/ˈaɪ.pə/

Tashlhiyt Berber vs Lak

Sound inventory comparison

60
Only in Tashlhiyt Berber
14
Shared
55
Only in Lak

Only in Tashlhiyt Berber 60

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

Shared sounds 14

w u m b j i ʒ a ɡ h ʔ ʃ χ χʷ

Only in Lak 55

l n z d r uː ø̞ˤ iː ɢ ɢʷ aː e̞ˤ æˤ tsʰ tsʷʰ tsʷʼ tsʼ t͈s t͈sʷ s s͈ tʰ tʼ t͈ pʰ pʼ p͈ t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃʷʰ t̠ʃʷʼ t̠ʃʼ t̠͈ʃ t̠͈ʃʷ ʃʷ ʃ͈ ʃ͈ʷ ħ χ͈ χ͈ʷ qʰ qʷʰ qʷʼ qʼ q͈ q͈ʷ x xʷ x͈ x͈ʷ kʰ kʷʰ kʷʼ kʼ k͈ k͈ʷ

What this means for learners

Tashlhiyt Berber and Lak share 14 sounds — roughly 19% of Lak'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 55 sounds found only in Lak 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 60 sounds not used in Lak. Native Lak 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 Lahu 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 Ket Tashlhiyt Berber vs Garo