Only in Kadugli (Miri) 34
What this means for learners
Kadugli (Miri) and Lao share 29 sounds — roughly 46% of Lao's inventory overlaps with Kadugli (Miri). Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.
The 13 sounds found only in Lao represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Kadugli (Miri) 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, Kadugli (Miri) has 34 sounds not used in Lao. Native Lao speakers learning Kadugli (Miri) 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.