bː vs p

Voiced Bilabial Stop vs Voiceless Bilabial Stop

How these sounds differ

bː

Voiced Bilabial Stop

Voicing: voiced
Place: bilabial
Manner: stop
Class: consonant
In languages: 23 / 500

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Voiceless Bilabial Stop

Voicing: voiceless
Place: bilabial
Manner: stop
Class: consonant
In languages: 424 / 500

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Cross-linguistic distribution

Languages with bː

Languages with both

424

Languages with p

16 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 bː, not p (7)

Chamorro Austronesian Kadugli (Miri) Kadugli-Krongo Mahas-Fiyadikka Nubian Nara Language isolate Somali Afro-Asiatic Tashlhiyt Berber Afro-Asiatic Tigre Afro-Asiatic

Has p, not bː (20)

Iai Austronesian Sa'ban Austronesian Toba-Batak Austronesian Malagasy Austronesian Atayal Austronesian Cham Austronesian Yay Tai-Kadai Lakkia Tai-Kadai Dafla Sino-Tibetan Yao Hmong-Mien Karen Sino-Tibetan Hakka Chinese Sino-Tibetan Lahu Sino-Tibetan SEDANG Austroasiatic Kharia Austroasiatic Bhumij Austroasiatic Kota Dravidian Burushaski Language isolate Kabardian Abkhaz-Adyge Kaliai Austronesian