Yakut vs Hakka Chinese

Sound inventory comparison

Only in Yakut

Shared

Only in Hakka Chinese

Only in Yakut 36

lː nː z d r uː y ɔ ɔː œ œː yː mː b v iː j̃ d̠ʒ d̠ʒː ɲː ʒ a aː ɯ ɯː ɛ ɛː ŋː ɡ sː tː pː t̠ʃ t̠ʃː ʃ kː

Shared sounds 13

l n u m j i ɲ ŋ s t p f k

Only in Hakka Chinese 34

˥˩ ˦ ˧ ˧˩ ˨ n̩ ɔ̽ m̩ ʋ ɹ̩ e̞ ə e̞u iu ä äi äu̽ iäu̽ iɔ̽ i̞ä i̞e̞ u̽i ɔ̽i tsʰ ts tʰ pʰ h ç c cʰ kʰ kʷʰ kʷ

What this means for learners

Yakut and Hakka Chinese share 13 sounds — roughly 27% of Hakka Chinese's inventory overlaps with Yakut. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 34 sounds found only in Hakka Chinese represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for Yakut 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, Yakut has 36 sounds not used in Hakka Chinese. Native Hakka Chinese speakers learning Yakut 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

Yakut vs Lahu Yakut vs Dafla Yakut vs Yao Yakut vs SEDANG Yakut vs Kharia Yakut vs Bhumij Yakut vs Kota Yakut vs Burushaski Yakut vs Kabardian Yakut vs Lak Yakut vs Ket Yakut vs Garo