/ˈaɪ.pə/

ɕ vs z

Voiceless Alveolar Sibilant Fricative vs Voiced Alveolar Sibilant Fricative

How these sounds differ

ɕ
Voiceless Alveolar Sibilant Fricative
Voicing
voiceless
Place
alveolar
Manner
sibilant fricative
Class
consonant
In languages
16 / 500
Full details →
z
Voiced Alveolar Sibilant Fricative
Voicing
voiced
Place
alveolar
Manner
sibilant fricative
Class
consonant
In languages
133 / 500
Full details →

Cross-linguistic distribution

16
Languages with ɕ
3
Languages with both
133
Languages with z

3 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 ɕ, not z (13)

Komi-Zyrian Uralic Taz Selkup Uralic NAXI Sino-Tibetan GELAO Tai-Kadai LAI Sino-Tibetan Darkhat Mongolic-Khitan Standard Chinese; Mandarin Sino-Tibetan Polish Indo-European Swedish Indo-European Akan Atlantic-Congo Danish Indo-European Tatar Turkic Shigatse Tibetan Sino-Tibetan

Has z, not ɕ (20)

Gbeya Atlantic-Congo Luvale Atlantic-Congo Ga Atlantic-Congo Dagbani Atlantic-Congo Kpelle Mande Kadugli (Miri) Kadugli-Krongo Maltese Afro-Asiatic Awiya Afro-Asiatic Margi Afro-Asiatic Otomi Otomanguean Angas Afro-Asiatic Dakota Siouan Mazahua Otomanguean Navaho Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit Chipewyan Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit Kunimaipa Kunimaipan Malagasy Austronesian Karen Sino-Tibetan Lak Nakh-Daghestanian Songhai Songhay