/ˈaɪ.pə/

Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Lak

Sound inventory comparison

35
Only in Standard Chinese; Mandarin
14
Shared
55
Only in Lak

Only in Standard Chinese; Mandarin 35

˦ ˦˨ ˧˦ ˧˨˧ y uo ou ɹ ɤ ə ie ai au uə ia ua iu ei iau uai iou uei ye ŋ ts ɕ t tɕ tɕʰ p f t̠ʃ t̠ʃ̺ʰ ʃ̺ k

Shared sounds 14

l n w u m j i a tsʰ s tʰ pʰ x kʰ

Only in Lak 55

z d r uː ø̞ˤ b iː ʒ ɢ ɢʷ aː e̞ˤ æˤ ɡ tsʷʰ tsʷʼ tsʼ t͈s t͈sʷ s͈ tʼ t͈ pʼ p͈ h ʔ t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃʷʰ t̠ʃʷʼ t̠ʃʼ t̠͈ʃ t̠͈ʃʷ ʃ ʃʷ ʃ͈ ʃ͈ʷ ħ χ χʷ χ͈ χ͈ʷ qʰ qʷʰ qʷʼ qʼ q͈ q͈ʷ xʷ x͈ x͈ʷ kʷʰ kʷʼ kʼ k͈ k͈ʷ

What this means for learners

Standard Chinese; Mandarin and Lak share 14 sounds — roughly 20% of Lak's inventory overlaps with Standard Chinese; Mandarin. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 55 sounds found only in Lak represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Standard Chinese; Mandarin 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, Standard Chinese; Mandarin has 35 sounds not used in Lak. Native Lak speakers learning Standard Chinese; Mandarin 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

Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Lahu Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Dafla Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Yao Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Hakka Chinese Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs SEDANG Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Kharia Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Bhumij Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Kota Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Burushaski Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Ket Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Kabardian Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Garo