pʼ vs b

Voiceless Bilabial Stop vs Voiced Bilabial Stop

How these sounds differ

pʼ

Voiceless Bilabial Stop

Voicing: voiceless
Place: bilabial
Manner: stop
Class: consonant
In languages: 44 / 500

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Voiced Bilabial Stop

Voicing: voiced
Place: bilabial
Manner: stop
Class: consonant
In languages: 339 / 500

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Cross-linguistic distribution

Languages with pʼ

Languages with both

339

Languages with b

25 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 pʼ, not b (19)

Maidu Maiduan BELLA COOLA Salishan Jivaro Chicham SOUTHERN NAMBIQUARA Nambiquaran Squamish Salishan Quechua Quechuan Nez Perce Sahaptian Aymara Aymaran UPPER CHEHALIS Salishan Nootka Wakashan ITELMEN Chukotko-Kamchatkan Zuni Language isolate SHASTA Shastan Kawesqar Kawesqar Dakota Siouan Zulu Atlantic-Congo Xhosa Atlantic-Congo Armenian Indo-European Georgian Kartvelian

Has b, not pʼ (20)

Kunimaipa Kunimaipan Telefol Nuclear Trans New Guinea Adzera Austronesian Iai Austronesian Chamorro Austronesian Sa'ban Austronesian Toba-Batak Austronesian Malagasy Austronesian Cham Austronesian Yay Tai-Kadai Garo Sino-Tibetan Lahu Sino-Tibetan Dafla Sino-Tibetan Yao Hmong-Mien Kharia Austroasiatic Bhumij Austroasiatic Kota Dravidian Burushaski Language isolate Ket Yeniseian Nasioi South Bougainville