Tongan; Tonga — Pronunciation for English Speakers
This guide is based on a phoneme-by-phoneme comparison of Tongan; Tonga and English. Tongan; Tonga and English share 8 sounds — about 47% of Tongan; Tonga's inventory. The remaining sounds are where English speakers will need to focus their practice.
Sounds to learn from scratch (9)
These phonemes exist in Tongan; Tonga but not in English. English speakers will need to learn to produce and perceive them as new categories — not just a variation of an existing English sound.
Familiar sounds (8)
These phonemes exist in both Tongan; Tonga and English. You already produce and perceive them — though they may appear in different positions or syllable structures.
English sounds not used in Tongan; Tonga (37)
These English phonemes don't exist in Tongan; Tonga. Native Tongan; Tonga speakers learning English will face the reverse challenge with these sounds.