/ˈaɪ.pə/

Moroccan Arabic vs Lak

Sound inventory comparison

63
Only in Moroccan Arabic
15
Shared
54
Only in Lak

Only in Moroccan Arabic 63

l̪ lˤ lˤː l̪ː nː zˤ zˤː z̪ z̪ː d̪ d̪ː dˤ dˤː ɾ ɾˤ rː rˤː wː mː mʷː mˤ mˤː bː bʷː bˤ bˤː v jː ʒː ʁ ʁʷ ʕ ʁː ʕː æ ə̆ ɡʷ ɡː s̪ s̪ː sˤ sˤː t̪ t̪ː tˤ tˤː fʷː p hː ʔː f fː ʃː χː ħː ħʷ q qː qʷ k kː kʷ kʷː

Shared sounds 15

n w u m b j i ʒ ɡ h ʔ ʃ ħ χ χʷ

Only in Lak 54

l z d r uː ø̞ˤ iː ɢ ɢʷ a aː e̞ˤ æˤ tsʰ tsʷʰ tsʷʼ tsʼ t͈s t͈sʷ s s͈ tʰ tʼ t͈ pʰ pʼ p͈ t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃʷʰ t̠ʃʷʼ t̠ʃʼ t̠͈ʃ t̠͈ʃʷ ʃʷ ʃ͈ ʃ͈ʷ χ͈ χ͈ʷ qʰ qʷʰ qʷʼ qʼ q͈ q͈ʷ x xʷ x͈ x͈ʷ kʰ kʷʰ kʷʼ kʼ k͈ k͈ʷ

What this means for learners

Moroccan Arabic and Lak share 15 sounds — roughly 19% of Lak's inventory overlaps with Moroccan Arabic. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 54 sounds found only in Lak represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Moroccan Arabic 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, Moroccan Arabic has 63 sounds not used in Lak. Native Lak speakers learning Moroccan Arabic 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

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