SEDANG vs Hakka Chinese

Sound inventory comparison

Only in SEDANG

Shared

Only in Hakka Chinese

Only in SEDANG 44

l̪̥|l̥ n̪̥|n̥ r̪̥|r̥ m̥ j̥ ɲ̥ ŋ̥ l̪|l l̪̰|l̰ n̪|n n̪̰|n̰ n̪d̪|nd d̪̰|d̰ r̪|r r̪̰|r̰ w o ɔ o̰ ṵ ɔ̰ w̰ m̰ mb b̰ ḭ j̰ n̠d̠ʒ ɲ̰ a e ɛ a̰ ḛ ɛ̰ ŋ̰ ŋɡ s̪|s t̪ʰ|tʰ t̪|t ʍ ʔ t̠ʃ ʃ

Shared sounds 11

u m j i ɲ ŋ p pʰ h k kʰ

Only in Hakka Chinese 36

˥˩ ˦ ˧ ˧˩ ˨ l n n̩ ɔ̽ m̩ ʋ ɹ̩ e̞ ə e̞u iu ä äi äu̽ iäu̽ iɔ̽ i̞ä i̞e̞ u̽i ɔ̽i tsʰ ts s t tʰ f ç c cʰ kʷʰ kʷ

What this means for learners

SEDANG and Hakka Chinese share 11 sounds — roughly 20% of Hakka Chinese's inventory overlaps with SEDANG. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 36 sounds found only in Hakka Chinese represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for SEDANG 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, SEDANG has 44 sounds not used in Hakka Chinese. Native Hakka Chinese speakers learning SEDANG 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

SEDANG vs Garo SEDANG vs Lahu SEDANG vs Dafla SEDANG vs Yao SEDANG vs Kharia SEDANG vs Bhumij SEDANG vs Kota SEDANG vs Burushaski SEDANG vs Kabardian SEDANG vs Lak SEDANG vs Ket SEDANG vs Karen