Phoneme guide: other alphabets (Greek, Armenian, Georgian, Hangul, Ethiopic)¶
Every phoneme token of mbfa-other-alphabetic (104 tokens: 100 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 5 languages (Amharic, Greek, Armenian, Georgian, Korean), 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 an untrained language (Ancient Greek) or are very rare.
Ejectives (ʼ, Georgian) and aspirated stops (ʰ, Armenian, Georgian, Korean) are tokens of their own; the burst and the puff after it belong to the stop. Korean tense consonants (ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ) have no token of their own: they are written as the plain one (k t p s t͡ɕ).
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” | Greek να /n a/; Amharic እና /ʔ ɨ n a/; Georgian manta /m a n t a/ | Greek 11%, Amharic 10%, Georgian 0.04%, Korean 0.03% |
| i | close front unrounded vowel | ee as in “see” | Greek της /t i s/; Georgian ისინი /i s i n i/; Korean 있습니다 /i t̚ s ɯ m n i d a̠/ | Greek 14%, Georgian 12%, Korean 8.3%, Armenian 5.3% |
| e | close-mid front unrounded vowel | e as in Spanish or Italian “de”; the start of English “say” | Greek και /c e/; Amharic ዘዴ /z ə d e/; Georgian one /o n e/ | Greek 8.7%, Amharic 0.9%, Georgian 0.01% |
| o | close-mid back rounded vowel | o as in Spanish or Italian “no” | Greek το /t o/; Amharic ሲሆን /s i h o n/; Korean 주요 /t͡ɕ u j o/ | Greek 9.9%, Amharic 3.1%, Korean 0.57% |
| u | close back rounded vowel | oo as in “food” | Armenian ու /u/; Korean 수 /sʰ u/; Georgian უფრო /u pʰ r ɔ/ | Armenian 4.2%, Korean 3.1%, Georgian 2.9%, Greek 2.5% |
| ə | mid central vowel (schwa) | the weak vowel of “about”, “sofa” | Amharic ነው /n ə w/; Armenian և /h ə/ | Amharic 14%, Armenian 4.7% |
| ɛ | open-mid front unrounded vowel | e as in “bed” | Georgian ყველაზე /qʼ v ɛ l ɑ z ɛ/; Armenian է /ɛ/; Korean w /d u b ɛ l v e̞/ | Georgian 9.1%, Armenian 7.8% |
| ɑ | open back unrounded vowel | a as in “father” | Armenian համար /h ɑ m ɑ ɾ/; Georgian და /d ɑ/ | Armenian 15%, Georgian 14% |
| ɔ | open-mid back rounded vowel | o as in British “thought” | Georgian რომ /r ɔ m/; Armenian որ /v ɔ ɾ/; Korean siminoff는 /s i m i n ɔ f n ɯ n/ | Georgian 5.4%, Armenian 4%, Korean 0.03% |
| ɯ | close back unrounded vowel | oo said with spread lips (Turkish “ı”) | Korean 있습니다 /i t̚ s ɯ m n i d a̠/ | Korean 6% |
| y | close front rounded vowel | ee said with rounded lips (French “tu”, German “über”) | rare | |
| ɨ | close central unrounded vowel | between ee and oo, lips spread (Polish “y”, Welsh “u”) | Amharic ውስጥ /w ɨ s ɨ ʈ/ | Amharic 12% |
| ʏ | near-close front rounded vowel | i as in “sit” said with rounded lips (German “hübsch”) | Korean uthappa가 /ʏ t̚ h a p̚ p a̠ ɡ a̠/ | Korean 0.01% (rare: 3×) |
| a̠ | open front unrounded vowel, retracted | a as in Spanish “casa”; retracted: made a little further back in the mouth | Korean 가장 /k a̠ d͡ʑ a̠ ŋ/ | Korean 9.8% |
| ʌ | open-mid back unrounded vowel. Also used for ʌ̹. | u as in “cup” | Korean 없었습니다 /ʌ p s ʌ t̚ s ɯ m n i d a̠/ | Korean 5.8% |
| 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 | Korean 그리고 /k ɯ ɾ i ɡ o̞/ | Korean 4.2% |
| ɛ̝ | open-mid front unrounded vowel, raised | e as in “bed”; raised: a little closer (tongue higher) than the plain symbol | Korean 때문에 /t ɛ̝ m u n e̞/ | Korean 1.9% |
| ǎ | open front unrounded vowel, accent ˇ (rising) | a as in Spanish “casa”; accent ˇ (rising): the G2P's dictionary marks a rising pitch accent | rare | |
| e̞ | close-mid front unrounded vowel, lowered | e as in Spanish or Italian “de”; the start of English “say”; lowered: a little more open; a lowered fricative is a smooth approximant with no friction | Korean 세계 /sʰ e̞ ɡ j e̞/ | Korean 2.2% |
| ǒ | close-mid back rounded vowel, accent ˇ (rising) | o as in Spanish or Italian “no”; accent ˇ (rising): the G2P's dictionary marks a rising pitch accent | rare | |
| ě | close-mid front unrounded vowel, accent ˇ (rising) | e as in Spanish or Italian “de”; the start of English “say”; accent ˇ (rising): the G2P's dictionary marks a rising pitch accent | rare | |
| ǐ | close front unrounded vowel, accent ˇ (rising) | ee as in “see”; accent ˇ (rising): the G2P's dictionary marks a rising pitch accent | rare | |
| ê | close-mid front unrounded vowel, accent ˆ (falling) | e as in Spanish or Italian “de”; the start of English “say”; accent ˆ (falling): the G2P's dictionary marks a falling pitch accent | rare | |
| 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 | rare | |
| 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 | rare | |
| 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 | rare | |
| í | close front unrounded vowel, accent ´ (high) | ee as in “see”; accent ´ (high): the G2P's dictionary marks a pitch accent or stress here | rare | |
| 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 | rare | |
| ø̞ | close-mid front rounded vowel, lowered | e said with rounded lips (German “schön”, French “peu”); lowered: a little more open; a lowered fricative is a smooth approximant with no friction | Korean 될 /t ø̞ ɭ/ | Korean 0.63% |
| ɛ̂ | open-mid front unrounded vowel, accent ˆ (falling) | e as in “bed”; accent ˆ (falling): the G2P's dictionary marks a falling pitch accent | rare |
Glides and non-syllabic vowels¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| j | palatal approximant | y as in “yes” | Amharic ላይ /l a j/; Armenian այն /ɑ j n/; Korean 영향을 /j ʌ ŋ ʝ j a̠ ŋ ɯ ɭ/ | Amharic 4.3%, Armenian 3.4%, Korean 3.1%, Greek 0.02% |
| w | labial-velar approximant | w as in “we” | Amharic ነው /n ə w/; Korean 관광명소이며 /k w a̠ n ɡ w a̠ ŋ m j ʌ ŋ sʰ o̞ i m j ʌ/; Greek one /w |
Amharic 3.6%, Korean 1.1%, Greek 0.03%, Armenian 0.01% |
| ɥ | labial-palatal approximant | y said with rounded lips (French “huit”) | Korean 위한 /ɥ i ɦ a̠ n/ | Korean 0.27% |
| 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 | Greek διαθέτει /ð i̯ a θ e t i/ | Greek 0.08% |
| 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 | rare | |
| ɰ | velar approximant | a g so weak the tongue never closes | Korean 공룡의 /k o̞ ŋ ɲ j o ŋ ɰ i/ | Korean 0.97% |
| ʍ | voiceless labial-velar approximant | a breathy w (“wh” in some accents) | rare |
Stops¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| t | voiceless alveolar stop. Also used for t͈, t͡ʃ`. | t as in “ten” | Greek το /t o/; Amharic ዓመታት /ʔ a m ə t a t/; Armenian շատ /ʃ ɑ t/ | Greek 9.3%, Amharic 4.7%, Armenian 2.8%, Korean 1.7% |
| k | voiceless velar stop. Also used for k`, k͈. | k as in “key” | Armenian կարող /k ɑ ɾ ɔ ʁ/; Amharic ምክንያት /m ɨ k ɨ n ɨ j a t/; Korean 가장 /k a̠ d͡ʑ a̠ ŋ/ | Armenian 3.7%, Amharic 3.4%, Korean 2.9%, Greek 2.9% |
| d | voiced alveolar stop | d as in “dog” | Georgian და /d ɑ/; Korean 있습니다 /i t̚ s ɯ m n i d a̠/; Amharic ወደ /w ə d ə/ | Georgian 4%, Korean 2.7%, Amharic 2.2%, Armenian 0.99% |
| b | voiced bilabial stop | b as in “bed” | Georgian რომლებიც /r ɔ m l ɛ b i t͡s/; Amharic በጣም /b ə ʈ a m/; Armenian բայց /b ɑ j t͡sʰ/ | Georgian 4.1%, Amharic 2.2%, Armenian 1%, Korean 0.94% |
| p | voiceless bilabial stop | p as in “pen” | Greek από /a p o/; Korean 없었습니다 /ʌ p s ʌ t̚ s ɯ m n i d a̠/; Armenian որպես /v ɔ ɾ p ɛ s/ | Greek 4.3%, Korean 1.1%, Armenian 1.1%, Amharic 0.36% |
| ɡ | voiced velar stop | g as in “go” | Korean 그리고 /k ɯ ɾ i ɡ o̞/; Georgian როგორც /r ɔ ɡ ɔ r t͡s/; Amharic ጋር /ɡ a r/ | Korean 3.2%, Georgian 2.2%, Amharic 1.6%, Armenian 1.1% |
| ʔ | glottal stop | the catch in the throat in “uh-oh” | Amharic እና /ʔ ɨ n a/ | Amharic 3.1% |
| ʈ | voiceless retroflex stop | t with the tongue tip curled back (Swedish and Norwegian “rt”) | Amharic ውስጥ /w ɨ s ɨ ʈ/ | Amharic 1.1% |
| 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) | Georgian განსაკუთრებით /ɡ ɑ n s ɑ kʼ u tʰ r ɛ b i tʰ/; Armenian թե /tʰ ɛ/; Korean 같은 /k a̠ tʰ ɯ n/ | Georgian 2.4%, Armenian 1.8%, Korean 1% |
| c | voiceless palatal stop | a k made against the hard palate, close to “ty” (Hungarian “ty”, Czech “ť”) | Greek και /c e/ | Greek 1.7% |
| 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) | Armenian որոնք /v ɔ ɾ ɔ ŋ kʰ/; Georgian აქვთ /ɑ kʰ v tʰ/; Korean 기록했다 /k i ɾ o̞ kʰ ɛ̝ d a̠/ | Armenian 1.7%, Georgian 0.74%, Korean 0.48% |
| 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) | Korean 필리핀 /pʰ i ɭ ʎ i pʰ i n/; Georgian უფრო /u pʰ r ɔ/; Armenian երբ /j ɛ ɾ pʰ/ | Korean 0.9%, Georgian 0.82%, Armenian 0.45% |
| k̚ | voiceless velar stop, unreleased | k as in “key”; unreleased: a final stop with no audible burst: the closure is held and the sound ends silently | Korean 과학적 /k w a̠ ɦ a̠ k̚ t͡ɕ ʌ k̚/ | Korean 0.92% |
| ɟ | voiced palatal stop | a g made against the hard palate, close to “dy” (Hungarian “gy”, Czech “ď”) | Greek γαγγετική /ɣ a ŋ ɟ e t i c i/ | Greek 0.06% |
| t̚ | voiceless alveolar stop, unreleased | t as in “ten”; unreleased: a final stop with no audible burst: the closure is held and the sound ends silently | Korean 있습니다 /i t̚ s ɯ m n i d a̠/ | Korean 0.75% |
| p̚ | voiceless bilabial stop, unreleased | p as in “pen”; unreleased: a final stop with no audible burst: the closure is held and the sound ends silently | Korean 없다 /ʌ p̚ t a̠/ | Korean 0.28% |
| tʼ | voiceless alveolar stop, ejective | t as in “ten”; ejective: a pop made by the throat, with no breath from the lungs | Georgian შტატებს /ʃ tʼ ɑ tʼ ɛ b s/ | Georgian 1.7% |
| kʼ | voiceless velar stop, ejective | k as in “key”; ejective: a pop made by the throat, with no breath from the lungs | Georgian კი /kʼ i/ | Georgian 1.5% |
| pʼ | voiceless bilabial stop, ejective | p as in “pen”; ejective: a pop made by the throat, with no breath from the lungs | Georgian პოპულარული /pʼ ɔ pʼ u l ɑ r u l i/ | Georgian 0.79% |
| 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 | Georgian იყო /i qʼ ɔ/ | Georgian 0.75% |
Affricates¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| t͡s | voiceless alveolar affricate | ts as in “cats” | Georgian როგორც /r ɔ ɡ ɔ r t͡s/; Armenian մեծ /m ɛ t͡s/; Korean casa /t͡s a s a/ | Georgian 1.3%, Armenian 0.85% |
| t͡ʃ | voiceless postalveolar affricate | ch as in “church” | Amharic ይችላሉ /j ɨ t͡ʃ ɨ l a l u/; Georgian ჩვეულებრივ /t͡ʃ v ɛ u l ɛ b r i v/; Armenian հաճախ /h ɑ t͡ʃ ɑ χ/ | Amharic 1.8%, Georgian 0.34%, Armenian 0.27% |
| t͡ɕ | voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate. Also used for t͡ɕ͈. | a soft ch (Polish “ć”, Bosnian “ć”) | Korean 지역 /t͡ɕ i j ʌ k̚/ | Korean 1.8% |
| d͡ʒ | voiced postalveolar affricate | j as in “judge” | Amharic እጅግ /ʔ ɨ d͡ʒ ɨ ɡ/; Armenian մեջ /m ɛ d͡ʒ/; Georgian ჯერ /d͡ʒ ɛ r/ | Amharic 0.43%, Armenian 0.33%, Georgian 0.17% |
| d͡ʑ | voiced alveolo-palatal affricate | a soft j (Polish “dź”) | Korean 가장 /k a̠ d͡ʑ a̠ ŋ/ | Korean 1.9% |
| d͡z | voiced alveolar affricate | ds as in “beds” | Georgian შეიძლება /ʃ ɛ i d͡z l ɛ b ɑ/; Armenian ձեր /d͡z ɛ ɾ/ | Georgian 0.46%, Armenian 0.16% |
| t͡ɕʰ | voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate, aspirated | a soft ch (Polish “ć”, Bosnian “ć”); aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) | Korean 첫 /t͡ɕʰ ʌ t̚/ | Korean 0.96% |
| t͡sʰ | voiceless alveolar affricate, aspirated | ts as in “cats”; aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) | Armenian իրենց /i ɾ ɛ n t͡sʰ/ | Armenian 2% |
| t͡ʃʰ | voiceless postalveolar affricate, aspirated | ch as in “church”; aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) | Armenian ոչ /v ɔ t͡ʃʰ/ | Armenian 1.2% |
| t͡sʼ | voiceless alveolar affricate, ejective | ts as in “cats”; ejective: a pop made by the throat, with no breath from the lungs | Georgian წლის /t͡sʼ l i s/ | Georgian 0.78% |
| t͡ʃʼ | ejective postalveolar affricate | ch said with a pop from the throat, no breath | Georgian აღჭურვილობით /ɑ ɣ t͡ʃʼ u r v i l ɔ b i tʰ/ | Georgian 0.12% |
Fricatives¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| s | voiceless alveolar fricative. Also used for s͈. | s | Greek της /t i s/; Georgian წლის /t͡sʼ l i s/; Amharic ውስጥ /w ɨ s ɨ ʈ/ | Greek 7%, Georgian 6.6%, Amharic 3.2%, Armenian 2.3% |
| f | voiceless labiodental fricative | f | Greek αυτή /a f t i/; Amharic በፊት /b ə f i t/; Armenian նաև /n ɑ f/ | Greek 1.2%, Amharic 0.93%, Armenian 0.33%, Korean 0.02% |
| v | voiced labiodental fricative | v | Georgian ყველაზე /qʼ v ɛ l ɑ z ɛ/; Armenian որ /v ɔ ɾ/; Greek βρίσκονται /v ɾ i s k o n d e/ | Georgian 3.4%, Armenian 3.2%, Greek 1%, Amharic 0.07% |
| z | voiced alveolar fricative | z | Georgian ყველაზე /qʼ v ɛ l ɑ z ɛ/; Amharic ብዙ /b ɨ z u/; Greek τζορτζ /d z o ɾ d z/ | Georgian 1.1%, Amharic 0.81%, Greek 0.74%, Armenian 0.61% |
| ʃ | voiceless postalveolar fricative. Also used for t͡ʃ`. | sh as in “ship” | Georgian შორის /ʃ ɔ r i s/; Armenian շատ /ʃ ɑ t/; Amharic ለማሻሻል /l ə m a ʃ a ʃ a l/ | Georgian 1.7%, Armenian 0.82%, Amharic 0.67%, Korean 0.04% |
| h | voiceless glottal fricative | h as in “hat” | Armenian և /h ə/; Amharic ሲሆን /s i h o n/; Korean 한 /h a̠ n/ | Armenian 2.2%, Amharic 1.2%, Korean 0.42%, Georgian 0.13% |
| ʁ | voiced uvular fricative | the r of French and German | Armenian կարող /k ɑ ɾ ɔ ʁ/; Greek ring /ʁ i ŋ/ | Armenian 0.99% |
| x | voiceless velar fricative | ch as in Scottish “loch”, German “Bach” | Georgian სხვადასხვა /s x v ɑ d ɑ s x v ɑ/; Greek χώρα /x o ɾ a/; Korean 큰 /k x ɯ n/ | Georgian 1.4%, Greek 0.74%, Korean 0.19%, Amharic 0.01% |
| ð | voiced dental fricative | th as in “this” | Greek δεν /ð e n/ | Greek 1.7% |
| β | voiced bilabial fricative | a soft b where the lips do not close (Spanish b between vowels) | Amharic ነበር /n ə β ə r/; Korean 신호를 /ɕʰ i n β o̞ ɾ ɯ ɭ/ | Amharic 1.4%, Korean 0.24% |
| ʒ | voiced postalveolar fricative | s as in “measure” | Armenian ժամանակ /ʒ ɑ m ɑ n ɑ k/; Amharic ገዥ /ɡ ə ʒ/; Georgian ჟირაფი /ʒ i r ɑ pʰ i/ | Armenian 0.19%, Amharic 0.02%, Georgian 0.02% |
| ɣ | voiced velar fricative | a g where the tongue does not close (Dutch g, Spanish g between vowels) | Greek μεγάλο /m e ɣ a l o/; Georgian უმაღლესი /u m ɑ ɣ l ɛ s i/; Korean 바흐만 /p a̠ ɣ ɯ m a̠ n/ | Greek 0.66%, Georgian 0.41% |
| ɕ | voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative | a soft sh, with the tongue body raised (Polish “ś”) | Korean 주州 /t͡ɕ u ɕ ɯ ɯ/ | Korean 0.07% (rare: 16×) |
| θ | voiceless dental fricative | th as in “thin” | Greek καθώς /k a θ o t/ | Greek 1.1% |
| ç | voiceless palatal fricative | the ch of German “ich”; like a strong h before ee | Greek πιο /p ç o/; Korean 협회'의 /ç j ʌ pʰ ø̞ ɰ i/; Amharic ይህ /j ɨ ç/ | Greek 0.74%, Korean 0.26%, Amharic 0.14% |
| sʰ | voiceless alveolar fricative, aspirated | s; aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) | Korean 수 /sʰ u/ | Korean 3.1% |
| ɸ | voiceless bilabial fricative. Also used for ɸʷ. | blowing through nearly closed lips | Korean 후 /ɸ u/ | Korean 0.19% |
| ɦ | voiced glottal fricative | a breathy, voiced h (Dutch and Czech h) | Korean 또한 /t o̞ ɦ a̠ n/ | Korean 1.5% |
| ʝ | voiced palatal fricative | a y with friction | Greek για /ʝ a/; Korean 영향을 /j ʌ ŋ ʝ j a̠ ŋ ɯ ɭ/ | Greek 0.99%, Korean 0.11% |
| ɕʰ | voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative, aspirated | a soft sh, with the tongue body raised (Polish “ś”); aspirated: followed by a puff of breath before the vowel starts (English “top” has one, “stop” does not) | Korean 것이다 /k ʌ ɕʰ i d a̠/ | Korean 0.69% |
| χ | voiceless uvular fricative | a rougher ch made at the uvula (Welsh “ch”) | Armenian հաճախ /h ɑ t͡ʃ ɑ χ/ | Armenian 0.72% |
Nasals¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | alveolar nasal | n | Armenian են /ɛ n/; Korean 있는 /i n n ɯ n/; Greek να /n a/ | Armenian 9.2%, Korean 8.7%, Greek 6.8%, Amharic 4.9% |
| m | bilabial nasal | m | Georgian რომ /r ɔ m/; Amharic በጣም /b ə ʈ a m/; Armenian համար /h ɑ m ɑ ɾ/ | Georgian 5.1%, Amharic 4.2%, Armenian 3.9%, Korean 3.8% |
| ŋ | velar nasal | ng as in “sing” | Korean 가장 /k a̠ d͡ʑ a̠ ŋ/; Armenian որոնք /v ɔ ɾ ɔ ŋ kʰ/; Greek γιόγκα /ʝ o ŋ ɡ a/ | Korean 3.6%, Armenian 0.7%, Greek 0.26% |
| ɲ | palatal nasal | ny, as Spanish “ñ” | Amharic ከፍተኛ /k ə f ɨ t ə ɲ a/; Korean 공룡의 /k o̞ ŋ ɲ j o ŋ ɰ i/; Greek μια /m ɲ a/ | Amharic 0.51%, Korean 0.19%, Greek 0.14% |
| ɱ | labiodental nasal | m made with the lower lip against the teeth, before f or v (“comfort”) | Greek σύμφωνα /s i ɱ f o n a/ | Greek 0.11% |
Laterals¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| l | alveolar lateral approximant | l as in “leaf” | Georgian წლის /t͡sʼ l i s/; Amharic ላይ /l a j/; Greek πολύ /p o l i/ | Georgian 4.6%, Amharic 4.3%, Greek 2.4%, Armenian 1.9% |
| ʎ | palatal lateral approximant | an l made with the tongue body, close to “ly” (Italian “gli”) | Korean 필리핀 /pʰ i ɭ ʎ i pʰ i n/; Greek κελιά /c e ʎ a/ | Korean 0.16%, Greek 0.1% |
| ɭ | retroflex lateral approximant | l with the tongue tip curled back | Korean 폴로 /pʰ o̞ ɭ ɭ o̞/ | Korean 2.9% |
Rhotics (r sounds)¶
| token | name | sounds like | examples | used most in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| r | alveolar trill | a rolled r | Georgian რომ /r ɔ m/; Amharic ነበር /n ə β ə r/; Greek περιβάλλον /p e r i v a l o n/ | Georgian 6%, Amharic 3.6%, Greek 1%, Armenian 0.71% |
| ɾ | alveolar tap | one quick flap of the tongue, as in Spanish “pero” | Armenian որ /v ɔ ɾ/; Greek χώρα /x o ɾ a/; Korean 그리고 /k ɯ ɾ i ɡ o̞/ | Armenian 8.1%, Greek 3.9%, Korean 3.5% |
| r̥ | alveolar trill, voiceless | a rolled r; voiceless: said without vocal-fold vibration, as if whispered | rare |