Hausa vs SEDANG

Sound inventory comparison

Only in Hausa

Shared

Only in SEDANG

Only in Hausa 34

˥ ˥˩ ˦ ˨ l n z d ɗ r oː uː b ɓ iː d̠ʒ ɽ aː eː ə ɡ ɡʷ ɡʲ tsʼ s t ɸ ʔʲ t̠ʃʼ kʷʼ kʼ kʷ kʲ kʲʼ

Shared sounds 12

w o u m j i e h ʔ t̠ʃ ʃ k

Only in SEDANG 43

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 ɔ o̰ ṵ ɔ̰ w̰ m̰ mb b̰ ḭ j̰ n̠d̠ʒ ɲ ɲ̰ a ɛ a̰ ḛ ɛ̰ ŋ ŋ̰ ŋɡ s̪|s t̪ʰ|tʰ t̪|t ʍ p pʰ kʰ

What this means for learners

Hausa and SEDANG share 12 sounds — roughly 22% of SEDANG's inventory overlaps with Hausa. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 43 sounds found only in SEDANG represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Hausa 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, Hausa has 34 sounds not used in SEDANG. Native SEDANG speakers learning Hausa 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

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