# I'm inventing a COMPLETE brand-new alphabet - how many letters do I need?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-inventing-a-complete-brand-new-alphabet-how-many-letters-do-i-need/568860>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 25, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-inventing-a-complete-brand-new-alphabet-how-many-letters-do-i-need/568860 "2011-01-25T01:02:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-inventing-a-complete-brand-new-alphabet-how-many-letters-do-i-need/568860/61 "2011-01-27T21:50:45Z")

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> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#):
>
> Sure, but the bottom line is that, with about 50 sounds, you can come up with a pronunciation guide for English that is good enough for a major dictionary.

No, the bottom line is that you keep changing the question. Are you asking what the number of discrete phonemes is in every language with 10,000 speakers? Or are you asking how many phonemes the IPA can represent?

Those are two different questions.

The first question can be answered by going to the Wikipedia page of every such language and counting the phonemes and eliminating the duplicates. If you’re that interested in the answer, do it yourself.

The second question has been answered for you repeatedly.

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-inventing-a-complete-brand-new-alphabet-how-many-letters-do-i-need/568860/62 "2011-01-27T21:54:17Z")

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> [@acsenray](#):
>
> The first question can be answered by going to the Wikipedia page of every such language and counting the phonemes and eliminating the duplicates. If you’re that interested in the answer, do it yourself.

Thank you for your help.

> [@](#):
>
> The second question has been answered for you repeatedly.

Yes, I have it memorized. The answer is infinity. Thank you for this information also.

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