/ˈaɪ.pə/

Tashlhiyt Berber vs Lahu

Sound inventory comparison

63
Only in Tashlhiyt Berber
11
Shared
35
Only in Lahu

Only in Tashlhiyt Berber 63

l̪ l̪ː l̪ˤ l̪ˤː n̪ n̪ː n̪ˤ z̪ z̪ː z̪ˤ z̪ˤː d̪ d̪ː d̪ˤ d̪ˤː r̪ r̪ː r̪ˤ r̪ˤː w wː mː bː jː ʒ ʒː ʒˤ ʒˤː ʁ ʁʷ ʕ ʁː ʕː ʁʷː ɡʷ ɡː ɡʷː s̪ s̪ː s̪ˤ s̪ˤː t̪ t̪ː t̪ˤ t̪ˤː h hː ʜ ʜː ʔ fː ʃː ʃˤ χ χʷ χː χʷː qː qʷ qʷː kː kʷ kʷː

Shared sounds 11

u m b j i a ɡ f ʃ q k

Only in Lahu 35

l n d o ɔ ɔu̯ v ii̯ d̠ʒ e ɨ ə ɛ ue ai̯ au̯ u̯a u̯e u̯i u̯ɛ əi̯ əu̯ ɨi̯ ɨɛ ɣ ŋ t tʰ p pʰ t̠ʃ t̠ʃʰ qʰ x kʰ

What this means for learners

Tashlhiyt Berber and Lahu share 11 sounds — roughly 15% of Lahu'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 35 sounds found only in Lahu 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 63 sounds not used in Lahu. Native Lahu 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 Garo