/ˈaɪ.pə/

Lithuanian vs Lak

Sound inventory comparison

50
Only in Lithuanian
10
Shared
59
Only in Lak

Only in Lithuanian 50

d̪z̪ dzʲ lʲ ɫ nʲ n̪ z̪ zʲ dʲ d̪ rʲ oː ɔ ʊ ʊ̯ ɐ mʲ bʲ v vʲ ɪ ɪ̯ d̠ʒ d̠ʒʲ ʒʲ eː æː ɛ iə uə äː ɣ ɣʲ ɡʲ tsʲ t̪s̪ sʲ s̪ tʲ t̪ p pʲ f fʲ t̠ʃ t̠ʃʲ ʃʲ xʲ k kʲ

Shared sounds 10

r uː m b j iː ʒ ɡ ʃ x

Only in Lak 59

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

What this means for learners

Lithuanian and Lak share 10 sounds — roughly 14% of Lak's inventory overlaps with Lithuanian. 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 Lithuanian 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, Lithuanian has 50 sounds not used in Lak. Native Lak speakers learning Lithuanian 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

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