m vs ɸ̃

Voiced Bilabial Nasal vs Voiceless Bilabial Nasal

How these sounds differ

Voiced Bilabial Nasal

Voicing: voiced
Place: bilabial
Manner: nasal
Class: consonant
In languages: 482 / 500

Full details →

ɸ̃

Voiceless Bilabial Nasal

Voicing: voiceless
Place: bilabial
Manner: nasal
Class: consonant
In languages: 0 / 500

Full details →

Cross-linguistic distribution

482

Languages with m

Languages with both

Languages with ɸ̃

0 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 m, not ɸ̃ (20)

Malagasy Austronesian Atayal Austronesian Cham Austronesian Yay Tai-Kadai Lakkia Tai-Kadai Karen Sino-Tibetan Garo Sino-Tibetan Lahu Sino-Tibetan Dafla Sino-Tibetan Yao Hmong-Mien Hakka Chinese Sino-Tibetan Kharia Austroasiatic SEDANG Austroasiatic Bhumij Austroasiatic Kota Dravidian Burushaski Language isolate Lak Nakh-Daghestanian Ket Yeniseian Kabardian Abkhaz-Adyge Toba-Batak Austronesian