Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Voiced palatal lateral flap

Voiced palatal lateral flap
ʎ̆
Audio sample

The voiced palatal lateral flap is a rare type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. There is no dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound. However, the symbol for a palatal lateral approximant with a breve denoting extra-shortʎ̆⟩ may be used.

Features

Features of the voiced palatal lateral flap:

Occurrence

The Iwaidja and Ilgar languages of Australia have a palatal lateral flap as well as alveolar and retroflex lateral flaps. However, the palatal flap has not been shown to be phonemic; it may instead be an underlying sequence /ɺj/.

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Ilgar [miʎ̆arɡu] Mildyagru Likely an underlying sequence of /ɺj/. Contrasts /l, ɺ, ɭ, 𝼈 /.
Iwaidja [example needed] Contrasts /l, ɺ, ɭ, 𝼈 / and [ʎ, ʎ̆], though the latter are likely to be sequences /lj, ɺj/.
Oʼodham leʼeje [ʎ̆ɨʔɨd͡ʒɨ] brat (misbehaving child) Described as a palatal lateral flap in recent sources, as retroflex in older sources.

References