<p>There are both natlangs and conlangs with extremely simple phonologies.</p>
<p>For natural languages, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotokas_language" rel="noreferrer">Central Rotokas</a> holds the record for the smallest attested inventory of consonant phonemes (6).</p>
<p>For a conlang, you may want to look at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toki_Pona#Phonology_and_phonotactics" rel="noreferrer">Toki Pona</a> with an inventory of 14 phonemes: 9 consonants and 5 vowels. Toki Pona has some speech community and is more than just a <em>Plansprachenprojekt</em>.</p>
<p>These examples show that languages with  extremely minimal phonologies are feasible. Yes, words and phrases become longer, but this is compensated by a higher speech rate.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-23T11:21:57.247Z
With fewer phonemes you can be more careless (ie faster) with pronunciation, as there is more redundancy -- you need to distinguish between fewer elements. Hence the faster speech rate. Don't worry if you slur your vowels if /a/ and /e/ are the same anyway...
Oliver Mason
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-23T10:05:08.553Z
2021-09-02T09:36:31.547Z
2021-09-02T09:36:31.547Z
Sir Cornflakes
<p>It is indeed possible to create a non-trivial ‘lowest common denominator’ phonology. I know because I made one myself a while ago. For consonants, I took the 10 most common segments from <a href="https://phoible.org/parameters" rel="noreferrer">PHOIBLE</a> disregarding voicing distinctions:</p>
<p>/m n/<br />
/p t k/<br />
/s h/<br />
/l j w/</p>
<p>Vowels are much easier: /a i u/ is suitably lower-common-denominator, and is widely attested.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-21T13:32:42.673Z
It is worth noting that /h/ is not phonemic in a couple major world languages, namely French and Spanish (though in some dialects of the latter it's a word-final allophone of /s/).
OpenAI was the last straw
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-24T07:53:12.173Z
2021-07-24T07:53:12.173Z
bradrn
<p>Many languages have sounds that are very hard to pronounce to certain speakers.</p>
<p>For example, the French &quot;R&quot; sound is hard for English speakers. What if we have a language that accepts many variations of a word so that it's still accepted even if it sounds a little different?</p>
<p>Another example, Japanese phonology does not distinguish between L and R. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4MsJHn-lRA" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This video</a> shows how incredible it is.</p>
<p>I think this is a similar concept to how languages can change how many things you can notice, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1-WuBbVe2E" rel="nofollow noreferrer">even colors</a> can be hard to distinguish if you don't have a word for it.</p>
<p>But if you're coming from a language that does distinguish between the sounds, it will be easier for you to pronounce words of a language that doesn't distinguish it. I think that the Japanese L/R sound is easy because they don't care which one you pronounce, it sounds the same to them.</p>
<p>However, I know it might cause the language phonology to be too simple, which will cause <a href="https://conlang.stackexchange.com/questions/1300/strategies-for-dealing-with-limited-simple-phonologies">very long words</a>. I have not studied every single language in the world. But is really that bad if we are to create this &quot;combined phonology?&quot;</p>

<phonology><auxlangs>
Would a "Common Denominator" phonology be too simple (or even non-existent)?
# Would a "Common Denominator" phonology be too simple (or even non-existent)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-23)

Many languages have sounds that are very hard to pronounce to certain speakers.

For example, the French "R" sound is hard for English speakers. What if we have a language that accepts many variations of a word so that it's still accepted even if it sounds a little different?

Another example, Japanese phonology does not distinguish between L and R. [This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4MsJHn-lRA) shows how incredible it is.

I think this is a similar concept to how languages can change how many things you can notice, [even colors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1-WuBbVe2E) can be hard to distinguish if you don't have a word for it.

But if you're coming from a language that does distinguish between the sounds, it will be easier for you to pronounce words of a language that doesn't distinguish it. I think that the Japanese L/R sound is easy because they don't care which one you pronounce, it sounds the same to them.

However, I know it might cause the language phonology to be too simple, which will cause [very long words](https://conlang.stackexchange.com/questions/1300/strategies-for-dealing-with-limited-simple-phonologies). I have not studied every single language in the world. But is really that bad if we are to create this "combined phonology?"

**Tags:** phonology, auxlangs


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-07-24. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

It is indeed possible to create a non-trivial ‘lowest common denominator’ phonology. I know because I made one myself a while ago. For consonants, I took the 10 most common segments from [PHOIBLE](https://phoible.org/parameters) disregarding voicing distinctions:

/m n/  
/p t k/  
/s h/  
/l j w/

Vowels are much easier: /a i u/ is suitably lower-common-denominator, and is widely attested.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: It is worth noting that /h/ is not phonemic in a couple major world languages, namely French and Spanish (though in some dialects of the latter it's a word-final allophone of /s/).  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2021-07-23. Score: 7

There are both natlangs and conlangs with extremely simple phonologies.

For natural languages, [Central Rotokas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotokas_language) holds the record for the smallest attested inventory of consonant phonemes (6).

For a conlang, you may want to look at [Toki Pona](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toki_Pona#Phonology_and_phonotactics) with an inventory of 14 phonemes: 9 consonants and 5 vowels. Toki Pona has some speech community and is more than just a *Plansprachenprojekt*.

These examples show that languages with extremely minimal phonologies are feasible. Yes, words and phrases become longer, but this is compensated by a higher speech rate.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: With fewer phonemes you can be more careless (ie faster) with pronunciation, as there is more redundancy -- you need to distinguish between fewer elements. Hence the faster speech rate. Don't worry if you slur your vowels if /a/ and /e/ are the same anyway...  

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