/ˈaɪ.pə/

Páez

Family: Language isolate · South America · ISO pbb · Glottolog
33
Consonants
16
Vowels

The phoneme inventory below shows every sound that functions as a meaningful unit in Páez — a Language isolate language spoken in South America . With 49 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

ndzʲ ~ ts ~ tsʲ ~ ndz ~ tsʰ ~ tsʲʰ ~

approximant

w ~ j ~

fricative

βʲ ~ ɸʲ ~ x ~ xʲ ~

lateral fricative

l ~ lʲ ~

nasal

n ~ m ~ ɲ ~

sibilant fricative

sʲ ~ s ~

stop

tʰ ~ nd ~ ndʲ ~ t ~ tʲʰ ~ pʲ ~ p ~ pʰ ~ mb ~ mbʲ ~ kʰ ~ k ~ kʲ ~ ŋɡ ~

Vowels

u ~ ṵ ~ uʱ ~ i ~ ḭ ~ iʱ ~ a̰ ~ e ~ a ~ aʱ ~ eʱ ~ ḛ ~ ũ ~ ĩ ~ ã ~ ẽ ~

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

How large is this inventory?

Smaller (11) Average (36) Larger (141)
49
phonemes

Páez has 49 phonemes, placing it in the 82th percentile of languages by inventory size — a notably large inventory.

Compared to English

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

In Páez, not in English (39)

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

ndzʲ tsʲ ndz tsʰ tsʲʰ βʲ ɸʲ x xʲ lʲ ɲ sʲ tʰ nd ndʲ t tʲʰ pʲ p mb mbʲ kʰ k kʲ ŋɡ u ṵ uʱ ḭ iʱ a̰ a aʱ eʱ ḛ ũ ĩ ã ẽ

In English, not in Páez (35)

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

h t̠ʃ ŋ iː oː b d ʊ z ɡ ʃ ʒ f v d̠ʒ ɛ ɒ ɐ ð θ ɘ ɹ kx ɐː ʉː iə eə oe æe ɑe ɵː æo ɐʉ ɒɯ ʉə
Full phoneme comparison: English vs Páez →

Most phonologically similar languages

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

Selepet 27%
Compare →
Tiv 27%
Compare →
Dioula 26%
Compare →
Fɔn 26%
Compare →
Karen 26%
Compare →

Compare Páez 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