Which sounds are common to all (or most) languages?

Question

I know that there are some sounds that cause a lot of trouble for people who speak another language to pronounce. I was wondering which letters or sounds are easy for almost everyone to pronounce. The more specific you can be the better. Thank you!

Answer 1

There are several that are common to most, if not all, languages.

The unvoiced plosives [p] [t] [k] are widespread, as are their voiced counterparts [b] [d] [g]. However, they may sound slightly different in the different languages, e.g. a Spanisj [t] sounds a bit like an English [d] to non-Spanish speakers, because the English [t] is not pure, but slightly sibilant [t'].

[s] is found in nearly all languages, although its pronunciation differs slightly from one to another.

Many vowels are common to a range of languages, but again, the 'colour' of the vowel differs from one to another.