Voiceless retroflex lateral approximant

The voiceless retroflex 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 ɭ̊, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is l`_0.

Voiceless retroflex lateral approximant
ɭ̊
IPA Number156 402A
Encoding
X-SAMPAl`_0

It is found as a phoneme distinct from its voiced counterpart /ɭ/ in Iaai and Toda.[1] In both of these languages it also contrasts with more anterior /l̥, l/, which are dental in Iaai and alveolar in Toda.[1]

Features

Features of the voiceless retroflex lateral approximant:

  • Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
  • It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.

Occurrence

In the following transcriptions, diacritics may be used to distinguish between apical [ɭ̺̊] and laminal [ɭ̻̊].

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Iaai[1] Contrasts with /ɭ/.[1]
Toda[1] [paɭ̊] 'valley' Contrasts with /ɭ/ (as in /paɭ/ 'bangle').[1]
gollark: LyricLy is much like Euler's totient function.
gollark: [REDACTED]
gollark: Unlikely.
gollark: Don't believe his lies.
gollark: ↓ LyricLy

See also

Notes

References

  • Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-19815-4.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.