Select languages to compare:

Use base consonants only
Labial
Coronal
Dorsal
Radical
Laryngeal
Bilabial
Labio-dental
Dental
Alveolar
Palato-alveolar
Retroflex
Palatal
Velar
Uvular
Pharyngeal
Epi-glottal
Glottal
Plosive
p b         t   d               k ɡ    
 
 
 
 
 
 
Affricates
            ts   dz                  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sibilant affricates
                                   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nasal
  m           n                 ŋ    
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trill
              r            
 
 
   
 
 
   
 
 
Tap, Flap
                                               
Lateral flap
 
 
 
 
                   
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Fricative
  β f       s     ʃ                              
Sibilant fricatives
                                   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lateral fricative
 
 
 
 
                           
 
 
 
 
 
 
Approximant
                          j                    
Lateral approximant
 
 
 
 
      l                      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Front
Near-front
Central
Near-back
Back
 
Close
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
Selected languages: Tuva
UPSID number: 2165
Alternate name(s): N/A
Classification: Ural-Altaic, Turkic
The languages has 29 segments
Frequency index: N/A
Sounds:
Comments: Tuva is spoken primarily in Tuva ASSR in USSR. Accounts of the Tuva vowel system differ widely. The system given here is that of Song (1982) since this makes the basis of vowel harmony clear: front and back vowels belong to different sets. All vowels occur long and maybe nasalized. Song mentions that older speakers distinguish a series of vowels with tense phonation. Place of articulation is based on Seglenmej (1979).
Sources: Sat, S.C. 1966. Tuvinskij jazyk. In V.V. Vinogradov (ed.), Jazyki Narodov SSSR, Vol 2. Nauka, Moscow and Leningrad: 387-402. Seglenmej, S.F. 1979. Tuvinskie perednejazychnye v tverdorjadnykh slovoformakh. In V.M. Nadeljaev (ed.), Fonetika Sibirskikh Jazykov. Akademija Nauk SSSR, Sibirskoe Otdelenie, Institut Istorii, Filologii i Filosofii, Novosibirsk, pp. 35-44. Song, Z. 1982. Woguo tuwayu yinxi chutan (A Preliminary Study of the Phonological System of the Tuva Language in China). Minzu Yuwen, 1982.6 (December), 58-65.