/ˈaɪ.pə/

qʼ vs ɢ

Voiceless Uvular Stop vs Voiced Uvular Stop

How these sounds differ

qʼ
Voiceless Uvular Stop
Voicing
voiceless
Place
uvular
Manner
stop
Class
consonant
In languages
25 / 500
Full details →
ɢ
Voiced Uvular Stop
Voicing
voiced
Place
uvular
Manner
stop
Class
consonant
In languages
14 / 500
Full details →

Cross-linguistic distribution

25
Languages with qʼ
6
Languages with both
14
Languages with ɢ

6 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 qʼ, not ɢ (19)

QUILEUTE Chimakuan ITELMEN Chukotko-Kamchatkan K'EKCHI Mayan Kabardian Abkhaz-Adyge Hupa Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit Haida Haida Squamish Salishan Salish Salishan Nootka Wakashan Nez Perce Sahaptian Pomo Pomoan Quechua Quechuan Aymara Aymaran HAMER South Omotic Avar Nakh-Daghestanian BELLA COOLA Salishan UPPER CHEHALIS Salishan Tigrinya Afro-Asiatic Georgian Kartvelian

Has ɢ, not qʼ (8)

Gilyak Nivkh Kunimaipa Kunimaipan Awiya Afro-Asiatic Persian Indo-European Burushaski Language isolate Somali Afro-Asiatic Mongolian Mongolic-Khitan Kyrgyz Turkic