/ˈaɪ.pə/

Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Wu

Sound inventory comparison

28
Only in Standard Chinese; Mandarin
21
Shared
20
Only in Wu

Only in Standard Chinese; Mandarin 28

˦˨ ˧˦ ˧˨˧ uo ou ɹ ɤ ə ie ai au uə ia ua iu ei iau uai iou uei ye ɕ tɕ tɕʰ t̠ʃ t̠ʃ̺ʰ ʃ̺ x

Shared sounds 21

˦ l n w u y m j i a ŋ tsʰ ts s t tʰ p pʰ f k kʰ

Only in Wu 20

˥ ˥˧˥ z̞̩ z o̞ õ̞ m̩ ɦ v ĩ ɻ ə̟ ŋ̩ æ̃ d̤̥ tz̤̥ b̤̥ h ʔ ɡ̤̥

What this means for learners

Standard Chinese; Mandarin and Wu share 21 sounds — roughly 43% of Wu'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 20 sounds found only in Wu 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 28 sounds not used in Wu. Native Wu 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 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 Kabardian Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Ket Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Lak Standard Chinese; Mandarin vs Lahu