/ˈaɪ.pə/

Tongan; Tonga

Family: Austronesian · Papunesia · ISO ton · Glottolog · 100,000 speakers
12
Consonants
5
Vowels

The phoneme inventory below shows every sound that functions as a meaningful unit in Tongan; Tonga — a Austronesian language spoken in Papunesia . With 17 phonemes, it has a relatively small 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

fricative

h ~ f ~ v ~

nasal

n̪ ~ m ~ ŋ ~

sibilant fricative

s ~

stop

t̪ ~ p ~ ʔ ~ k ~

tap

ɺ ~

Vowels

u ~ o ~ i ~ e ~ a ~

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

How large is this inventory?

Smaller (11) Average (36) Larger (141)
17
phonemes

Tongan; Tonga has 17 phonemes, placing it in the 1th percentile of languages by inventory size — a notably small inventory.

Compared to English

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

In Tongan; Tonga, not in English (9)

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

n̪ t̪ p ʔ k ɺ u o a

In English, not in Tongan; Tonga (37)

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

j l n pʰ t̠ʃ w iː oː b d ʊ z ɡ ʃ ʒ 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 Tongan; Tonga →

Most phonologically similar languages

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

Hiligaynon 50%
Compare →
Kapampangan 44%
Compare →
Standard Malay 42%
Compare →
Bikol (Bicolano) 41%
Compare →
BODO 41%
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Compare Tongan; Tonga 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