IRISH vs Burushaski

Sound inventory comparison

Only in IRISH

Shared

Only in Burushaski

Only in IRISH 53

l̥ʲ l̥ˠ n̥ʲ n̥ˠ ɾ̥ʲ ɾ̥ˠ lʲ lˠ l̪ˠ nʲ n̪ nˠ d̪ ɾʲ ɾˠ ʊ o̞ βʲ õ̞ ʊ̃ mʲ mʷˠ bʲ bʷˠ ɪ ɪ̃ d̠ʒ l̠ n̠ ɑː ɑ̃ː a eː e̞ iə uə əu əi ɣ ã ẽ̞ ŋʲ ẽː ɡʲ t̪ʰ ɸʲ ɸʷˠ pʲʰ pʷˠʰ t̠ʃ ç ʃ kʲʰ

Shared sounds 16

d w oː uː ũː õː j iː ĩː ŋ ɡ s tʰ h x kʰ

Only in Burushaski 43

l n z dʑ r o u m ũ õ b i ĩ ɖʐ ʐʲ ɖ ʌ ʌ̃ ɢ æ ɛ ɛː äː ɛ̃ ɛ̃ː ã̈ː tsʰ ts ɕ t tɕ tɕʰ p pʰ f ʈʂ ʈʂʰ ʂ ʈ ʈʰ q qʰ k

What this means for learners

IRISH and Burushaski share 16 sounds — roughly 23% of Burushaski's inventory overlaps with IRISH. 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 Burushaski represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for IRISH 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, IRISH has 53 sounds not used in Burushaski. Native Burushaski speakers learning IRISH 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

IRISH vs Lahu IRISH vs Dafla IRISH vs Yao IRISH vs Hakka Chinese IRISH vs SEDANG IRISH vs Kharia IRISH vs Bhumij IRISH vs Kota IRISH vs Kabardian IRISH vs Lak IRISH vs Ket IRISH vs Garo