/ˈaɪ.pə/

HADZA vs SEDANG

Sound inventory comparison

43
Only in HADZA
19
Shared
36
Only in SEDANG

Only in HADZA 43

ŋ̥ǀ͓ˀ ŋ̥ǁ͓ˀ ŋ̥ǃ̠ˀ dz ndz l n̪ d̪ n̪d̪ o̞ b ŋǀ͓ ŋǁ͓ ŋǃ̠ d̠ʒ e̞ ɡ tsʰ tsʼ ts ɬ s t̪ t̪ʰ tɬ tɬʰ tɬʼ n̪t̪ʰ pʼ mpʰ kǀ͓ kǀ͓ʰ kǁ͓ kǁ͓ʰ kǃ̠ kǃ̠ʰ f t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃʼ kʷʰ kʷʼ kʼ kʷ

Shared sounds 19

w u m mb j i n̠d̠ʒ ɲ a ŋ ŋɡ p pʰ h ʔ t̠ʃ ʃ k kʰ

Only in SEDANG 36

l̪̥|l̥ n̪̥|n̥ r̪̥|r̥ m̥ j̥ ɲ̥ ŋ̥ l̪|l l̪̰|l̰ n̪|n n̪̰|n̰ n̪d̪|nd d̪̰|d̰ r̪|r r̪̰|r̰ o ɔ o̰ ṵ ɔ̰ w̰ m̰ b̰ ḭ j̰ ɲ̰ e ɛ a̰ ḛ ɛ̰ ŋ̰ s̪|s t̪ʰ|tʰ t̪|t ʍ

What this means for learners

HADZA and SEDANG share 19 sounds — roughly 31% of SEDANG's inventory overlaps with HADZA. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 36 sounds found only in SEDANG represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for HADZA 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, HADZA has 43 sounds not used in SEDANG. Native SEDANG speakers learning HADZA 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

HADZA vs Lahu HADZA vs Dafla HADZA vs Yao HADZA vs Hakka Chinese HADZA vs Kharia HADZA vs Bhumij HADZA vs Kota HADZA vs Burushaski HADZA vs Kabardian HADZA vs Lak HADZA vs Ket HADZA vs Garo