ɢː vs q

Voiced Uvular Stop vs Voiceless Uvular Stop

How these sounds differ

ɢː

Voiced Uvular Stop

Voicing: voiced
Place: uvular
Manner: stop
Class: consonant
In languages: 1 / 500

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Voiceless Uvular Stop

Voicing: voiceless
Place: uvular
Manner: stop
Class: consonant
In languages: 58 / 500

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Cross-linguistic distribution

Languages with ɢː

Languages with both

Languages with q

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 ɢː, not q (1)

Somali Afro-Asiatic

Has q, not ɢː (20)

Awiya Afro-Asiatic Aymara Aymaran Quechua Quechuan Hopi Uto-Aztecan Digueno Cochimi-Yuman Pomo Pomoan Totonac Totonacan Nootka Wakashan Salish Salishan Squamish Salishan Haida Haida Hupa Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit Inuit Eskimo-Aleut Aleut Eskimo-Aleut Ket Yeniseian Kabardian Abkhaz-Adyge Burushaski Language isolate Lahu Sino-Tibetan Atayal Austronesian Iraqw Afro-Asiatic