χ vs ʁ

Voiceless Uvular Fricative vs Voiced Uvular Fricative

How these sounds differ

Voiceless Uvular Fricative

Voicing: voiceless
Place: uvular
Manner: fricative
Class: consonant
In languages: 45 / 500

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Voiced Uvular Fricative

Voicing: voiced
Place: uvular
Manner: fricative
Class: consonant
In languages: 27 / 500

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Cross-linguistic distribution

Languages with χ

Languages with both

Languages with ʁ

19 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 χ, not ʁ (20)

SHUSWAP Salishan ITELMEN Chukotko-Kamchatkan JACALTEC Mayan NAXI Sino-Tibetan QUILEUTE Chimakuan Lak Nakh-Daghestanian Haida Haida Squamish Salishan Salish Salishan Nootka Wakashan Kwakiutl Wakashan Nez Perce Sahaptian Pomo Pomoan Tewa Kiowa-Tanoan Persian Indo-European ACHUMAWI Palaihnihan Andamanese Great Andamanese BELLA COOLA Salishan UPPER CHEHALIS Salishan DAJU Dajuic

Has ʁ, not χ (8)

Inuit Eskimo-Aleut Abipon Guaicuruan Tundra Yukaghir Yukaghir Portuguese (European) Indo-European Uyghur Turkic Modern Hebrew Afro-Asiatic Bukharan Tajik Indo-European Bashkir Turkic