IRANXE vs Lak

Sound inventory comparison

Only in IRANXE

Shared

Only in Lak

Only in IRANXE 29

l̪|l n̪|n d̪|d ɾ̪|ɾ ɔ ũ ɔ̃ mʷ bʷ ĩ ɨ ɛ ai ɔi ɨi ã ɛ̃ ɨ̃ ãĩ ɔ̃ĩ ɨ̃ĩ s̪|s t̪|t t̪ʷ|tʷ ʍ p pʷ k kʲ

Shared sounds 10

w u m b j i a h ʔ ʃ

Only in Lak 59

l n z d r uː ø̞ˤ iː ʒ ɢ ɢʷ aː e̞ˤ æˤ ɡ tsʰ tsʷʰ tsʷʼ tsʼ t͈s t͈sʷ s s͈ tʰ tʼ t͈ pʰ pʼ p͈ 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

IRANXE and Lak share 10 sounds — roughly 14% of Lak's inventory overlaps with IRANXE. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 59 sounds found only in Lak represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for IRANXE 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, IRANXE has 29 sounds not used in Lak. Native Lak speakers learning IRANXE 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

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