Yakut vs Lak

Sound inventory comparison

Only in Yakut

Shared

Only in Lak

Only in Yakut 31

lː nː y ɔ ɔː œ œː yː mː v j̃ d̠ʒ d̠ʒː ɲ ɲː ɯ ɯː ɛ ɛː ŋ ŋː sː t tː p pː f t̠ʃ t̠ʃː k kː

Shared sounds 18

l n z d r u uː m b j i iː ʒ a aː ɡ s ʃ

Only in Lak 51

w ø̞ˤ ɢ ɢʷ e̞ˤ æˤ tsʰ tsʷʰ tsʷʼ tsʼ t͈s t͈sʷ s͈ tʰ tʼ t͈ pʰ pʼ p͈ h ʔ t̠ʃʰ t̠ʃʷʰ t̠ʃʷʼ t̠ʃʼ t̠͈ʃ t̠͈ʃʷ ʃʷ ʃ͈ ʃ͈ʷ ħ χ χʷ χ͈ χ͈ʷ qʰ qʷʰ qʷʼ qʼ q͈ q͈ʷ x xʷ x͈ x͈ʷ kʰ kʷʰ kʷʼ kʼ k͈ k͈ʷ

What this means for learners

Yakut and Lak share 18 sounds — roughly 26% of Lak'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 51 sounds found only in Lak 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 31 sounds not used in Lak. Native Lak 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 Hakka Chinese Yakut vs SEDANG Yakut vs Kharia Yakut vs Bhumij Yakut vs Kota Yakut vs Burushaski Yakut vs Kabardian Yakut vs Ket Yakut vs Garo