardian English (New Zealand) vs Lak English (New Zealand) vs Ket English (New Zealand) vs Lahu