Gujarati vs Hakka Chinese

Sound inventory comparison

Only in Gujarati

Shared

Only in Hakka Chinese

Only in Gujarati 45

n̪ d̪ d̪̤ ɾ w o ɔ ʊ ɔ̤ o̤ ṳː ũː ũ õ õː b b̤ v ɪ i̤ː ɟʝ ɟ̤ʝ ɭ ɳ ɖ ɖ̤ ɽ ɑ̤ ɑ̃ a e ɛ e̤ ɛ̤ ə̤ ã ẽ̞ ɡ t̪ t̪ʰ cç cçʰ ʂ ʈ ʈʰ

Shared sounds 15

l u m j i ɲ ə ŋ s p pʰ h ç k kʰ

Only in Hakka Chinese 32

˥˩ ˦ ˧ ˧˩ ˨ n n̩ ɔ̽ m̩ ʋ ɹ̩ e̞ e̞u iu ä äi äu̽ iäu̽ iɔ̽ i̞ä i̞e̞ u̽i ɔ̽i tsʰ ts t tʰ f c cʰ kʷʰ kʷ

What this means for learners

Gujarati and Hakka Chinese share 15 sounds — roughly 25% of Hakka Chinese's inventory overlaps with Gujarati. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 32 sounds found only in Hakka Chinese represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Gujarati 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, Gujarati has 45 sounds not used in Hakka Chinese. Native Hakka Chinese speakers learning Gujarati 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

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