Standard Malay vs Balinese

Sound inventory comparison

Only in Standard Malay

Shared

Only in Balinese

Only in Standard Malay 6

z v ʔ f ʃ x

Shared sounds 24

l n d r w o u m b j i d̠ʒ ɲ a e ə ŋ ɡ s t p h t̠ʃ k

Only in Balinese 0

No unique sounds

What this means for learners

Standard Malay and Balinese share 24 sounds — roughly 80% of Balinese's inventory overlaps with Standard Malay. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

Conversely, Standard Malay has 6 sounds not used in Balinese. Native Balinese speakers learning Standard Malay 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 Malay vs Dafla Standard Malay vs Yao Standard Malay vs Hakka Chinese Standard Malay vs SEDANG Standard Malay vs Kharia Standard Malay vs Bhumij Standard Malay vs Kota Standard Malay vs Burushaski Standard Malay vs Kabardian Standard Malay vs Lak Standard Malay vs Ket Standard Malay vs Lahu