----- Original Message -----
From: "Dr Martin J. Ball" <[log in to unmask]>
...
> Leaving aside the problem of defining whether one phoneme in a
> specificlanguage differs from a similar phoneme in a different
> language

But this is no minor objection that can be left aside, in my opinion. Even within one specific language each phoneme has innumerably many allophones, not only depending on phonological or phonetic environment, but also variations due to speaker's dental status, eating, chewing, mental mood (angrily clenching teeth, fearfully gasping, lovingly protruding lips, etc.), physical environment (noisy room, echoing cathedral, shouting, whispering, singing, impersonating, etc.), postural specifics (looking up/down/left/right, lying down prone/supine/left-side/right-side..., bending forwards, hanging in some gymnastics gadget, lifting heavy things, etc.), and any combinations thereof and of whatever more that I didn't mention. How do we count the number of "sounds" then?

Also, how to compare & count "sounds"/allophones/phonemes between the speakers of one language, big persons, small persons, males, females, children, adults, trembling old-agers, big-bearded tramps, ...??

And then even worse, how do we compare, sort and count "sounds" between different "languages" (given that we even could define a "language" and that each such "language" is full of all kinds of people of all ages, genders, sizes, moods, dental statuses, postures, etc., etc., etc., as above!).

As only one simple example, Swedish has some 9 or 18 vowel phoneme (depending on whose analysis!) with lots of allophones. Abaza has only 2-4 vowel phonemes but each with so many allophones that they readily cover all or most of the Swedish ones. How many different "vowels" do Swedish and Abaza have together?

So, IMHO, I think the question can't be answered and shouldn't even be put. At least not as a question about how many "sounds there are in the world's languages".

It is like comparing and counting apples and bananas and asking "how many different fruits are there in the world?" The question somehow seems to imply both species and exemplars simultaneously and therefore is impossible.

Perhaps one could ask "how many possible sounds can be produced by humans?"?? The answer may well be "infinitely many and the number is independent of nationality, but the sounds are categorized and used differently in different languages and dialects, to a certain extent also in different individuals".  I.e., no news to a linguist! ;-)

How many possible bananas can be produced by banana trees?

> indeed, the problem of defining phonemes in the first place), has
> anyoneelse come across this number? Is there a reference for this
> surprisinglyconfident claim?

I would be surprised if there were one. But I would be tremendously glad to be corrected on this point so I don't have to live with my (mis)belief as expressed above any longer, if I am wrong!

Cheers,
Olle