/ˈaɪ.pə/

pʲʰ vs b

Voiceless Bilabial Stop vs Voiced Bilabial Stop

How these sounds differ

pʲʰ
Voiceless Bilabial Stop
Voicing
voiceless
Place
bilabial
Manner
stop
Class
consonant
In languages
6 / 500
Full details →
b
Voiced Bilabial Stop
Voicing
voiced
Place
bilabial
Manner
stop
Class
consonant
In languages
339 / 500
Full details →

Cross-linguistic distribution

6
Languages with pʲʰ
3
Languages with both
339
Languages with b

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 pʲʰ, not b (3)

IRISH Indo-European LAI Sino-Tibetan Daur Mongolic-Khitan

Has b, not pʲʰ (20)

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 Kabardian Abkhaz-Adyge Lak Nakh-Daghestanian Ket Yeniseian Telefol Nuclear Trans New Guinea