/ˈaɪ.pə/

Xhosa vs SEDANG

Sound inventory comparison

68
Only in Xhosa
16
Shared
39
Only in SEDANG

Only in Xhosa 68

ŋǁʼ ŋǃʼ ˦ ˨ n̤d̤z̤ l ɮ̤ n n̤ z̤ d̤ n̤d̤ n̤d̤ɮ̤ m̤b̤v̤ m̤ b̤ ɓ m̤b̤ ŋǃ ŋ̤ǃ ɡ̤ǃ ŋǀ ŋǁ ŋ̤ǀ ŋ̤ǁ ɡ̤ǀ ɡ̤ǁ ɦ̤ v̤ d̠̤ʒ̤ n̠̤d̠̤ʒ ɲ̤ ɟ̤ ɲ̤ɟ̤ ɣ̤ ɡ̤ ŋ̤ɡ̤ tsʰ tsʼ ntsʼ ɬ s tʰ tʼ ntlʼ ntʼ mpfʼ pʼ mpʼ kǀ kǁ kǃ kǃʰ kǀʰ kǀʼ kǁʰ f t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃʼ n̠t̠ʃʼ cʰ cʼ ɲcʼ kxʰ kxʼ x kʼ ŋkʼ

Shared sounds 16

w o u ɔ m j i ɲ a e ɛ ŋ pʰ h ʃ kʰ

Only in SEDANG 39

l̪̥|l̥ n̪̥|n̥ r̪̥|r̥ m̥ j̥ ɲ̥ ŋ̥ l̪|l l̪̰|l̰ n̪|n n̪̰|n̰ n̪d̪|nd d̪̰|d̰ r̪|r r̪̰|r̰ o̰ ṵ ɔ̰ w̰ m̰ mb b̰ ḭ j̰ n̠d̠ʒ ɲ̰ a̰ ḛ ɛ̰ ŋ̰ ŋɡ s̪|s t̪ʰ|tʰ t̪|t ʍ p ʔ t̠ʃ k

What this means for learners

Xhosa and SEDANG share 16 sounds — roughly 19% of SEDANG's inventory overlaps with Xhosa. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 39 sounds found only in SEDANG represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Xhosa 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, Xhosa has 68 sounds not used in SEDANG. Native SEDANG speakers learning Xhosa 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

Xhosa vs Lahu Xhosa vs Dafla Xhosa vs Yao Xhosa vs Hakka Chinese Xhosa vs Kharia Xhosa vs Bhumij Xhosa vs Kota Xhosa vs Burushaski Xhosa vs Kabardian Xhosa vs Lak Xhosa vs Ket Xhosa vs Garo