/ˈaɪ.pə/

YUPIK vs Lak

Sound inventory comparison

26
Only in YUPIK
10
Shared
59
Only in Lak

Only in YUPIK 26

l̪̥|l̥ n̪̥|n̥ m̥ ɹ̪̥|ɹ̥ ŋ̥ ŋ̥ʷ l̪|l n̪|n z̪|z v ɹ̪|ɹ ʁ ʁʷ ə ɣ ɣʷ ŋ ŋʷ s̪|s t̪|t p f q qʷ k kʷ

Shared sounds 10

u m j i a h χ χʷ x xʷ

Only in Lak 59

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

What this means for learners

YUPIK and Lak share 10 sounds — roughly 14% of Lak's inventory overlaps with YUPIK. Shared sounds are ones a speaker already knows from their native language and will generally produce and perceive accurately without explicit training.

The 59 sounds found only in Lak represent the greatest pronunciation challenge for YUPIK 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, YUPIK has 26 sounds not used in Lak. Native Lak speakers learning YUPIK 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

YUPIK vs Lahu YUPIK vs Dafla YUPIK vs Yao YUPIK vs Hakka Chinese YUPIK vs SEDANG YUPIK vs Kharia YUPIK vs Bhumij YUPIK vs Kota YUPIK vs Burushaski YUPIK vs Kabardian YUPIK vs Ket YUPIK vs Garo