/ˈaɪ.pə/

!XU

Family: Kxa · Africa · ISO ktz · Glottolog
95
Consonants
46
Vowels

The phoneme inventory below shows every sound that functions as a meaningful unit in !XU — a Kxa language spoken in Africa . With 141 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

tsʰ ~ ts ~ dz̤ ~ dzʼ ~ tsʼ ~ dzˠ ~ tsˠ ~ t̠ʃʼ ~ t̠ʃˠ ~ d̠ʒˠ ~ d̠ʒʼ ~ t̠ʃ ~ t̠ʃʰ ~ d̠ʒ̤ ~ ŋ̥ǀ͓xˀ ~ ɡǀ͓x ~ ɡǂ͓ˡx ~ ŋ̥ǂxˀ ~ ɡ̰ǂ͓ˡx ~ ŋ̥ǂ͓ˡxˀ ~ ɡ̰ǀ͓x ~

approximant

w ~ j ~

click

ŋ̥ǂ͓ˡʰ ~ ŋ̥ǃ ~ ɡ̤ǃ ~ ɡ̤ǂ͓ˡ * ɡ̤ǂ ~ ɡ̤ǀ͓ ~ kǃ ~ kǂ ~ ɡǃ ~ kǀ͓ ~ ŋǀ͓ ~ ɡǂ͓ˡ ~ kǀ͓ʰ ~ ŋ̥ǀ͓ˀ ~ ɡǂ ~ ɡǀ͓ ~ ŋ̥ǃˠˀ ~ ŋ̥ǃˀ ~ kǀ͓x ~ kǂx ~ kǂʰ ~ kǂ͓ˡ ~ kǂ͓ˡx ~ kǂ͓ˡʰ ~ kǃx ~ kǃʰ ~ ŋǂ ~ ŋǂ͓ˡ ~ ŋǃ ~ ŋ̤ǀ͓ ~ ŋ̤ǂ ~ ŋ̤ǂ͓ˡ ~ ŋ̤ǃ ~ ŋ̥ǀ͓ʰ ~ ŋ̥ǂʰ ~ ŋ̥ǂˀ ~ ŋ̥ǂ͓ˡˀ ~

fricative

ɦ ~ x ~

nasal

n ~ mː ~ m ~ m̤ ~ m̰ ~ ŋˤ ~ ŋ ~

sibilant fricative

z ~ s ~ ʃ ~ ʒ ~

stop

tʰ ~ tˠ ~ tʼ ~ d ~ dʼ ~ dˠ ~ t ~ p ~ pʰ ~ b ~ bʼ ~ kʰ ~ ɡ̤ ~ ɡʼ ~ ɡ ~ kʼ ~ k ~ ɡǃx ~ ɡǂx ~ ɡ̰ǃx ~ ɡ̰ǂx ~

tap

ɾ ~

Vowels

o̞ˤː ~ o̞ˤ ~ u ~ o̞ ~ uː ~ o̞ː ~ iː ~ i ~ ae̞ˤ ~ ao̞ˤ ~ aˤː ~ o̞a ~ ia ~ e̞u ~ o̞i ~ e̞i ~ ao̞ ~ aˤ ~ a ~ ui ~ o̞iˤ ~ o̞e̞ ~ ae̞ ~ o̞aˤ ~ e̞ ~ e̞ː ~ aː ~ ɔ̃ˤː ~ ũ ~ õ̞ ~ ũː ~ õ̞ˤ ~ ĩ ~ ãˤː ~ ẽ̞ĩ ~ ẽ̞ũ ~ ãẽ̞ˤ ~ ãː ~ ã ~ õ̞ĩ ~ õ̞ã ~ õ̞ãˤ ~ õ̞ĩˤ ~ ũĩ ~ ãˤ ~ ãõ̞ˤ ~

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

How large is this inventory?

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

!XU has 141 phonemes, placing it in the 100th percentile of languages by inventory size — a notably large inventory.

Compared to English

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

In !XU, not in English (124)

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

tsʰ dz̤ dzʼ tsʼ dzˠ tsˠ t̠ʃʼ t̠ʃˠ d̠ʒˠ d̠ʒʼ t̠ʃʰ d̠ʒ̤ ŋ̥ǀ͓xˀ ɡǀ͓x ɡǂ͓ˡx ŋ̥ǂxˀ ɡ̰ǂ͓ˡx ŋ̥ǂ͓ˡxˀ ɡ̰ǀ͓x ŋ̥ǂ͓ˡʰ ŋ̥ǃ ɡ̤ǃ ɡ̤ǂ͓ˡ ɡ̤ǂ ɡ̤ǀ͓ kǃ kǂ ɡǃ kǀ͓ ŋǀ͓ ɡǂ͓ˡ kǀ͓ʰ ŋ̥ǀ͓ˀ ɡǂ ɡǀ͓ ŋ̥ǃˠˀ ŋ̥ǃˀ kǀ͓x kǂx kǂʰ kǂ͓ˡ kǂ͓ˡx kǂ͓ˡʰ kǃx kǃʰ ŋǂ ŋǂ͓ˡ ŋǃ ŋ̤ǀ͓ ŋ̤ǂ ŋ̤ǂ͓ˡ ŋ̤ǃ ŋ̥ǀ͓ʰ ŋ̥ǂʰ ŋ̥ǂˀ ŋ̥ǂ͓ˡˀ ɦ x mː m̤ m̰ ŋˤ tʰ tˠ tʼ dʼ dˠ t p bʼ kʰ ɡ̤ ɡʼ kʼ k ɡǃx ɡǂx ɡ̰ǃx ɡ̰ǂx ɾ o̞ˤː o̞ˤ u o̞ uː o̞ː ae̞ˤ ao̞ˤ aˤː o̞a ia e̞u o̞i e̞i ao̞ aˤ a ui o̞iˤ o̞e̞ ae̞ o̞aˤ e̞ e̞ː aː ɔ̃ˤː ũ õ̞ ũː õ̞ˤ ĩ ãˤː ẽ̞ĩ ẽ̞ũ ãẽ̞ˤ ãː ã õ̞ĩ õ̞ã õ̞ãˤ õ̞ĩˤ ũĩ ãˤ ãõ̞ˤ

In English, not in !XU (28)

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

h l e oː ʊ 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 !XU →

Most phonologically similar languages

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

Chasta Costa 19%
Compare →
Chipewyan 17%
Compare →
Kurukh 17%
Compare →
Armenian 16%
Compare →
Navaho 16%
Compare →

Compare !XU 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