/ˈaɪ.pə/

Dan

Family: Mande · Africa · ISO daf · Glottolog
44
Consonants
40
Vowels
8
Tones

The phoneme inventory below shows every sound that functions as a meaningful unit in Dan — a Mande language spoken in Africa . With 92 phonemes, it has a relatively large inventory compared to the world's languages. Like many languages in its region, Dan is tonal — the pitch at which a syllable is spoken changes its meaning. 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

approximant

wʲ ~ w ~ j ~

fricative

fʲ ~ vʲ ~ f ~ v ~

lateral fricative

l ~

nasal

nʲ ~ n ~ nʷ ~ mʲ ~ m ~ ɲ ~ ŋ ~

sibilant fricative

z ~ s ~ sʲ ~ sʷ ~ zʲ ~ zʷ ~

stop

t ~ ɗ ~ tʲ ~ ɗʲ ~ d ~ dʲ ~ kpʲ ~ ɓʲ ~ bʲ ~ b ~ ɡb ~ kp ~ p ~ ɓ ~ ɡbʲ ~ pʲ ~ ᶑ ~ kʲ ~ k ~ ɡ ~ ɡʷ ~ kʷ ~ ɡʲ ~

Vowels

uː ~ ɔː ~ ɵ ~ ɒː ~ ɵː ~ ɒ ~ u ~ ɔ ~ o ~ oː ~ iː ~ i ~ e ~ ə ~ əː ~ ɛ ~ ɛː ~ ɨː ~ ɨ ~ æː ~ æ ~ eː ~ aː ~ a ~ ɒ̃ ~ ũ ~ ɒ̃ː ~ ũː ~ ɔ̃ː ~ ɔ̃ ~ ĩ ~ ĩː ~ ɛ̃ ~ æ̃ː ~ ɛ̃ː ~ æ̃ ~ ã ~ ãː ~ ə̃ ~ ə̃ː ~

Tones

˦ ˧˨ ˨ ˥ ˧˥˨ ˩ ˥˨˧ ˧

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

How large is this inventory?

Smaller (11) Average (36) Larger (141)
92
phonemes

Dan has 92 phonemes, placing it in the 99th percentile of languages by inventory size — a notably large inventory.

Compared to English

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

In Dan, not in English (64)

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

wʲ fʲ vʲ nʲ nʷ mʲ ɲ sʲ sʷ zʲ zʷ t ɗ tʲ ɗʲ dʲ kpʲ ɓʲ bʲ ɡb kp p ɓ ɡbʲ pʲ ᶑ kʲ k ɡʷ kʷ ɡʲ uː ɔː ɵ ɒː u ɔ o ə əː ɛː ɨː ɨ æː æ eː aː a ɒ̃ ũ ɒ̃ː ũː ɔ̃ː ɔ̃ ĩ ĩː ɛ̃ æ̃ː ɛ̃ː æ̃ ã ãː ə̃ ə̃ː

In English, not in Dan (25)

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

h pʰ t̠ʃ ʊ ʃ ʒ ts d̠ʒ ɐ ð θ ɘ ɹ kx ɐː ʉː iə eə oe æe ɑe æo ɐʉ ɒɯ ʉə
Full phoneme comparison: English vs Dan →

Most phonologically similar languages

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

Bamana 40%
Compare →
Dioula 34%
Compare →
Akan 33%
Compare →
Fɔn 33%
Compare →
Luganda 32%
Compare →

Compare Dan with another language

See which sounds are shared and which are unique.

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