/ˈaɪ.pə/

Burushaski

Family: Language isolate · Eurasia · ISO bsk · Glottolog
38
Consonants
21
Vowels

The phoneme inventory below shows every sound that functions as a meaningful unit in Burushaski — a Language isolate language spoken in Eurasia . With 59 phonemes, it has a relatively large inventory compared to the world's languages. Sounds marked with a dashed border (*) are marginal: they appear only in loanwords or highly specialized contexts and are not part of the core phonological system.

Consonants

affricate

ts ~ tsʰ ~ ʈʂ ~ ʈʂʰ ~ ɖʐ ~

approximant

w ~ j ~

fricative

h ~ f ~ x ~

lateral fricative

l ~

nasal

n ~ m ~ ŋ ~

sibilant fricative

z ~ s ~ ɕ ~ ʂ ~ ʐʲ ~

stop

tʰ ~ tɕ ~ t ~ d ~ tɕʰ ~ dʑ ~ p ~ b ~ pʰ ~ ʈ ~ ɖ ~ ʈʰ ~ qʰ ~ ɢ ~ q ~ k ~ ɡ ~ kʰ ~

trill

r ~

Vowels

oː ~ u ~ uː ~ o ~ i ~ iː ~ ʌ ~ äː ~ æ ~ ɛː ~ ɛ ~ ũ ~ õ ~ õː ~ ũː ~ ĩː ~ ĩ ~ ʌ̃ ~ ã̈ː ~ ɛ̃ː ~ ɛ̃ ~

* Marginal phoneme — occurs only in loanwords or rare contexts.

How large is this inventory?

Smaller (11) Average (36) Larger (141)
59
phonemes

Burushaski has 59 phonemes, placing it in the 92th percentile of languages by inventory size — a notably large inventory.

Compared to English

For English speakers learning Burushaski, these are the sounds that will require the most focused practice.

In Burushaski, not in English (40)

These sounds don't exist in English — English speakers will need to learn them from scratch.

tsʰ ʈʂ ʈʂʰ ɖʐ x ɕ ʂ ʐʲ tʰ tɕ t tɕʰ dʑ p ʈ ɖ ʈʰ qʰ ɢ q k kʰ r u uː o ʌ äː æ ɛː ũ õ õː ũː ĩː ĩ ʌ̃ ã̈ː ɛ̃ː ɛ̃

In English, not in Burushaski (26)

English speakers learning Burushaski won't use these sounds — they'll need to suppress them.

t̠ʃ e ʊ ʃ ʒ v d̠ʒ ɒ ɐ ð θ ɘ ɹ kx ɐː ʉː iə eə oe æe ɑe ɵː æo ɐʉ ɒɯ ʉə
Full phoneme comparison: English vs Burushaski →

Most phonologically similar languages

Ranked by Jaccard similarity — the proportion of phonemes shared relative to the combined inventory of both languages.

Dzongkha 48%
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Moore 38%
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Fɔn 35%
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Akan 34%
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Dioula 34%
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Compare Burushaski with another language

See which sounds are shared and which are unique.

vs Yao vs Hakka Chinese vs SEDANG vs Kharia vs Bhumij vs Kota vs Kabardian vs Lak vs Ket vs Dafla