Number of phonemes (vowels, consonants) by language in Europe

Maciamo

Maciamo

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I have searched the web for a list of phonemes by language, but couldn't find any. Therefore I thought it would be useful to compile one from scratch.

Of course the number of phonemes will vary within a same language depending on the regional varieties (especially for English, which is spoken in so many countries) and local dialects (mostly in the Old World). The information below is based on the standard version of each language in Europe.

Here is what I found using Wikipedia pages for the phonology in each language.

I have listed semi-consonants like /j/ and /w/ as consonants.

Since some languages regard diphthongs (and even triphthongs) as distinct phonemes and others don't, to simplify the comparison I didn't count any diphthongs in the total of vowels and phonemes. Diphthongs are listed separately and do not include diphthongs starting with semi-consonants like /ja/ and /wo/.


[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 650"]
[TR]
[TD]Language
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"] Vowels
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"](+Diphthongs)
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Consonants
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Total Phonemes
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Albanian
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]30[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]37[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Basque
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]5 (+1)
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]1
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]24
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]29 (+1)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Catalan[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]8[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]25 (+3)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]32 (+3)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Czech[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]10[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]24 (+3)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]37 (+3)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Danish[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]32[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]20[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]52[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dutch[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]13 (+3)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]9[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]19 (+4)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]36 (+4)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]English[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]12[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]13[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]24[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]36[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Finnish[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]16[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]18[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]14 (+4)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]30 (+4)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]French[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]17[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]20 (+2)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]37 (+2)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]German[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]17[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]25[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]45[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Hungarian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]14[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]27[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]41[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Icelandic[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]16[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]11[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]16 (+6)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]32 (+6)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Irish Gaelic[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]11[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]5 ?[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]33[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]44[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Italian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]23[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]30[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Norwegian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]19[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]23 (+2)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]42 (+2)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Polish[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]31[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]37[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Portuguese[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]14[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]9[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]23[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]37[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Romanian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]20[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]22[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]29[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Russian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]5 (+1)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]15[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]34[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]39 (+1)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Serbo-Croatian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"](1)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]25[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]30[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Slovak[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]10[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]29[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]39[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Spanish (Castilian)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]19 (+1)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]24 (+1)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Swedish[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]17[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]18[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]35[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

For the sake of comparison, here are a few major non-European languages.

[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 650"]
[TR]
[TD]Language
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"] Vowels
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"](+Diphthongs)
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Consonants
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Total Phonemes
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Arabic[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]28[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]34[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Chinese (Mandarin)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]9[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]26[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]35[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Hausa[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]10[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]24[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]34[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Hindustani[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]11[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]30 (+7)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]41 (+7)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Persian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]11[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]26[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]32[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Japanese[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]2[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]17[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]22[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Turkish[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]8[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]23[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]31[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Numbers in brackets indicate vowels or consonants found only in dialects or loan words.

Note that American English has between 4 and 6 vowels less than British English (Received Pronunciation). Brazilian Portuguese has 3 vowels less than European Portuguese.


Top 5 for vowels

  1. Danish : 32
  2. Norwegian : 19
  3. French, German, Swedish : 17
  4. Finnish, Icelandic : 16
  5. Dutch : 13 + 3

Top 5 for vowels + diphthongs

  1. Finnish : 34
  2. Danish : 32
  3. Icelandic, Romanian : 27
  4. Dutch, English, Norwegian : 25
  5. Portuguese : 23

Top 5 for consonants

  1. Russian : 34
  2. Irish Gaelic : 33
  3. Polish : 31
  4. Albanian : 30
  5. Slovak : 29

Top 5 for total phonemes including diphthongs

  1. Russian : 55
  2. Danish, Finnish : 52
  3. Norwegian : 50
  4. Dutch, English, Irish Gaelic, Romanian : 49
  5. German : 48
 
Last edited:
Maciamo said:
I have searched the web for a list of phonemes by language, but couldn't find any. Therefore I thought it would be useful to compile one from scratch.

Of course the number of phonemes will vary within a same language depending on the regional varieties (especially for English, which is spoken in so many countries) and local dialects (mostly in the Old World). The information below is based on the standard version of each language in Europe.

Here is what I found using Wikipedia pages for the phonology in each language.

I have listed semi-consonants like /j/ and /w/ as consonants.

Since some languages regard diphthongs (and even triphthongs) as distinct phonemes and others don't, to simplify the comparison I didn't count any diphthongs in the total of vowels and phonemes. Diphthongs are listed separately and do not include diphthongs starting with semi-consonants like /ja/ and /wo/.


[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 650"]
[TR]
[TD]Language
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"] Vowels
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"](+Diphthongs)
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Consonants
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Total Phonemes
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Albanian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"]30[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]37[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Czech[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]10[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]24 (+3)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]37 (+3)
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Danish[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]32[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]20[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]52[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dutch[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]13 (+3)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]9[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]19 (+4)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]36 (+4)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]English[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]12[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]13[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]24[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]36[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Finnish[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]16[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]18[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]14 (+4)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]30 (+4)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]French[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]17[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]20[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]37[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]German[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]17[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]25[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]45[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Hungarian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]14[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]27[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]41[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Irish Gaelic[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]11[/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"]33[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]44[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Italian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"]23[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]30[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Norwegian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]19[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]23 (+2)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]42 (+2)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Polish[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"]31[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]37[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Portuguese[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]14[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]9[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]23[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]37[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Romanian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]20[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]22[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]29[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Russian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]5 (+1)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"]34[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]39 (+1)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Serbo-Croatian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"](1)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]25[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]30[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Slovak[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]10[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]29[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]39[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Spanish (Castilian)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]19 (+1)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]24 (+1)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Swedish[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]17[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]18[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]35[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Numbers in brackets indicate vowels or consonants not native to the language but often used in words borrowed from other languages.

Note that American English has between 4 and 6 vowels less than British English (Received Pronunciation). Brazilian Portuguese has 3 vowels less than European Portuguese.
Click to expand...

This is a list of dipthongs in Italian.
http://www.italianlanguageguide.com/pronunciation/diphthongs.asp

There are also these consonant or consonant/vowel combinations: gli, gn
 
very uneasy to compare phonologies and phonetics of different languages:
some vocal sounds are true diphtongs, other only a bunch of vowels of different syllabs arrived in contact
some varieties of sounds are phonetically stable but nevertheless have no role in phonology (meaning understanding)
some consonnants are in fact (gaelic by instance) combinaisons of stop+vowel, more or less on the way to affricated consonnants, when other are true affricated consonnants:
sometimes the ture phonologic criteria is marked by the group consonnant+vowel or vowel+consonnant: phonologically we ought to take in account the length of vowels in certain languages : in breton v:+soft c = v:+hard c # v+soft c = v+hard c (it is to say, according to environment, the PHONETICAL QUALITY of the consonnant can change but it is its PHONOLOGICAL QUALITY which influence the preceding vowel length (eventually quality coming to help length)
so, a good idea, but uneasy conlusions to draw from it

by the way, the Oïl dialects of french have very often more diphtongs than the standard french (for Occitan, everyone knows that yet I suppose)

tête:S /tè.t/<> /taét//tèIt//ta:t/ - oiseaux :S /wa'zo/ <> /wé'zèw//wé'zjaw//o'zaw//o'zja//o'zèa//o'zéo/ - genou: S /zhë'nu//zhnu/ <> /zhnwé//zhnèj//zhnëj//zhnöj//zhnoj//zhnolj/
haie: S /è./ <> /èI//èj//éI//aj//oj/
 
Maciamo said:
I have searched the web for a list of phonemes by language, but couldn't find any. Therefore I thought it would be useful to compile one from scratch.

Of course the number of phonemes will vary within a same language depending on the regional varieties (especially for English, which is spoken in so many countries) and local dialects (mostly in the Old World). The information below is based on the standard version of each language in Europe.

Here is what I found using Wikipedia pages for the phonology in each language.

I have listed semi-consonants like /j/ and /w/ as consonants.

Since some languages regard diphthongs (and even triphthongs) as distinct phonemes and others don't, to simplify the comparison I didn't count any diphthongs in the total of vowels and phonemes. Diphthongs are listed separately and do not include diphthongs starting with semi-consonants like /ja/ and /wo/.


[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 650"]
[TR]
[TD]Language
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Vowels
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"](+Diphthongs)
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Consonants
[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Total Phonemes
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Albanian[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]0[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]30[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]37[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[TD="align: center"][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Click to expand...

Gheg and Tosk are treated differently when studied, you need to mention the varieties. Do this for other languages too. I think you need to add some more vowels. (14-19 vowel phonemes for Gheg for example)

EDIT: I see you mentioned you only included standard languages. Never-mind then, don't add the above.

The most common dipthongs are: ie, ye, ua, ai, ei, oi, au, eu.

Off topic, since you're the admin, do you know why I keep logging out?
 
32 vowels in Danish, 33 consonants in Irish... I think that the guys who listed the phonemes included all the possible dialectal and allophonic variations - same for Norwegian, Russian, etc. And I'm still trying to find 17 vowels in French...
 
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