Phoneme guide: latin group¶
Every phoneme token of mbfa-latin (208 tokens: 204 phonemes, 3 special tokens and the model's internal blank). The web interface shows the same text when you hover a phoneme.
How to read the tables:
- Sounds like is an approximation. The example words are the real thing: they are the most frequent words containing the token in the FLEURS test sentences (dev split) of 36 languages (Afrikaans, Azerbaijani, Bosnian, Catalan, Czech, Welsh, Danish, German, English, Spanish, Estonian, Finnish, French, Irish, Galician, Hungarian, Indonesian, Icelandic, Italian, Luxembourgish, Lithuanian, Māori, Malay, Maltese, Norwegian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish, Swahili, Tagalog, Turkish, Uzbek), written in the G2P's own tokens, which is exactly what the aligner sees.
- Used most in gives the languages that use the token most, as a share of all the phonemes of that language.
- Also used for: IPA the G2P wrote that has no token of its own in this model, so it was mapped to this one.
- Rare tokens never appear in those sentences: they come from untrained languages (Basque, Albanian, Latin …) or are very rare.
Accent marks on vowels (á, à, â, ǎ …) are pitch accents from the dictionaries of Slovenian and Lithuanian. They are separate tokens, but their boundaries are placed like those of the plain vowel.
Where boundaries go¶
Suggested conventions. Agree on them before annotating, so that every annotator places boundaries the same way.
- Stops (p t k b d g …). A stop starts where the closure starts: energy drops to a near-silent gap, and the formants of the vowel before it end. It ends after its burst (and after its aspiration, for ʰ tokens), where the next sound begins.
- Vowels. Start at the first regular glottal pulse with clear formants; end where the formants fade or the next consonant's closure or noise begins.
- Fricatives (s ʃ f x …). The span of the noise: start and end where the high-frequency noise starts and stops.
- Nasals (m n ŋ …). A steady, low murmur with weak upper formants. The edges are usually sudden changes in energy.
- Glides, laterals, r (j w l ɹ …). Edges are smooth formant transitions: put the boundary at the middle of the transition.
- Diphthongs (a͡ɪ …). One token for both parts: from the start of the first vowel to the end of the second. Do not split it.
- Pauses. Leave a short pause between words as a gap, or insert SIL where the speaker clearly stops.
Diacritics¶
Marks added to a base symbol change it as follows.
| mark | name | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ◌̃ | nasalised | air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) |
| ◌̯ | non-syllabic | the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own |
| ◌̩ | syllabic | forms a syllable with no vowel, as the n of “button” |
| ◌̥ | voiceless | said without vocal-fold vibration, as if whispered |
| ◌̪ | dental | the tongue tip touches the upper teeth |
| ◌̠ | retracted | made a little further back in the mouth |
| ◌̝ | raised | a little closer (tongue higher) than the plain symbol |
| ◌̞ | lowered | a little more open; a lowered fricative is a smooth approximant with no friction |
| ◌̺ | apical | made with the very tip of the tongue |
| ◌̻ | laminal | made with the blade of the tongue, just behind the tip |
| ◌̆ | extra-short | a very short version of the vowel |
| ◌́ | accent ´ (high) | the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here |
| ◌̀ | accent ` (low) | the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here |
| ◌̂ | accent ˆ (falling) | the G2P's dictionary marks a falling pitch accent |
| ◌̌ | accent ˇ (rising) | the G2P's dictionary marks a rising pitch accent |
| ʲ | palatalised | said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) |
| ʰ | aspirated | followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) |
| ʷ | labialised | said with rounded lips |
| ʼ | ejective | a pop made by the throat, with no breath from the lungs |
| ʱ | breathy-voiced | voiced, then released with a breathy, murmured puff (Hindi “bh”, “gh”) |
| ˤ | pharyngealised (emphatic) | said with the tongue root pulled back: a darker, “heavy” sound (Arabic ط, ص) |
| ◌̚ | unreleased | a final stop with no audible burst: the closure is held and the sound ends silently |
| ◌̈ | centralised | said closer to the centre of the mouth than the plain vowel |
Special tokens¶
| token | meaning |
|---|---|
SIL |
silence. A pause: no speech. Use it for a pause the speaker makes inside a segment. |
noise |
noise. A non-speech sound: a breath, cough, laugh or click. |
<unk> |
unknown. The G2P wrote a sound this model has no token for. Keep its time span; the label cannot say what it is. |
Vowels¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | open front unrounded vowel | a as in Spanish “casa” | English by /b a ɪ/; Swahili ya /j a/; Malay yang /j a ŋ/ | Swahili 23%, Malay 20%, Māori 20%, Indonesian 20% |
| i | close front unrounded vowel | ee as in “see” | English be /b i/; Swahili katika /k a t i k a/; Finnish ei /e i/ | Swahili 13%, Finnish 11%, Māori 10%, Slovak 10% |
| e | close-mid front unrounded vowel. Also used for eˀ. | e as in Spanish or Italian “de”; the start of English “say” | English a /e ɪ/; Romanian de /d e/; Māori te /t e/ | Romanian 12%, Māori 11%, Maltese 11%, Slovak 10% |
| o | close-mid back rounded vowel | o as in Spanish or Italian “no” | English most /m o ʊ s t/; Slovak ako /a k o/; Bosnian od /o d/ | Slovak 9.4%, Bosnian 9.1%, Spanish 9%, Czech 8.1% |
| u | close back rounded vowel. Also used for i͡u. | oo as in “food” | English to /t u/; Maltese u /u/; Swahili kuwa /k u w a/ | Maltese 6.8%, Swahili 6.7%, Portuguese 5.9%, Māori 5.6% |
| ɪ | near-close front unrounded vowel. Also used for ɜ͡ɪ. | i as in “sit” | English in /ɪ n/; Maltese li /l ɪ/; Lithuanian ir /ɪ r/ | English 10%, Maltese 10%, Lithuanian 7.9%, Icelandic 7.1% |
| ə | mid central vowel (schwa) | the weak vowel of “about”, “sofa” | English of /ə f/; Afrikaans is /ə s/; Irish agus /ə ɡ ə s/ | Afrikaans 16%, Irish 14%, Catalan 12%, Dutch 12% |
| ɛ | open-mid front unrounded vowel | e as in “bed” | English the /ð ɛ/; Spanish de /d ɛ/; Hungarian nem /n ɛ m/ | Spanish 14%, Hungarian 11%, Czech 11%, Polish 9.5% |
| ɑ | open back unrounded vowel. Also used for ɑˀ, ɑ͡ɪ. | a as in “father” | English on /ɑ n/; Finnish ja /j ɑ/; Norwegian av /ɑ ʋ/ | Finnish 12%, Norwegian 6.3%, Uzbek 5.5%, Luxembourgish 5% |
| ɔ | open-mid back rounded vowel. Also used for ɔˀ. | o as in British “thought” | English for /f ɔ ɹ/; Polish do /d ɔ/; Slovenian lahko /l à x k ɔ/ | Polish 9%, Slovenian 6.6%, Māori 6.5%, Welsh 5% |
| ʊ | near-close back rounded vowel. Also used for ə͡ʊ. | oo as in “book” | English most /m o ʊ s t/; Lithuanian buvo /b ʊ ʋ o/; Uzbek uchun /ʊ t͡ʃ ʊ n/ | Lithuanian 4%, Uzbek 3.3%, Bosnian 2.4%, Afrikaans 1.9% |
| ɯ | close back unrounded vowel | oo said with spread lips (Turkish “ı”) | Turkish farklı /f a r k ɫ ɯ/; Azerbaijani yarışını /j a ɾ ɯ ʃ ɯ n ɯ/; Norwegian km² /k ɛ m t s ɯ/ | Turkish 4.7%, Azerbaijani 3.6% |
| ɐ | near-open central vowel. Also used for ɐ̯ˀ. | a short, relaxed “uh” (Portuguese “cama”, German “-er” endings) | Tagalog sa /s ɐ/; Lithuanian yra /i r ɐ/; Portuguese para /p a ɾ ɐ/ | Tagalog 19%, Lithuanian 9%, Portuguese 4.7%, Danish 4.7% |
| æ | near-open front unrounded vowel. Also used for æˀ. | a as in “cat” | English and /æ n d/; Uzbek va /ʋ æ/; Azerbaijani və /v æ/ | Uzbek 17%, Azerbaijani 10%, Bosnian 5.9%, Finnish 4.1% |
| y | close front rounded vowel | ee said with rounded lips (French “tu”, German “über”) | Uzbek qilish /q y ɫ y ʃ/; French du /d y/; Azerbaijani üçün /y t͡ʃ y n/ | Uzbek 13%, French 2.5%, Azerbaijani 1.8%, Finnish 1.7% |
| ɨ | close central unrounded vowel. Also used for ɨ̯, ɨ̞. | between ee and oo, lips spread (Polish “y”, Welsh “u”) | Welsh mae /m a ɨ/; Polish tylko /t ɨ l k ɔ/; Romanian în /ɨ n/ | Welsh 7.3%, Polish 4.5%, Romanian 1.5%, Swedish 0.02% |
| ɵ | close-mid central rounded vowel | a rounded vowel between e and o (Swedish short u) | Estonian või /v ɵ i/; Swedish grund /ɡ r u ɵ n d/ | Estonian 1.3%, Swedish 0.79% |
| ʏ | near-close front rounded vowel | i as in “sit” said with rounded lips (German “hübsch”) | Icelandic eru /ɛ r ʏ/; Dutch hun /ɦ ʏ n/; Norwegian byttet /b ʏ t ə t/ | Icelandic 4.3%, Dutch 0.64%, Norwegian 0.44%, German 0.35% |
| ø | close-mid front rounded vowel. Also used for øˀ. | e said with rounded lips (German “schön”, French “peu”) | Hungarian különböző /k y l ø m b ø z ø/; Turkish büyük /b y j ø k/; Danish før /f ø ɐ/ | Hungarian 2.3%, Turkish 0.93%, Danish 0.85%, Swedish 0.76% |
| œ | open-mid front rounded vowel. Also used for ɶ. | e as in “bed” said with rounded lips (French “neuf”, German “können”) | Icelandic vörur /v œ r ʏ r/; Afrikaans hulle /h œ l ə/; Azerbaijani görə /ɟ œ ɾ æ/ | Icelandic 0.81%, Afrikaans 0.8%, Azerbaijani 0.75%, Turkish 0.65% |
| ʉ | close central rounded vowel | a rounded vowel between ee and oo (Norwegian and Swedish “du”) | Norwegian du /d ʉ/; Swedish du /d ʉ/ | Norwegian 1.8%, Swedish 0.74% |
| ɑ̃ | open back unrounded vowel, nasalised | a as in “father”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | French en /ɑ̃/; Swedish blandade /b l ɑ̃ d a d/; Afrikaans dans /d ɑ̃ n s/ | French 3.6%, Swedish 0.06%, Afrikaans 0.05%, Luxembourgish 0.03% |
| ɒ | open back rounded vowel. Also used for ɒˀ. | a rounded “ah” (British “lot”, Hungarian “a”) | Hungarian a /ɒ/; Danish for /f ɒ/; Swedish commonwealth /k ɒ m ə n w ɛ l θ/ | Hungarian 9.9%, Danish 1.1%, Swedish 0.01% |
| ɔ̃ | open-mid back rounded vowel, nasalised | o as in British “thought”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | French ont /ɔ̃/; Polish są /s ɔ̃/; Swedish information /ɛ̃ f ɔ ʁ m a s j ɔ̃/ | French 2%, Polish 0.81%, Swedish 0.08% |
| õ | close-mid back rounded vowel, nasalised | o as in Spanish or Italian “no”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | Portuguese com /k õ/; Afrikaans ons /õ n s/; German saison /s a z õ u/ | Portuguese 0.87%, Afrikaans 0.04% |
| ă | open front unrounded vowel, extra-short | a as in Spanish “casa”; extra-short: a very short version of the vowel | Romanian sau /s ă w/ | Romanian 0.12% |
| ɤ | close-mid back unrounded vowel | o said with spread lips (Estonian “õ”) | Irish curaí /k ɤ ɾ i/ | Irish 0.03% (rare: 9×) |
| ʌ | open-mid back unrounded vowel | u as in “cup” | Danish som /s ʌ m/; Irish don /d ʌ n/ | Danish 1.9%, Irish 0.12% |
| ɝ | r-coloured mid central vowel | the vowel of American “bird”, “first” | English first /f ɝ s t/ | English 2.2% |
| o̞ | close-mid back rounded vowel, lowered | o as in Spanish or Italian “no”; lowered: a little more open; a lowered fricative is a smooth approximant with no friction | rare | |
| ẽ | close-mid front unrounded vowel, nasalised | e as in Spanish or Italian “de”; the start of English “say”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | Portuguese em /ẽ j̃/; Afrikaans mense /m ẽ n s ə/; Swedish influerade /ẽ i f l y ə ʁ a d/ | Portuguese 2.2%, Afrikaans 0.11%, Swedish 0.02% |
| ɛ̃ | open-mid front unrounded vowel, nasalised | e as in “bed”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | French bien /b j ɛ̃/; Polish często /t͡ʂ ɛ̃ s t ɔ/; Swedish mindre /m ɛ̃ d ʁ/ | French 1.1%, Polish 0.17%, Swedish 0.04%, Luxembourgish 0.02% |
| o̝ | close-mid back rounded vowel, raised | o as in Spanish or Italian “no”; raised: a little closer (tongue higher) than the plain symbol | Galician do /d o̝/ | Galician 3.9% |
| ɛ̝ | open-mid front unrounded vowel, raised | e as in “bed”; raised: a little closer (tongue higher) than the plain symbol | Danish omkring /ʌ m k ʁ ɛ̝ ŋ/ | Danish 0.05% (rare: 17×) |
| ǎ | open front unrounded vowel, accent ˇ (rising). Also used for ä̌. | a as in Spanish “casa”; accent ˇ (rising): the G2P's dictionary marks a rising pitch accent | Lithuanian tam /t̪ ǎ m/ | Lithuanian 0.08% |
| æ̃ | near-open front unrounded vowel, nasalised | a as in “cat”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | rare | |
| ã | open front unrounded vowel, nasalised | a as in Spanish “casa”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | rare | |
| î | close front unrounded vowel, accent ˆ (falling) | ee as in “see”; accent ˆ (falling): the G2P's dictionary marks a falling pitch accent | Lithuanian rašyti /ɾ ɐ ʃʲ î tʲ ɪ/ | (rare: 3×) |
| á | open front unrounded vowel, accent ´ (high) | a as in Spanish “casa”; accent ´ (high): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here | Slovenian na /n á/ | Slovenian 3.4% |
| é | close-mid front unrounded vowel, accent ´ (high) | e as in Spanish or Italian “de”; the start of English “say”; accent ´ (high): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here | Slovenian je /j é/ | Slovenian 2.4% |
| ó | close-mid back rounded vowel, accent ´ (high) | o as in Spanish or Italian “no”; accent ´ (high): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here | Slovenian so /s ó/ | Slovenian 2.3% |
| ĭ | close front unrounded vowel, extra-short | ee as in “see”; extra-short: a very short version of the vowel | German population /p o p u l ɑ t s ĭ o n/; Swedish friktionen /f ɾ ɪ k t s ĭ o n ə n/ | German 0.18%, Swedish 0.03% |
| â | open front unrounded vowel, accent ˆ (falling) | a as in Spanish “casa”; accent ˆ (falling): the G2P's dictionary marks a falling pitch accent | Lithuanian jav /j â ʋ/ | Lithuanian 0.03% (rare: 13×) |
| í | close front unrounded vowel, accent ´ (high) | ee as in “see”; accent ´ (high): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here | Slovenian in /í n/ | Slovenian 2.3% |
| ĩ | close front unrounded vowel, nasalised | ee as in “see”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | Portuguese assim /a s ĩ/ | Portuguese 0.79% |
| ɜ | open-mid central unrounded vowel. Also used for ɜ͡ɪ. | like the vowel of British “bird” | Luxembourgish déi /d ɜ ɪ/; Danish buffalo-pittsburgh /b ɔ f a l o pʰ i d s b ɜ/ | Luxembourgish 1.5% |
| ô | close-mid back rounded vowel, accent ˆ (falling) | o as in Spanish or Italian “no”; accent ˆ (falling): the G2P's dictionary marks a falling pitch accent | Lithuanian nors /n̪ ô r s̪/ | Lithuanian 0.12% |
| ɐ̃ | near-open central vowel, nasalised | a short, relaxed “uh” (Portuguese “cama”, German “-er” endings); nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | Portuguese não /n ɐ̃ w̃/ | Portuguese 2.1% |
| ʊ̃ | near-close back rounded vowel, nasalised | oo as in “book”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | rare | |
| à | open front unrounded vowel, accent (low) | a as in Spanish “casa”; accent (low): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here |
Slovenian lahko /l à x k ɔ/ | Slovenian 2% | |
| a̝ | open front unrounded vowel, raised | a as in Spanish “casa”; raised: a little closer (tongue higher) than the plain symbol | Galician para /p a ɾ a̝/ | Galician 3.7% |
| ũ | close back rounded vowel, nasalised | oo as in “food”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | Portuguese um /ũ/ | Portuguese 0.8% |
| ì | close front unrounded vowel, accent (low) | ee as in “see”; accent (low): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here |
Slovenian bila /b ì l a/ | Slovenian 1.8% | |
| è | close-mid front unrounded vowel, accent (low) | e as in Spanish or Italian “de”; the start of English “say”; accent (low): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here |
Slovenian leta /l è t a/ | Slovenian 0.85% | |
| ú | close back rounded vowel, accent ´ (high) | oo as in “food”; accent ´ (high): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here | Slovenian puh /p ú x/ | Slovenian 0.4% |
| ò | close-mid back rounded vowel, accent (low) | o as in Spanish or Italian “no”; accent (low): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here |
Slovenian območij /ɔ b m ò t͡ʃ i j/ | Slovenian 0.18% | |
| ù | close back rounded vowel, accent (low) | oo as in “food”; accent (low): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here |
Slovenian tudi /t ù d i/ | Slovenian 0.24% | |
| e̝ | close-mid front unrounded vowel, raised | e as in Spanish or Italian “de”; the start of English “say”; raised: a little closer (tongue higher) than the plain symbol | Galician entre /ɛ n t ɾ e̝/ | Galician 2.5% |
| ɛ́ | open-mid front unrounded vowel, accent ´ (high) | e as in “bed”; accent ´ (high): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here | Slovenian ne /n ɛ́/ | Slovenian 0.44% |
| ɔ́ | open-mid back rounded vowel, accent ´ (high) | o as in British “thought”; accent ´ (high): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here | Slovenian po /p ɔ́/ | Slovenian 0.26% |
| ɔ̀ | open-mid back rounded vowel, accent (low) | o as in British “thought”; accent (low): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here |
Slovenian skoraj /s k ɔ̀ r a j/ | Slovenian 0.14% | |
| ɛ̀ | open-mid front unrounded vowel, accent (low) | e as in “bed”; accent (low): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here |
Slovenian mestu /m ɛ̀ s t u/ | Slovenian 0.14% | |
| œ̃ | open-mid front rounded vowel, nasalised | e as in “bed” said with rounded lips (French “neuf”, German “können”); nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | French un /œ̃/ | French 0.38% |
| ɘ | close-mid central unrounded vowel | a schwa-like vowel, a little higher than ə | rare |
Diphthongs¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a͡ɪ | diphthong a to ɪ | eye | Māori mai /m a͡ɪ/; Indonesian sebagai /s ə b a ɡ a͡ɪ/; Azerbaijani aid /a͡ɪ d/ | Māori 1.7%, Indonesian 0.48%, Azerbaijani 0.07% |
| o͡ʊ | diphthong o to ʊ | o as in American “go” | Slovak pomocou /p o m o t͡s o͡ʊ/; Bosnian mount /m o͡ʊ n t/ | Slovak 0.18%, Bosnian 0.02% |
| a͡ʊ | diphthong a to ʊ | ow as in “now” | Indonesian atau /a t a͡ʊ/; Māori ao /a͡ʊ/ | Indonesian 0.25%, Māori 0.24% |
| e͡ɪ | diphthong e to ɪ | ay as in “say” | Māori maciej /m a t͡s i e͡ɪ/ | (rare: 3×) |
| o͡ɪ | diphthong o to ɪ | oy as in “boy” | Māori koinei /k o͡ɪ n e i/; Luxembourgish europa /o͡ɪ ʀ o p ɑ/ | Māori 0.08%, Luxembourgish 0.04% |
| e͡ʊ | diphthong e to ʊ | e gliding to oo | rare |
Glides and non-syllabic vowels¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| j | palatal approximant | y as in “yes” | English you /j u/; Lithuanian kai /k ɐ j/; Slovenian je /j é/ | Lithuanian 5%, Slovenian 4.4%, Bosnian 3.8%, Turkish 3.6% |
| w | labial-velar approximant. Also used for wˀ. | w as in “we” | English were /w ɪ ɹ/; Swahili wa /w a/; Portuguese ao /a w/ | Swahili 4.4%, Portuguese 1.9%, Polish 1.6%, English 1.6% |
| ɐ̯ | near-open central vowel, non-syllabic | a short, relaxed “uh” (Portuguese “cama”, German “-er” endings); non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own | German für /f y ɐ̯/; Danish der /d ɛ ɐ̯/; Swedish använder /ʔ a n v ɛ n d ɐ̯/ | German 1.6%, Danish 1.4%, Swedish 0.12% |
| ɔ̯ | open-mid back rounded vowel, non-syllabic | o as in British “thought”; non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own | Swedish introducerade /ẽ i t ʁ ɑ ɔ̯ d͡z ʏ s ə ʁ a d/ | (rare: 2×) |
| ʋ | labiodental approximant | a soft v without friction (Dutch w, Slovenian v) | Slovenian v /ʋ/; Norwegian av /ɑ ʋ/; Dutch was /ʋ ɑ s/ | Slovenian 4.7%, Norwegian 2.4%, Dutch 1.5%, Uzbek 1.5% |
| ɥ | labial-palatal approximant | y said with rounded lips (French “huit”) | French produits /p ʁ ɔ d ɥ i/; Swedish situation /s i t ɥ a s j ɔ̃/ | French 0.41% |
| i̯ | close front unrounded vowel, non-syllabic | ee as in “see”; non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own | Welsh ei /e i̯/; Dutch zijn /z ɛ i̯ n/; German podium /p o d i̯ ʊ m/ | Welsh 1.8%, Dutch 1.4%, German 0.03% |
| u̯ | close back rounded vowel, non-syllabic | oo as in “food”; non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own | Welsh mewn /m ɨ u̯ n/; Czech jsou /j s o u̯/; Dutch nieuwe /n i u̯ ə/ | Welsh 1.4%, Czech 0.69%, Dutch 0.38%, Icelandic 0.03% |
| a̯ | open front unrounded vowel, non-syllabic | a as in Spanish “casa”; non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own | rare | |
| ɪ̯ | near-close front unrounded vowel, non-syllabic | i as in “sit”; non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own | Tagalog ay /ʔ a ɪ̯/; German sein /z a ɪ̯ n/; Lithuanian jie /j ɪ̯/ | Tagalog 1.1%, German 0.43%, Lithuanian 0.12% |
| e̯ | close-mid front unrounded vowel, non-syllabic | e as in Spanish or Italian “de”; the start of English “say”; non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own | rare | |
| y̯ | close front rounded vowel, non-syllabic | ee said with rounded lips (French “tu”, German “über”); non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own | Dutch uit /œ y̯ t/ | Dutch 0.61% |
| ʋʲ | labiodental approximant, palatalised | a soft v without friction (Dutch w, Slovenian v); palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian vyrų /ʋʲ i ɾ u/ | Lithuanian 1% |
| ɰ | velar approximant | a g so weak the tongue never closes | Tagalog pamamagitan /p ɐ m ɐ m ɐ ɰ i t ɐ n/ | Tagalog 0.85% |
| ʍ | voiceless labial-velar approximant | a breathy w (“wh” in some accents) | Swahili wilaya /ʍ i l a j a/ | Swahili 0.04% (rare: 9×) |
| w̃ | labial-velar approximant, nasalised | w as in “we”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | Portuguese não /n ɐ̃ w̃/ | Portuguese 1.2% |
| ʊ̯ | near-close back rounded vowel, non-syllabic | oo as in “book”; non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own | Tagalog tao /t a ʊ̯/; Lithuanian tačiau /t a tʲ ʃʲ ɛ ʊ̯/; German auch /a ʊ̯ x/ | Tagalog 0.2%, Lithuanian 0.14%, German 0.05% |
| o̯ | close-mid back rounded vowel, non-syllabic | o as in Spanish or Italian “no”; non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own | Galician ao /a o̯/ | Galician 0.24% |
| j̃ | palatal approximant, nasalised | y as in “yes”; nasalised: air also flows through the nose (French “an”, Portuguese “não”) | Portuguese em /ẽ j̃/ | Portuguese 1.1% |
| ɑ̯ | open back unrounded vowel, non-syllabic | a as in “father”; non-syllabic: the weak, glide-like half of a diphthong; it is not a syllable on its own | rare |
Stops¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| t | voiceless alveolar stop. Also used for t̪ˠ, tˢ. | t as in “ten” | English to /t u/; Māori te /t e/; Finnish että /e t t æ/ | Māori 10%, Finnish 9.7%, Romanian 8.9%, German 8% |
| k | voiceless velar stop | k as in “key” | English can /k æ n/; Māori ki /k i/; Swahili katika /k a t i k a/ | Māori 7.2%, Swahili 7%, Hungarian 5.9%, Finnish 5.1% |
| d | voiced alveolar stop. Also used for d̥, d̪ˠ. | d as in “dog” | English and /æ n d/; Danish det /d e d/; Welsh bod /b o d/ | Danish 7.6%, Welsh 5.7%, Azerbaijani 5.1%, Malay 5% |
| b | voiced bilabial stop. Also used for b̥, ɓ, bˠ. | b as in “bed” | English by /b a ɪ/; Indonesian bahwa /b a h w a/; Malay boleh /b o l ə h/ | Indonesian 3.2%, Malay 3.2%, Uzbek 2.9%, Danish 2.5% |
| p | voiceless bilabial stop | p as in “pen” | English people /p i p ə ɫ/; French par /p a ʁ/; Slovenian po /p ɔ́/ | French 4%, Slovenian 3.5%, Tagalog 3.2%, Malay 3.2% |
| ɡ | voiced velar stop. Also used for ɡ̥. | g as in “go” | English goods /ɡ ʊ d z/; Danish ikke /e ɡ ə/; Welsh gan /ɡ a n/ | Danish 3.4%, Welsh 3.3%, Irish 2.5%, Tagalog 2.5% |
| ʔ | glottal stop | the catch in the throat in “uh-oh” | Tagalog ng /ʔ ɐ ŋ/; German und /ʔ ʊ n t/; Malay untuk /u n t u ʔ/ | Tagalog 8.7%, German 4.1%, Malay 1.6%, Swedish 0.13% |
| q | voiceless uvular stop | a k made further back, at the uvula (Uzbek “q”) | Uzbek qilish /q y ɫ y ʃ/; Finnish velasquez /v e l ɑ s q u e z/ | Uzbek 2.2% |
| tʲ | voiceless alveolar stop, palatalised | t as in “ten”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian būti /b u tʲ ɪ/; Irish trí /tʲ ɾʲ i/; Slovak keď /k e tʲ/ | Lithuanian 3.4%, Irish 2%, Slovak 1.7%, Romanian 0.02% |
| ʈ | voiceless retroflex stop | t with the tongue tip curled back (Swedish and Norwegian “rt”) | Norwegian fullførte /f ʉ l f œ ʈ ə/; Swedish första /f œ ʂ ʈ a/ | Norwegian 0.65%, Swedish 0.26% |
| tʰ | voiceless alveolar stop, aspirated | t as in “ten”; aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) | Icelandic til /tʰ ɪ l/; Swedish tillbaka /tʰ ɪ l p a k a/ | Icelandic 1.2%, Swedish 0.06% |
| t̪ | voiceless alveolar stop, dental | t as in “ten”; dental: the tongue tip touches the upper teeth | Lithuanian t /t̪/; Galician hábitat /a β i t a̝ t̪/ | Lithuanian 0.18% |
| c | voiceless palatal stop | a k made against the hard palate, close to “ty” (Hungarian “ty”, Czech “ť”) | Azerbaijani kimi /c i m i/; Icelandic ekki /ɛ h c ɪ/; Irish minic /mʲ ɪ nʲ ɪ c/ | Azerbaijani 1.3%, Icelandic 1.2%, Irish 0.98%, Czech 0.79% |
| kʰ | voiceless velar stop, aspirated | k as in “key”; aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) | Danish kan /kʰ a n/; Icelandic nákvæmari /n a u kʰ v a i m a r ɪ/; Swedish kvinnor /kʰ v ɪ n ɔ r/ | Danish 1.5%, Icelandic 0.68%, Swedish 0.07% |
| dʲ | voiced alveolar stop, palatalised | d as in “dog”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Irish de /dʲ ɛ/; Lithuanian todėl /t o dʲ e l/; Slovak bude /b u dʲ e/ | Irish 1.6%, Lithuanian 1.2%, Slovak 0.65% |
| ɖ | voiced retroflex stop | d with the tongue tip curled back (Swedish and Norwegian “rd”) | Swedish världen /v ɛ ɖ e n/; Norwegian hvordan /ʋ ʊ ɖ ɑ n/ | Swedish 0.16%, Norwegian 0.16% |
| pʲ | voiceless bilabial stop, palatalised | p as in “pen”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian per /pʲ ɛ r/; Polish opiera /ɔ pʲ ɛ r a/; Irish timpeall /tʲ i mʲ pʲ ə l/ | Lithuanian 0.97%, Polish 0.34%, Irish 0.27% |
| pʰ | voiceless bilabial stop, aspirated | p as in “pen”; aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) | Danish på /pʰ ɔ/; Icelandic perry /pʰ ɛ r i/ | Danish 1.3%, Icelandic 0.19% |
| kʲ | voiceless velar stop, palatalised. Also used for kʲ̩. | k as in “key”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian kitokių /kʲ ɪ t o kʲ u/; Polish afryki /a f r ɨ kʲ i/; Romanian chiar /kʲ a r/ | Lithuanian 1.6%, Polish 0.66%, Romanian 0.19%, Irish 0.03% |
| d̪ | voiced alveolar stop, dental | d as in “dog”; dental: the tongue tip touches the upper teeth | Lithuanian du /d̪ ʊ/ | Lithuanian 0.09% |
| bʲ | voiced bilabial stop, palatalised | b as in “bed”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian bet /bʲ ɛ t/; Irish bíonn /bʲ i n/; Polish sobie /s ɔ bʲ ɛ/ | Lithuanian 0.61%, Irish 0.44%, Polish 0.18% |
| ɟ | voiced palatal stop. Also used for ʄ. | a g made against the hard palate, close to “dy” (Hungarian “gy”, Czech “ď”) | Hungarian hogy /h o ɟ/; Swahili juu /ɟ u u/; Turkish geri /ɟ e ɾ ɪ/ | Hungarian 1.2%, Swahili 1.1%, Turkish 0.93%, Irish 0.75% |
| ɡʲ | voiced velar stop, palatalised | g as in “go”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian daugelis /d ɐ ʊ ɡʲ ɛ lʲ ɪ s/; Polish technologii /t ɛ x n ɔ l ɔ ɡʲ j i/; Romanian singh /s i n ɡʲ/ | Lithuanian 0.88%, Polish 0.12%, Romanian 0.04% |
| tʼ | voiceless alveolar stop, ejective | t as in “ten”; ejective: a pop made by the throat, with no breath from the lungs | rare | |
| kʼ | voiceless velar stop, ejective | k as in “key”; ejective: a pop made by the throat, with no breath from the lungs | rare | |
| cʰ | voiceless palatal stop, aspirated | a k made against the hard palate, close to “ty” (Hungarian “ty”, Czech “ť”); aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) | Icelandic kynna /cʰ ɪ n a/; Swedish kycklingdun /cʰ ɪ k l i ŋ d ʏ n/ | Icelandic 0.3% (rare: 14×) |
| t̪ʰ | voiceless alveolar stop, dental, aspirated | t as in “ten”; dental: the tongue tip touches the upper teeth; aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) | rare | |
| qʼ | voiceless uvular stop, ejective | a k made further back, at the uvula (Uzbek “q”); ejective: a pop made by the throat, with no breath from the lungs | rare | |
| kʷ | voiceless velar stop, labialised | k as in “key”; labialised: said with rounded lips | rare |
Affricates¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| t͡s | voiceless alveolar affricate | ts as in “cats” | Czech což /t͡s o ʃ/; Luxembourgish ze /t͡s ə/; Slovak cicavce /t͡s i t͡s a w t͡s e/ | Czech 1.6%, Luxembourgish 1.5%, Slovak 1.4%, Polish 1.4% |
| t͡ʃ | voiceless postalveolar affricate | ch as in “church” | Portuguese frequentemente /f ɾ e k w ẽ t͡ʃ i m ẽ t͡ʃ i/; Slovenian čeprav /t͡ʃ ɛ p r á ʋ/; Turkish için /i t͡ʃ ɪ n/ | Portuguese 1.7%, Slovenian 1.3%, Turkish 1.3%, Bosnian 1.1% |
| t͡ɕ | voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate | a soft ch (Polish “ć”, Bosnian “ć”) | Polish być /b ɨ t͡ɕ/; Bosnian će /t͡ɕ ɛ/; Swedish maciej /m a t͡ɕ ɛ j/ | Polish 1.3%, Bosnian 0.47% |
| d͡ʒ | voiced postalveolar affricate | j as in “judge” | Portuguese pode /p ɔ d͡ʒ i/; Turkish önce /œ n d͡ʒ ɛ/; Indonesian menjadi /m ə n d͡ʒ a d i/ | Portuguese 0.93%, Turkish 0.93%, Indonesian 0.87%, Maltese 0.82% |
| d͡ʑ | voiced alveolo-palatal affricate | a soft j (Polish “dź”) | Polish bardziej /b a r d͡ʑ ɛ j/; Slovak medzi /m e d͡ʑ i/; Bosnian između /i z m ɛ d͡ʑ ʊ/ | Polish 0.43%, Slovak 0.17%, Bosnian 0.16% |
| d͡z | voiced alveolar affricate | ds as in “beds” | Polish bardzo /b a r d͡z ɔ/; Italian utilizza /u t i l i d d͡z a/; Catalan utilitzant /u t i l i d͡z a n/ | Polish 0.23%, Italian 0.22%, Catalan 0.04% |
| t͡ʂ | voiceless retroflex affricate | a hard ch (Polish “cz”) | Polish często /t͡ʂ ɛ̃ s t ɔ/ | Polish 0.95% |
| t͡ʃʼ | ejective postalveolar affricate | ch said with a pop from the throat, no breath | rare |
Fricatives¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| s | voiceless alveolar fricative. Also used for sˠ. | s | English is /ɪ s/; Spanish los /l o s/; Catalan els /e l s/ | Spanish 10%, Catalan 9.7%, Portuguese 9.6%, Estonian 9% |
| f | voiceless labiodental fricative. Also used for fˠ. | f | English of /ə f/; Afrikaans van /f ɐ n/; Luxembourgish vun /f u n/ | Afrikaans 3.1%, Luxembourgish 3%, Norwegian 2.4%, Danish 2.3% |
| v | voiced labiodental fricative | v | English have /h e ɪ v/; Slovak v /v e/; Czech ve /v ɛ/ | Slovak 3.9%, Czech 3.9%, Bosnian 3.4%, Polish 3.1% |
| z | voiced alveolar fricative | z | English as /æ z/; Luxembourgish se /z ə/; Hungarian az /ɒ z/ | Luxembourgish 3.4%, English 2.9%, Hungarian 2.4%, German 2.2% |
| ʃ | voiceless postalveolar fricative | sh as in “ship” | English which /h w ɪ t ʃ/; Hungarian és /e ʃ/; Irish is /ɪ ʃ/ | Hungarian 3.8%, Irish 2.4%, Uzbek 2.3%, Romanian 2.1% |
| h | voiceless glottal fricative | h as in “hat” | English which /h w ɪ t ʃ/; Māori he /h e/; Malay telah /t ə l a h/ | Māori 4.6%, Malay 2.4%, Irish 2.3%, Indonesian 2.2% |
| ʁ | voiced uvular fricative. Also used for ʁ̥. | the r of French and German | French sur /s y ʁ/; Portuguese ser /s e ʁ/; Danish fra /f ʁ ɑ/ | French 7.9%, Portuguese 2.7%, Danish 2.6%, Luxembourgish 2.2% |
| x | voiceless velar fricative | ch as in Scottish “loch”, German “Bach” | Afrikaans mag /m ɐ x/; Irish ach /a x/; Tagalog kung /k x ʊ ŋ/ | Afrikaans 2.9%, Irish 2.6%, Tagalog 2.4%, Azerbaijani 1.3% |
| ð | voiced dental fricative. Also used for ðˀ, ð̩. | th as in “this” | English the /ð ɛ/; Icelandic að /a ð/; Danish med /m e ð/ | Icelandic 3.9%, Danish 3%, Welsh 2.8%, English 2.5% |
| β | voiced bilabial fricative | a soft b where the lips do not close (Spanish b between vowels) | Galician nova /n ɔ β a̝/; Swahili bums /β u m s/ | Galician 1.5%, Swahili 0.01% |
| ʒ | voiced postalveolar fricative | s as in “measure” | English just /d ʒ ə s t/; French large /l a ʁ ʒ/; Czech že /ʒ ɛ/ | French 1.1%, Czech 1%, Slovak 0.96%, Malay 0.83% |
| ʂ | voiceless retroflex fricative | a hard sh with the tongue tip back (Polish “sz”) | Polish przez /p ʂ ɛ s/; Norwegian første /f œ ʂ t ə/; Swedish första /f œ ʂ ʈ a/ | Polish 1.7%, Norwegian 1%, Swedish 0.36% |
| ɣ | voiced velar fricative | a g where the tongue does not close (Dutch g, Spanish g between vowels) | Dutch sommige /s ɔ m ə ɣ ə/; Icelandic og /ɔ ɣ/; Galician algúns /a l ɣ u ŋ s/ | Dutch 2%, Icelandic 1.4%, Galician 0.6%, Irish 0.24% |
| ʕ | voiced pharyngeal fricative | a voiced throat sound (Arabic ع) | rare | |
| ħ | voiceless pharyngeal fricative | a strong h squeezed in the throat (Arabic ح) | rare | |
| ɕ | voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative | a soft sh, with the tongue body raised (Polish “ś”) | Polish się /ɕ ɛ/; Luxembourgish sech /z æ ɕ/; Danish officielle /ɔ f i ɕ ɛ l ə/ | Polish 1.3%, Luxembourgish 0.98%, Danish 0.45%, Swahili 0.02% |
| sʲ | voiceless alveolar fricative, palatalised | s; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian valstijose /ʋ a lʲ sʲ tʲ ɪ j o sʲ ɛ/; Romanian puteți /p u t e t sʲ/; Irish sinsir /ʃ ɪ n̠ʲ sʲ ə ɾʲ/ | Lithuanian 2.3%, Romanian 0.2% |
| θ | voiceless dental fricative | th as in “thin” | English with /w ɪ θ/; Galician zonas /θ o n a̝ s/; Icelandic því /θ v i/ | Galician 1.6%, Icelandic 1.2%, Welsh 1.1%, English 0.61% |
| ç | voiceless palatal fricative | the ch of German “ich”; like a strong h before ee | Azerbaijani ilk /i l ç/; German sich /z ɪ ç/; Irish chéad /ç e d/ | Azerbaijani 1.1%, German 1.1%, Irish 0.32%, Norwegian 0.19% |
| ʐ | voiced retroflex fricative | a hard zh (Polish “ż”, “rz”) | Polish że /ʐ ɛ/; Swedish ogarzynska /ɔ ɡ a ʐ ɨ n s k a/ | Polish 1.1% |
| vʲ | voiced labiodental fricative, palatalised | v; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Irish bhí /vʲ i/; Polish większość /vʲ ɛ ŋ k ʂ ɔ ɕ t͡ɕ/; Lithuanian vis /vʲ ɪ s̪/ | Irish 0.96%, Polish 0.87%, Lithuanian 0.16%, Romanian 0.01% |
| ʑ | voiced alveolo-palatal fricative | a soft zh (Polish “ź”) | Polish więźniów /vʲ ɛ̃ ʑ ɲ u f/; Luxembourgish jiddwereen /ʑ i d v ə ʀ e n/ | Polish 0.15%, Luxembourgish 0.09% |
| s̠ | voiceless alveolar fricative, retracted | s; retracted: made a little further back in the mouth | rare | |
| ɸ | voiceless bilabial fricative | blowing through nearly closed lips | Swahili fic /ɸ i c/ | Swahili 0.03% (rare: 6×) |
| ɦ | voiced glottal fricative | a breathy, voiced h (Dutch and Czech h) | Dutch het /ɦ ɛ t/; Czech jeho /j ɛ ɦ o/; Hungarian néhány /n e ɦ a ɲ/ | Dutch 1.4%, Czech 1.2%, Hungarian 0.42% |
| ʝ | voiced palatal fricative | a y with friction | Galician kruger /k ɾ u ʝ e ɾ/ | (rare: 1×) |
| zʲ | voiced alveolar fricative, palatalised | z; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian pavyzdžiui /p ɐ ʋʲ i zʲ dʲ ʒʲ ʊ ɪ/; Romanian apelezi /a p e l e zʲ/ | Lithuanian 0.12%, Romanian 0.02% |
| fʲ | voiceless labiodental fricative, palatalised | f; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Irish féidir /fʲ e dʲ ə ɾʲ/; Polish świata /ɕ fʲ a t a/; Lithuanian afrikos /a fʲ rʲ ɪ k o s/ | Irish 0.66%, Polish 0.29%, Lithuanian 0.22% |
| s̺ | voiceless alveolar fricative, apical | s; apical: made with the very tip of the tongue | rare | |
| χ | voiceless uvular fricative | a rougher ch made at the uvula (Welsh “ch”) | Welsh chi'n /χ i n/; Uzbek yaxshi /j æ χ ʃ y/; Māori gingrich /ɡ i ŋ r i χ/ | Welsh 1.1%, Uzbek 0.48%, Māori 0.03%, Indonesian 0.02% |
| s̻ | voiceless alveolar fricative, laminal | s; laminal: made with the blade of the tongue, just behind the tip | rare | |
| ʃʲ | voiceless postalveolar fricative, palatalised | sh as in “ship”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian tačiau /t a tʲ ʃʲ ɛ ʊ̯/; Romanian își /ɨ ʃʲ/ | Lithuanian 0.98%, Romanian 0.14% |
| s̪ | voiceless alveolar fricative, dental | s; dental: the tongue tip touches the upper teeth | Lithuanian nors /n̪ ô r s̪/ | Lithuanian 0.42% |
| xʲ | voiceless velar fricative, palatalised | ch as in Scottish “loch”, German “Bach”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Polish hiszpanie /xʲ i ʂ p a ɲ ɛ/; Lithuanian michele /mʲ ɪ xʲ ɛ lʲ ɛ/ | Polish 0.02% (rare: 10×) |
| ɬ | voiceless alveolar lateral fricative | the Welsh “ll”: an l blown without voice | Welsh gallu /ɡ a ɬ ɨ/; Swahili karne /ɬ a ɾ n e/ | Welsh 0.88%, Swahili 0.06% |
| ʒʲ | voiced postalveolar fricative, palatalised | s as in “measure”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian pavyzdžiui /p ɐ ʋʲ i zʲ dʲ ʒʲ ʊ ɪ/; Romanian lungi /l u n d ʒʲ/ | Lithuanian 0.57%, Romanian 0.02% |
| ð̞ | voiced dental fricative, lowered | th as in “this”; lowered: a little more open; a lowered fricative is a smooth approximant with no friction | rare | |
| β̞ | voiced bilabial fricative, lowered | a soft b where the lips do not close (Spanish b between vowels); lowered: a little more open; a lowered fricative is a smooth approximant with no friction | rare |
Nasals¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | alveolar nasal. Also used for n̪ˠ, nˠ. | n | English in /ɪ n/; Dutch van /v ɑ n/; German und /ʔ ʊ n t/ | Dutch 10%, German 9.7%, Luxembourgish 8.1%, Finnish 8.1% |
| m | bilabial nasal. Also used for mˠ. | m | English from /f ɹ ɑ m/; Malay dalam /d a l a m/; Indonesian dalam /d a l a m/ | Malay 4.7%, Indonesian 4.5%, Tagalog 4.2%, Icelandic 3.9% |
| ŋ | velar nasal | ng as in “sing” | English young /j ə ŋ/; Tagalog ng /ʔ ɐ ŋ/; Māori ngā /ŋ a/ | Tagalog 5.8%, Māori 3.5%, Malay 2.9%, Indonesian 2.8% |
| ɳ | retroflex nasal | n with the tongue tip curled back | Luxembourgish eng /æ ɳ/; Swedish forskarna /f ɔ ʂ k a ɳ a/; Norwegian forskerne /f ɔ ʂ k ə ɳ ə/ | Luxembourgish 1.3%, Swedish 0.42%, Norwegian 0.16% |
| ɲ | palatal nasal | ny, as Spanish “ñ” | Polish nie /ɲ ɛ/; Czech není /n ɛ ɲ i/; Slovak nie /ɲ i e/ | Polish 2.3%, Czech 2.3%, Slovak 1.9%, Bosnian 0.8% |
| nʲ | alveolar nasal, palatalised | n; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian ne /nʲ ɛ/; Irish in /ɪ nʲ/; Romanian ani /a nʲ/ | Lithuanian 2.6%, Irish 1.6%, Romanian 0.12% |
| mʲ | bilabial nasal, palatalised | m; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian metų /mʲ æ t u/; Irish minic /mʲ ɪ nʲ ɪ c/; Polish mieć /mʲ ɛ t͡ɕ/ | Lithuanian 1.1%, Irish 0.89%, Polish 0.64% |
| n̪ | alveolar nasal, dental | n; dental: the tongue tip touches the upper teeth | Lithuanian nors /n̪ ô r s̪/ | Lithuanian 0.15% |
| n̥ | alveolar nasal, voiceless | n; voiceless: said without vocal-fold vibration, as if whispered | Icelandic hnakkar /n̥ a h k a r/; Welsh nhw'n /n̥ u n/; Swedish uppmuntrande /ʏ h p m ʏ n̥ t r a n d ə/ | Icelandic 0.27%, Welsh 0.08% |
| ŋ̩ | velar nasal, syllabic | ng as in “sing”; syllabic: forms a syllable with no vowel, as the n of “button” | Danish mange /m ɑ ŋ ŋ̩/; German fliegen /f l i ɡ ŋ̩/ | Danish 0.13%, German 0.01% |
| m̩ | bilabial nasal, syllabic | m; syllabic: forms a syllable with no vowel, as the n of “button” | Danish gennem /ɡ ɛ m m̩/; Czech směnu /s m̩ ɲ ɛ n u/; German km² /k m̩ t v o ɾ i k t s i/ | Danish 0.1%, Czech 0.05% |
| n̩ | alveolar nasal, syllabic | n; syllabic: forms a syllable with no vowel, as the n of “button” | Danish jorden /j o ɐ n̩/; German finden /f ɪ n d n̩/; Norwegian navn /n ɑ ʋ n̩/ | Danish 0.59%, German 0.11%, Norwegian 0.04%, Romanian 0.01% |
| n̠ʲ | alveolar nasal, retracted, palatalised | n; retracted: made a little further back in the mouth; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Irish ní /n̠ʲ i/ | Irish 0.95% |
| ɱ | labiodental nasal | m made with the lower lip against the teeth, before f or v (“comfort”) | Swahili marekani /ɱ a ɾ e k a n i/; Galician información /i ɱ f o ɾ m a θ j o ŋ/; Hungarian különféle /k y l ø ɱ f e l ɛ/ | Swahili 0.11%, Galician 0.08%, Hungarian 0.06% |
| ŋ̥ | velar nasal, voiceless | ng as in “sing”; voiceless: said without vocal-fold vibration, as if whispered | Icelandic hringt /r̥ i ŋ̥ t/; Welsh enghraifft /ɛ ŋ̥ r a i̯ f d/ | Icelandic 0.19%, Welsh 0.05% |
| m̥ | bilabial nasal, voiceless | m; voiceless: said without vocal-fold vibration, as if whispered | Icelandic samt /s a m̥ t/ | Icelandic 0.05% (rare: 2×) |
| ŋʲ | velar nasal, palatalised | ng as in “sing”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian išvengti /ɪ ʃʲ ʋʲ ɛ ŋʲ kʲ tʲ ɪ/ | Lithuanian 0.06% |
Laterals¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| l | alveolar lateral approximant | l as in “leaf” | Maltese li /l ɪ/; French la /l a/; Italian il /i l/ | Maltese 7.4%, French 7.4%, Italian 6.4%, Catalan 6.1% |
| ɫ | velarised alveolar lateral | the dark l of “full” | English people /p i p ə ɫ/; Turkish olarak /o ɫ a ɾ a k/; Uzbek boʻlgan /b o ɫ ɡ æ n/ | Turkish 4.1%, English 4.1%, Uzbek 3.7%, Azerbaijani 3.2% |
| lʲ | alveolar lateral approximant, palatalised | l as in “leaf”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Irish le /lʲ ɛ/; Lithuanian gali /ɡ a lʲ ɪ/; Polish jeśli /j ɛ ɕ lʲ i/ | Irish 2%, Lithuanian 2%, Polish 0.68% |
| ʎ | palatal lateral approximant | an l made with the tongue body, close to “ly” (Italian “gli”) | Estonian oli /o ʎ ɪ/; Italian gli /ʎ/; Bosnian ljudi /ʎ u d ɪ/ | Estonian 0.8%, Italian 0.53%, Bosnian 0.52%, Catalan 0.44% |
| ɭ | retroflex lateral approximant | l with the tongue tip curled back | Norwegian arly /ɑ ɭ y/; Swedish kärlekens /k ɛ r ɭ e k e n s/; Danish nødbestemmelse /n ø ð b e s d ɛ m ɭ s ə/ | Norwegian 0.24%, Swedish 0.04% |
| ɫ̪ | velarised alveolar lateral, dental | the dark l of “full”; dental: the tongue tip touches the upper teeth | rare | |
| l̪ | alveolar lateral approximant, dental | l as in “leaf”; dental: the tongue tip touches the upper teeth | rare | |
| l̥ | alveolar lateral approximant, voiceless | l as in “leaf”; voiceless: said without vocal-fold vibration, as if whispered | Icelandic elti /ɛ l̥ t ɪ/; Danish klare /kʰ l̥ ɑ ɑ/ | Icelandic 0.27%, Danish 0.11% |
| l̠ | alveolar lateral approximant, retracted | l as in “leaf”; retracted: made a little further back in the mouth | rare | |
| l̩ | alveolar lateral approximant, syllabic | l as in “leaf”; syllabic: forms a syllable with no vowel, as the n of “button” | Czech řekl /r̝ ɛ k l̩/; Slovak hall /h a l l̩/; Danish enkel /ɛ ŋ ɡ l̩/ | Czech 0.11%, Slovak 0.08%, Danish 0.04%, Romanian 0.02% |
| l̠ʲ | alveolar lateral approximant, retracted, palatalised | l as in “leaf”; retracted: made a little further back in the mouth; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Irish leis /l̠ʲ ɛ ʃ/ | Irish 0.64% |
Rhotics (r sounds)¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| r | alveolar trill | a rolled r | Icelandic fyrir /f ɪ r ɪ r/; Swedish är /ɛ r/; Welsh ar /a r/ | Icelandic 8.2%, Swedish 6.8%, Welsh 6.8%, Dutch 6.7% |
| ɾ | alveolar tap. Also used for ɾˠ. | one quick flap of the tongue, as in Spanish “pero” | Norwegian er /æ ɾ/; Galician para /p a ɾ a̝/; Uzbek bir /b y ɾ/ | Norwegian 7.3%, Galician 6.1%, Uzbek 6%, Irish 5.5% |
| ɹ | alveolar approximant | English r | English were /w ɪ ɹ/; Maltese wara /u a ɹ a/; Portuguese ter /t e ɹ/ | English 4.7%, Maltese 2.7%, Portuguese 0.03% |
| rʲ | alveolar trill, palatalised | a rolled r; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Lithuanian turi /t ʊ rʲ ɪ/; Romanian cazuri /k a z u rʲ/; Polish nigerii /ɲ i ɡ ɛ rʲ j i/ | Lithuanian 1.5%, Romanian 0.29%, Polish 0.08% |
| ʀ | uvular trill | an r rolled at the uvula (Luxembourgish r) | Luxembourgish war /v a ʀ/; German breit /b ʀ a ɪ̯ t/; Swedish gränsen /ɡ ʀ æ n z ə n/ | Luxembourgish 4.6%, German 0.04% |
| r̥ | alveolar trill, voiceless | a rolled r; voiceless: said without vocal-fold vibration, as if whispered | Icelandic fyrstu /f ɪ r̥ s t ʏ/; Welsh rhai /r̥ a i̯/; Swedish största /s t œ r̥ s t a/ | Icelandic 0.68%, Welsh 0.39%, Swedish 0.1% |
| ɽ | retroflex flap | a flap with the tongue tip curled back | German waren /v a ɽ ə n/; Norwegian ludvig-charles /l ʉ d ʋ ɪ k æ ɽ ə l s/ | German 0.12%, Norwegian 0.01% |
| r̩ | alveolar trill, syllabic | a rolled r; syllabic: forms a syllable with no vowel, as the n of “button” | Czech první /p r̩ v ɲ i/; Slovak prvé /p r̩ v e/; Romanian curry /k u r̩ i/ | Czech 0.25%, Slovak 0.21%, Romanian 0.01% |
| ɾʲ | alveolar tap, palatalised | one quick flap of the tongue, as in Spanish “pero”; palatalised: said with the tongue body raised toward the palate: a y-like colour (“soft” consonants) | Irish féidir /fʲ e dʲ ə ɾʲ/; Lithuanian varžybos /ʋ ɐ ɾʲ ʒʲ i b o s/ | Irish 2.7%, Lithuanian 0.58% |
| ɻ | retroflex approximant | an English-like r with the tongue tip curled back | Portuguese por /p o ɻ/ | Portuguese 0.15% |
| r̝ | alveolar trill, raised | a rolled r; raised: a little closer (tongue higher) than the plain symbol | Czech řešení /r̝ ɛ ʃ ɛ ɲ i/ | Czech 0.57% |