Home > Lateral palatal approximant
The lateral palatal 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 consonantLaterals are "L"-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. Most commonly the tip of the tongue makes contact with the upper teeth (se, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the sides of the tongue, rather than the center of the tongue.
- The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungThe lung is an organ belonging to the respiratory system and interfacing to the circulatory system of air-breathing vertebrates. Its function is to exchange oxygen from air with carbon dioxide from blood. The process in which this happens is called " extes and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottisThe space between the vocal cords is called the glottis . As the vocal cords vibrate, the resulting vibration produces a "buzzing" quality to the speech, called voice or voicing . Sounds production involving only the glottis is called glottal''. English h or the mouth.
Occurs in:
- Spanish millón \mi"Lo~n\ (million)
- Italian figlio \fiLo\ (son)
