!XU vs Yao

Sound inventory comparison

120

Only in !XU

Shared

Only in Yao

Only in !XU 120

ŋ̥ǀ͓ˀ ŋ̥ǀ͓ʰ ŋ̥ǂʰ ŋ̥ǂˀ ŋ̥ǂ͓ˡʰ ŋ̥ǂ͓ˡˀ ŋ̥ǃ ŋ̥ǃˀ ŋ̥ǃˠˀ dzˠ dz̤ z dˠ ɾ uː o̞ o̞ː o̞ˤ o̞ˤː ũː õ̞ ũ mː m̰ m̤ õ̞ˤ ɔ̃ˤː ŋǀ͓ ŋǂ ŋǂ͓ˡ ŋǃ ŋ̤ǀ͓ ŋ̤ǂ ŋ̤ǂ͓ˡ ŋ̤ǃ ɡǀ͓ ɡǂ ɡǂ͓ˡ ɡǃ ɡ̤ǀ͓ ɡ̤ǂ ɡ̤ǂ͓ˡ ɡ̤ǃ ɦ iː ĩ d̠ʒ̤ d̠ʒˠ ʒ e̞ː e̞ aˤ ao̞ e̞i o̞i e̞u ia ae̞ ui ae̞ˤ ao̞ˤ aˤː o̞a o̞aˤ o̞e̞ o̞iˤ ãː ã õ̞ĩ ũĩ ŋˤ ãẽ̞ˤ ãõ̞ˤ ãˤ ãˤː ẽ̞ĩ ẽ̞ũ õ̞ã õ̞ãˤ õ̞ĩˤ ɡ̤ tsʼ dzʼ tsˠ tʼ dʼ tˠ bʼ kǃ kǂ kǀ͓ kǀ͓ʰ kǀ͓x kǂx kǂʰ kǂ͓ˡ kǂ͓ˡx kǂ͓ˡʰ kǃx kǃʰ t̠ʃ t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃʼ d̠ʒʼ t̠ʃˠ ʃ ŋ̥ǀ͓xˀ ŋ̥ǂxˀ ŋ̥ǂ͓ˡxˀ ɡǀ͓x ɡǂ͓ˡx ɡ̰ǀ͓x ɡ̰ǂ͓ˡx x kʼ ɡǂx ɡǃx ɡʼ ɡ̰ǂx ɡ̰ǃx

Shared sounds 21

n d w u m b j i a aː ŋ ɡ tsʰ ts s t tʰ p pʰ k kʰ

Only in Yao 28

l̥ n̥ m̥ j̥ ɲ̥ ˥˦ ˦ ˧˨ˤ ˧˩ ˨˧ ˩̰ ŋ̥ dz l n̩ o ɔ m̩ ɲ ɟ e æ ʍ h ʔ f c cʰ

What this means for learners

!XU and Yao share 21 sounds — roughly 15% of Yao's inventory overlaps with !XU. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 28 sounds found only in Yao represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for !XU 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, !XU has 120 sounds not used in Yao. Native Yao speakers learning !XU 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

!XU vs Lahu !XU vs Dafla !XU vs Hakka Chinese !XU vs SEDANG !XU vs Kharia !XU vs Bhumij !XU vs Kota !XU vs Burushaski !XU vs Kabardian !XU vs Lak !XU vs Ket !XU vs Garo