Palatal lateral approximant - Definition and Overview

IPA - Unicode	ʎ
IPA - image
X-SAMPA	L
Kirshenbaum	l^
Sound sample

The palatal lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ʎ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is L. Features of this consonant:

• Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
• Its place of articulation is palatal which means it is articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised against the hard palate.
• Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
• It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the sides of the tongue, rather than the middle of the tongue.
• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.

In English

In some dialects of English, the sequence /lj/ is sometimes realized as the palatal lateral approximant, via coalescence, a type of assimilation. For example, million (/ˈmɪljən/ might be realized as [ˈmɪʎən]). However, there are no minimal pairs for /lj/ and /ʎ/, so the palatal lateral approximant is not a separate phoneme in English.

In other languages

Catalan

Catalan has the palatal lateral approximant as a phoneme, and it is denoted by "ll", as in lluna /ˈʎuna/ (moon).

Croatian

Croation has the palatal lateral approximant as a phoneme, and it is denoted by "lj", as in odijeljen /ˈodijeːʎen/ (separated).

Italian

Italian has the palatal lateral approximant as a phoneme, and it is denoted by "gli", as in figlio /ˈfiʎo/ (son).

Portuguese

Portuguese has the palatal lateral approximant as a phoneme, and it is denoted by "lh", as in ovelha /oˈveʎa/ (sheep).

Quechua

Quechua has the palatal lateral approximant as a phoneme, and it is denoted by "ll", as in allin /ˈaʎin/ (good).

Slovak

Slovak has the palatal lateral approximant as a phoneme, and it is denoted by "l’", as in ral’a /ˈraʎa/ (field).

Spanish

Spanish has the palatal lateral approximant as a phoneme, and it is denoted by "ll", as in millón /miˈʎõn/ (million).