* No universal agreement on what constitutes a "sound": Linguists use different methods to analyze and categorize sounds, leading to varying classifications. Some focus on the physical production of sounds (phonetics), while others prioritize their function in language (phonology).
* Language diversity: With thousands of languages spoken, each with its unique sound system, creating a comprehensive list is a monumental task.
* Constant change: Languages are constantly evolving, with sounds being added, lost, or modified over time.
However, we can offer some estimations:
* Phonetic inventory: Some estimates suggest that humans can produce around 850 distinct sounds. This is based on the range of possible positions of the tongue, lips, and vocal cords.
* Phonological inventory: The number of sounds that are actually used in any given language is much smaller. The average language uses around 30-40 distinct sounds, with some having as few as 10 and others approaching 100.
In summary: While we can't pinpoint an exact number, it's safe to say that there are hundreds of sounds used in the world's languages, with a large range in the number of sounds each language employs.