zˤː vs s

Voiced Alveolar Sibilant Fricative vs Voiceless Alveolar Sibilant Fricative

How these sounds differ

zˤː

Voiced Alveolar Sibilant Fricative

Voicing: voiced
Place: alveolar
Manner: sibilant fricative
Class: consonant
In languages: 2 / 500

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Voiceless Alveolar Sibilant Fricative

Voicing: voiceless
Place: alveolar
Manner: sibilant fricative
Class: consonant
In languages: 345 / 500

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Cross-linguistic distribution

Languages with zˤː

Languages with both

345

Languages with s

1 languages in our database contrast both sounds as distinct phonemes. Languages that have one but not the other tend to merge them into a single phoneme — meaning speakers of those languages often struggle to hear the distinction when learning a language that contrasts them.

Has zˤː, not s (1)

Moroccan Arabic Afro-Asiatic

Has s, not zˤː (20)

Kaliai Austronesian Iai Austronesian Chamorro Austronesian Sa'ban Austronesian Toba-Batak Austronesian Malagasy Austronesian Atayal Austronesian Yay Tai-Kadai Karen Sino-Tibetan Yao Hmong-Mien Dafla Sino-Tibetan Hakka Chinese Sino-Tibetan Kharia Austroasiatic Bhumij Austroasiatic Kota Dravidian Kabardian Abkhaz-Adyge Lak Nakh-Daghestanian Ket Yeniseian Burushaski Language isolate Adzera Austronesian