/ˈaɪ.pə/

Zuni

Family: Language isolate · North America · ISO zun · Glottolog
44
Consonants
10
Vowels

The phoneme inventory below shows every sound that functions as a meaningful unit in Zuni — a Language isolate language spoken in North America . With 54 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

tsʼ ~ tsʼː ~ tsʰː ~ tsʰ ~ t̠ʃʼ ~ t̠ʃʼː ~ t̠ʃʰː ~ t̠ʃʰ ~

approximant

w ~ wː ~ jː ~ j ~

fricative

h ~ xh ~

lateral fricative

l ~ ɬː ~ ɬ ~ lː ~

nasal

n ~ nː ~ mː ~ m ~

sibilant fricative

sː ~ s ~ ʃː ~ ʃ ~

stop

tː ~ tʼ ~ t ~ tʼː ~ pʼ ~ pː ~ pʼː ~ p ~ ʔ ~ ʔː ~ kʼ ~ kʷʰ ~ kʷʼ ~ kʰ ~ kʰː ~ kʷʼː ~ kʷʰː ~ kʼː ~

Vowels

ɔ ~ u ~ ɔː ~ uː ~ i ~ iː ~ ɛː ~ ɛ ~ aː ~ a ~

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

How large is this inventory?

Smaller (11) Average (36) Larger (141)
54
phonemes

Zuni has 54 phonemes, placing it in the 87th percentile of languages by inventory size — a notably large inventory.

Compared to English

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

In Zuni, not in English (43)

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

tsʼ tsʼː tsʰː tsʰ t̠ʃʼ t̠ʃʼː t̠ʃʰː t̠ʃʰ wː jː xh ɬː ɬ lː nː mː sː ʃː tː tʼ t tʼː pʼ pː pʼː p ʔ ʔː kʼ kʷʰ kʷʼ kʰ kʰː kʷʼː kʷʰː kʼː ɔ u ɔː uː ɛː aː a

In English, not in Zuni (34)

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

pʰ t̠ʃ ŋ e oː b d ʊ z ɡ ʒ f 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 Zuni →

Most phonologically similar languages

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

Tigre 35%
Compare →
Nootka 33%
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Chasta Costa 32%
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Navaho 32%
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Amharic 31%
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Compare Zuni 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