/ˈaɪ.pə/

Tashlhiyt Berber

Family: Afro-Asiatic · Africa · ISO shi · Glottolog · 3,900,000 speakers
71
Consonants
3
Vowels

The phoneme inventory below shows every sound that functions as a meaningful unit in Tashlhiyt Berber — a Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Africa . With 74 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 ~ wː ~ j ~ jː ~

fricative

hː ~ ʜː ~ ʜ ~ h ~ fː ~ f ~ χ ~ ʁʷː ~ χʷː ~ χʷ ~ ʕː ~ ʁ ~ ʁʷ ~ ʕ ~ ʁː ~ χː ~

lateral fricative

l̪ˤ * l̪ˤː * l̪ː ~ l̪ ~

nasal

n̪ ~ n̪ː ~ n̪ˤ * mː ~ m ~

sibilant fricative

z̪ˤ ~ s̪ ~ s̪ː ~ z̪ ~ z̪ː ~ s̪ˤ ~ s̪ˤː ~ z̪ˤː ~ ʒˤː ~ ʃ ~ ʃː ~ ʒ ~ ʃˤ * ʒˤ ~ ʒː ~

stop

t̪ˤ ~ d̪ˤː ~ d̪ː ~ t̪ː ~ d̪ ~ t̪ˤː ~ d̪ˤ ~ t̪ ~ b ~ bː ~ ʔ * q ~ qʷ ~ qː ~ qʷː ~ kː ~ ɡ ~ kʷː ~ k ~ ɡʷ ~ ɡː ~ kʷ ~ ɡʷː ~

trill

r̪ˤ ~ r̪ː ~ r̪ˤː ~ r̪ ~

Vowels

u ~ i ~ a ~

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

How large is this inventory?

Smaller (11) Average (36) Larger (141)
74
phonemes

Tashlhiyt Berber has 74 phonemes, placing it in the 98th percentile of languages by inventory size — a notably large inventory.

Compared to English

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

In Tashlhiyt Berber, not in English (64)

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

wː jː hː ʜː ʜ fː χ ʁʷː χʷː χʷ ʕː ʁ ʁʷ ʕ ʁː χː l̪ˤ l̪ˤː l̪ː l̪ n̪ n̪ː n̪ˤ mː z̪ˤ s̪ s̪ː z̪ z̪ː s̪ˤ s̪ˤː z̪ˤː ʒˤː ʃː ʃˤ ʒˤ ʒː t̪ˤ d̪ˤː d̪ː t̪ː d̪ t̪ˤː d̪ˤ t̪ bː ʔ q qʷ qː qʷː kː kʷː k ɡʷ ɡː kʷ ɡʷː r̪ˤ r̪ː r̪ˤː r̪ u a

In English, not in Tashlhiyt Berber (35)

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

l n pʰ s t̠ʃ ŋ e iː oː d ʊ z v ts 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 Tashlhiyt Berber →

Most phonologically similar languages

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

Egyptian Arabic 24%
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Amharic 23%
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Tigrinya 23%
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Compare Tashlhiyt Berber 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