/ˈaɪ.pə/

Songhai

Family: Songhay · Africa · ISO ses · Glottolog
33
Consonants
15
Vowels

The phoneme inventory below shows every sound that functions as a meaningful unit in Songhai — a Songhay language spoken in Africa . With 48 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

approximant

w ~ jː ~ j ~

fricative

h ~ f ~

lateral fricative

lː ~ l ~

nasal

n ~ nː ~ mː ~ m ~ ɲ ~ ŋ ~

sibilant fricative

s ~ z ~ ʒ ~ ʃ ~

stop

dʲ ~ tː ~ dː ~ t ~ d ~ tʲ ~ pː ~ p ~ bː ~ b ~ ɡ ~ ɡː ~ k ~ kː ~

trill

rː ~ r ~

Vowels

o ~ uː ~ u ~ oː ~ i ~ iː ~ e̞ː ~ e ~ aː ~ ɛ ~ a ~ ũ ~ õ ~ ã ~ ẽ ~

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

How large is this inventory?

Smaller (11) Average (36) Larger (141)
48
phonemes

Songhai has 48 phonemes, placing it in the 81th percentile of languages by inventory size — a notably large inventory.

Compared to English

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

In Songhai, not in English (28)

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

jː lː nː mː ɲ dʲ tː dː t tʲ pː p bː ɡː k kː rː r o uː u e̞ː aː a ũ õ ã ẽ

In English, not in Songhai (25)

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

pʰ t̠ʃ ʊ v ts 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 Songhai →

Most phonologically similar languages

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

Hungarian 51%
Compare →
Chamorro 50%
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Finnish 50%
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Kimeru 50%
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Moore 49%
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Compare Songhai 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