/ˈaɪ.pə/

Tashlhiyt Berber vs Amharic

Sound inventory comparison

47
Only in Tashlhiyt Berber
27
Shared
41
Only in Amharic

Only in Tashlhiyt Berber 47

l̪ l̪ː l̪ˤ l̪ˤː n̪ n̪ː n̪ˤ z̪ z̪ː z̪ˤ z̪ˤː d̪ d̪ː d̪ˤ d̪ˤː r̪ r̪ː r̪ˤ r̪ˤː ʒˤ ʒˤː ʁ ʁʷ ʕ ʁː ʕː ʁʷː s̪ s̪ː s̪ˤ s̪ˤː t̪ t̪ː t̪ˤ t̪ˤː ʜ ʜː ʔ ʃˤ χ χʷ χː χʷː q qː qʷ qʷː

Shared sounds 27

w u wː m mː b bː j i jː ʒ ʒː a ɡ ɡʷ ɡː ɡʷː h hː f fː ʃ ʃː k kː kʷ kʷː

Only in Amharic 41

l lː n nː z zː d dː r rː o mʷ mʷː bʷ bʷː d̠ʒ d̠ʒː ɲ e ɨ ə ŋ ŋː s sː t tʼ tː tʼː fʷː fʷ p pʼ pʼː pʷʼ t̠ʃ t̠ʃʼ t̠ʃː t̠ʃʼː kʷʼ kʷʼː

What this means for learners

Tashlhiyt Berber and Amharic share 27 sounds — roughly 36% of Amharic's inventory overlaps with Tashlhiyt Berber. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 41 sounds found only in Amharic represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Tashlhiyt Berber 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, Tashlhiyt Berber has 47 sounds not used in Amharic. Native Amharic speakers learning Tashlhiyt Berber 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

Tashlhiyt Berber vs Dafla Tashlhiyt Berber vs Yao Tashlhiyt Berber vs Hakka Chinese Tashlhiyt Berber vs SEDANG Tashlhiyt Berber vs Kharia Tashlhiyt Berber vs Bhumij Tashlhiyt Berber vs Kota Tashlhiyt Berber vs Burushaski Tashlhiyt Berber vs Kabardian Tashlhiyt Berber vs Lak Tashlhiyt Berber vs Ket Tashlhiyt Berber vs Lahu