nd vs t

Voiced Alveolar Stop vs Voiceless Alveolar Stop

How these sounds differ

Voiced Alveolar Stop

Voicing: voiced
Place: alveolar
Manner: stop
Class: consonant
In languages: 36 / 500

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Voiceless Alveolar Stop

Voicing: voiceless
Place: alveolar
Manner: stop
Class: consonant
In languages: 308 / 500

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Cross-linguistic distribution

Languages with nd

Languages with both

308

Languages with t

35 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 nd, not t (1)

Selepet Nuclear Trans New Guinea

Has t, not nd (20)

Nyangumata Pama-Nyungan Western Desert Pama-Nyungan Iai Austronesian Chamorro Austronesian Sa'ban Austronesian Toba-Batak Austronesian Atayal Austronesian Lakkia Tai-Kadai Cham Austronesian Yay Tai-Kadai Karen Sino-Tibetan Lahu Sino-Tibetan Dafla Sino-Tibetan Yao Hmong-Mien Hakka Chinese Sino-Tibetan Kota Dravidian Burushaski Language isolate Kabardian Abkhaz-Adyge Ket Yeniseian Kunjen Pama-Nyungan