EYAK vs Lak

Sound inventory comparison

Only in EYAK

Shared

Only in Lak

Only in EYAK 24

d̪z̪|dz l̪|l n̪|n d̪|d d̪ɮ̪|dɮ ũː ũ ĩ ĩː d̠ʒ ɑː ɑ̃ ɑ̃ː ɛ ɛː ɡʷ t̪s̪ʰ|tsʰ t̪s̪ʼ|tsʼ ɬ̪|ɬ s̪|s t̪ʰ|tʰ t̪ʼ|tʼ t̪ɬ̪ʰ|tɬʰ t̪ɬ̪ʼ|tɬʼ

Shared sounds 21

w u uː m j i iː ɢ ɡ h ʔ t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃʼ ʃ χ qʰ qʼ x xʷ kʰ kʼ

Only in Lak 48

l n z d r ø̞ˤ b ʒ ɢʷ a aː e̞ˤ æˤ tsʰ tsʷʰ tsʷʼ tsʼ t͈s t͈sʷ s s͈ tʰ tʼ t͈ pʰ pʼ p͈ t̠ʃʷʰ t̠ʃʷʼ t̠͈ʃ t̠͈ʃʷ ʃʷ ʃ͈ ʃ͈ʷ ħ χʷ χ͈ χ͈ʷ qʷʰ qʷʼ q͈ q͈ʷ x͈ x͈ʷ kʷʰ kʷʼ k͈ k͈ʷ

What this means for learners

EYAK and Lak share 21 sounds — roughly 30% of Lak's inventory overlaps with EYAK. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 48 sounds found only in Lak represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for EYAK 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, EYAK has 24 sounds not used in Lak. Native Lak speakers learning EYAK 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

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