Western Desert — Pronunciation for English Speakers
This guide is based on a phoneme-by-phoneme comparison of Western Desert and English. Western Desert and English share 9 sounds — about 39% of Western Desert's inventory. The remaining sounds are where English speakers will need to focus their practice.
Sounds to learn from scratch (14)
These phonemes exist in Western Desert 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 (9)
These phonemes exist in both Western Desert and English. You already produce and perceive them — though they may appear in different positions or syllable structures.
English sounds not used in Western Desert (36)
These English phonemes don't exist in Western Desert. Native Western Desert speakers learning English will face the reverse challenge with these sounds.