IRISH vs Yao

Sound inventory comparison

Only in IRISH

Shared

Only in Yao

Only in IRISH 59

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

Shared sounds 10

d w j a ŋ ɡ s tʰ h kʰ

Only in Yao 39

l̥ n̥ m̥ j̥ ɲ̥ ˥˦ ˦ ˧˨ˤ ˧˩ ˨˧ ˩̰ ŋ̥ dz l n n̩ o u ɔ m m̩ b i ɲ ɟ aː e æ tsʰ ts t ʍ p pʰ ʔ f c cʰ k

What this means for learners

IRISH and Yao share 10 sounds — roughly 14% of Yao'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 39 sounds found only in Yao 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 59 sounds not used in Yao. Native Yao 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 Hakka Chinese IRISH vs SEDANG IRISH vs Kharia IRISH vs Bhumij IRISH vs Kota IRISH vs Burushaski IRISH vs Kabardian IRISH vs Lak IRISH vs Ket IRISH vs Garo