Hungarian vs Lak

Sound inventory comparison

Only in Hungarian

Shared

Only in Lak

Only in Hungarian 46

dz dzː lː nː zː dː rː o oː y ø ɒ øː yː mː bː v vː jː d̠ʒ ɟʝ ɟʝː ɲ ɲː ʒː eː æ ɛ ɡː ts tsː sː t tː p pː hː f fː t̠ʃ t̠ʃː cç cçː ʃː k kː

Shared sounds 19

l n z d r w u uː m b j i iː ʒ aː ɡ s h ʃ

Only in Lak 50

ø̞ˤ ɢ ɢʷ a e̞ˤ æˤ tsʰ tsʷʰ tsʷʼ tsʼ t͈s t͈sʷ s͈ tʰ tʼ t͈ pʰ pʼ p͈ ʔ t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃʷʰ t̠ʃʷʼ t̠ʃʼ t̠͈ʃ t̠͈ʃʷ ʃʷ ʃ͈ ʃ͈ʷ ħ χ χʷ χ͈ χ͈ʷ qʰ qʷʰ qʷʼ qʼ q͈ q͈ʷ x xʷ x͈ x͈ʷ kʰ kʷʰ kʷʼ kʼ k͈ k͈ʷ

What this means for learners

Hungarian and Lak share 19 sounds — roughly 28% of Lak's inventory overlaps with Hungarian. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 50 sounds found only in Lak represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Hungarian 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, Hungarian has 46 sounds not used in Lak. Native Lak speakers learning Hungarian 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

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