{{Short description|Type of consonant}} {{More citations needed|date=January 2021}} {{Multiple image|total_width=250 |image1=An outline of English phonetics fig35.png |class1=skin-invert-image |image2=An outline of English phonetics fig18.png |class2=skin-invert-image |footer=[[Palatogram]]s of lateral {{IPAblink|l}} and median {{IPAblink|t}} }} A '''lateral''' is a [[consonant]] in which the [[airstream mechanism|airstream]] proceeds along one or both of the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth. An example of a lateral consonant is the [[English language|English]] ''L'', as in ''Larry''. Lateral consonants contrast with [[median consonant]]s, in which the airstream flows through the center of the mouth.
For the most common laterals, the tip of the tongue makes contact with the upper teeth (see [[dental consonant]]) or the upper gum (see [[alveolar consonant]]), but there are many other possible places for laterals to be made. The most common laterals are [[approximant]]s and belong to the class of [[liquid consonant|liquids]], but lateral [[fricative consonant|fricatives]] and [[affricate consonant|affricates]] are also common in some parts of the world. Some languages, such as the [[Iwaidja language|Iwaidja]] and [[Ilgar language|Ilgar]] languages of [[Australia]], have [[lateral flap]]s, and others, such as the [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] and [[Zulu language|Zulu]] languages of [[Africa]], have [[lateral click]]s.
When pronouncing the [[labiodental consonant|labiodental]] fricatives {{IPA|[f] and [v]}}, the lip blocks the airflow in the center of the vocal tract, so the airstream proceeds along the sides instead. Nevertheless, they are not considered lateral consonants because the airflow never goes over the side of the tongue. No known language makes a distinction between lateral and non-lateral labiodentals. [[Plosive consonant|Plosives]] are never lateral, but they may have [[lateral release (phonetics)|lateral release]]. [[nasal consonant|Nasals]] are almost never lateral either, but reported in [[Nzema language|Nzema]], and some languages have [[lateral nasal click]]s. For consonants articulated in the throat ([[laryngeal consonants|laryngeals]]), the lateral distinction is not made by any language, although pharyngeal and epiglottal laterals are reportedly possible.{{sfnp|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=191}}
==Examples==
English has one lateral phoneme: the lateral approximant {{IPA|/l/}}, which in many accents has two [[allophone]]s. One, found before vowels (and /j/) as in ''lady'' or ''fly'' (or ''value''), is called ''clear l'', pronounced as the [[alveolar lateral approximant]] {{IPA|[l]}} with a "neutral" position of the body of the tongue. The other variant, so-called ''dark l'', found before consonants or word-finally, as in ''bold'' or ''tell'', is pronounced as the [[velarized alveolar lateral approximant]] {{IPA|[ɫ]}} with the tongue assuming a spoon-like shape with its back part raised, which gives the sound a {{IPA|[w]}}- or {{IPA|[ʟ]}}-like resonance. In some languages, like [[Albanian language|Albanian]], those two sounds are different phonemes. [[Gheg Albanian#Malsia Albanian|Malsia e Madhe Gheg Albanian]] and [[Salamina Island|Salamina]] [[Arvanitika]] even have the three-way distinction of laterals {{IPA|/[[Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar lateral approximants|l]]/}}, {{IPA|/[[Voiced palatal lateral approximant|ʎ]]/}} and {{IPA|/[[Velarized alveolar lateral approximant|ɫ]]/}}.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dedvukaj|first1=Lindon|last2=Ndoci|first2=Rexhina|title=Linguistic variation within the Northwestern Gheg Albanian dialect|journal=Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America|publisher=[[Linguistic Society of America]]|doi=10.3765/plsa.v8i1.5501|volume=8|number=1|year=2023|doi-access=free|page=7}}.</ref> [[East Slavic languages]] contrast {{IPA|[ɫ]}} and {{IPA|[lʲ]}} but do not have [l].
In many British accents (e.g. [[Cockney#Cockney speech|Cockney]]), dark {{IPA|[ɫ]}} may undergo [[l-vocalization|vocalization]] through the reduction and loss of contact between the tip of the tongue and the alveolar ridge, becoming a rounded back vowel or glide. This process turns ''tell'' into {{IPA|[tɛɰ]}}, as must have happened with ''talk'' {{IPA|[tɔːk]}} or ''walk'' {{IPA|[wɔːk]}} at some stage. A similar process happened during the development of many other languages, including [[Brazilian Portuguese]], [[Old French]], and [[Polish language|Polish]], in all three of these resulting in [[voiced velar approximant]] {{IPA|[ɰ]}} or [[voiced labio-velar approximant]] {{IPA|[w]}}, whence [[Modern French]] ''sauce'' as compared with [[Spanish language|Spanish]] ''salsa'', or Polish ''Wisła'' (pronounced {{IPA|[viswa]}}) as compared with English ''[[Vistula]]''.
In central dialects of [[Venetian language|Venetian]], intervocalic {{IPA|/l/}} has turned into a semivocalic {{IPA|[e̯]}}, so that the written word ''ła bała'' is pronounced {{IPA|[abae̯a]}}. The orthography uses the letter [[ł]] to represent this phoneme (it specifically represents not the {{IPA|[e̯]}} sound but the phoneme that is, in some dialects, {{IPA|[e̯]}} and, in others, {{IPA|[l]}}).
Many Aboriginal [[Australian languages]] have a series of three or four lateral approximants, as do various dialects of [[Irish language|Irish]]. Rarer lateral consonants include the retroflex laterals that can be found in many [[languages of India]]{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} and in some [[Swedish dialects]], and the [[voiceless alveolar lateral fricative]] {{IPA|/ɬ/}}, found in many [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|Native North American languages]], [[Welsh phonology|Welsh]] and [[Zulu language|Zulu]]. In [[Adyghe language|Adyghe]] and some [[Athabaskan languages]] like [[Hän language|Hän]], both voiceless and voiced alveolar lateral fricatives occur, but there is no approximant. Many of these languages also have lateral [[affricate]]s. Some languages have palatal or velar voiceless lateral fricatives or affricates, such as [[Dahalo language|Dahalo]] and [[Zulu language|Zulu]], but the IPA has no symbols for such sounds. However, appropriate symbols are easy to make by adding a lateral-fricative belt to the symbol for the corresponding lateral approximant (see below). Also, a devoicing diacritic may be added to the approximant.
[[File:Lateral fricatives.svg|thumb|Lateral fricative letters|class=skin-invert-image]]
Nearly all languages with such lateral obstruents also have the approximant. However, there are a number of exceptions, many of them located in the [[Pacific Northwest]] area of the United States. For example, [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]] has {{IPA|/tɬ, tɬʰ, tɬʼ, ɬ, ɬʼ/}} but no {{IPA|/l/}}.{{efn|Some older Tlingit speakers have {{IPA|[l]}} as an allophone of {{IPA|/n/}}. In the Interior dialect, {{IPA|/l/}} is partially phonemic.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Leer |first1=Jeff |url=https://uafanlc.alaska.edu/Online/CA962KL1981/rp5.pdf |title=Athabaskan, Eyak, and Tlingit Sonorants |last2=Krauss |first2=Michael E. |date=1981 |publisher=Alaska Native Language Center |number=5 |pages=148-149}} </ref>}} Other examples from the same area include [[Nuu-chah-nulth language|Nuu-chah-nulth]] and [[Kutenai language|Kutenai]], and elsewhere, [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]], [[Chukchi language|Chukchi]], and [[Kabardian language|Kabardian]].
[[Standard Tibetan]] has a [[voiceless alveolar lateral approximant|voiceless lateral approximant]], usually romanized as ''lh'', as in the name [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]].
A [[uvular lateral approximant]] has been reported to occur in some speakers of [[American English]].{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|p=221}}
[[Pashto language|Pashto]] has a [[retroflex lateral flap]] that becomes [[voiced retroflex approximant]] when it is at the end of a syllable and a word.<ref name="David2014">{{cite book |last1=David |first1=Anne Boyle |title=Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and its Dialects |date=2014 |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |isbn=978-1614513032 |pages=24–27}}</ref>
There are a large number of lateral [[click consonant]]s; 17 occur in [[!Xóõ]].
Lateral [[trill consonant|trills]] are also possible, but they do not occur in any known language. They may be pronounced by initiating {{IPA|[ɬ]}} or {{IPA|[ɮ]}} with an especially forceful airflow. There is no symbol for them in the IPA. They are sometimes used to imitate [[bird call]]s, and they are a component of [[Donald Duck talk|Buccal speech]].
==List of laterals==
===Approximants=== * [[Voiced dental lateral approximant]] {{IPA|[l̪]}} (in [[Arabic]], [[Chinese language|Chinese]]) * [[Voiced alveolar lateral approximant]] {{IPA|[l]}} (in [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[English language|English]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]]) * [[Voiced retroflex lateral approximant]] {{IPA|[ɭ]}} (in [[Dhivehi language|Dhivehi]], [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Telegu language|Telegu]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]]) * [[Voiced palatal lateral approximant]] {{IPA|[ʎ]}} (in [[Aymara language|Aymara]], [[Anindilyakwa language|Anindilyakwa]]) * [[Voiced velar lateral approximant]] {{IPA|[ʟ]}} (in [[Wahgi language|Wahgi]]) * [[Voiced uvular lateral approximant]] {{IPA|[ʟ̠]}} (in some American dialects)
===Fricatives=== * [[Voiceless dental lateral fricative]] {{IPA|[ɬ̪]}} (in [[Wahgi language|Wahgi]]) * [[Voiced dental lateral fricative]] {{IPA|[ɮ̪]}} (allophonic in Wahgi) * [[Voiceless alveolar lateral fricative]] {{IPA|[ɬ]}} (in [[Adyghe language|Adyghe]], [[Chukchi language|Chukchi]], [[Kabardian language|Kabardian]], [[Navajo language|Navajo]], [[Welsh language|Welsh]]) * [[Voiced alveolar lateral fricative]] {{IPA|[ɮ]}} (in Adyghe, Kabardian, [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]], [[Tigak language|Tigak]]) * [[Voiceless retroflex lateral fricative]] {{IPA|[ꞎ]}} (in [[Toda language|Toda]]) * [[Voiced retroflex lateral fricative]] {{IPA|[ɭ˔]}} ({{IPA|[𝼅]}}) (in [[Ao language|Ao]]) * [[Voiceless palatal lateral fricative]] {{IPA|[𝼆]}} (in [[Dahalo language|Dahalo]], [[Inupiaq language|Inupiaq]]) * [[Voiced palatal lateral fricative]] {{IPA|[ʎ̝]}} ({{IPA|[𝼆̬]}}) (allophonic in [[Jebero language|Jebero]]) * [[Voiceless velar lateral fricative]] {{IPA|[𝼄]}} (in [[Archi language|Archi]], [[Nii language|Nii]], Wahgi) * [[Voiced velar lateral fricative]] {{IPA|[ʟ̝]}} ({{IPA|[𝼄̬]}}) (in [[Archi language|Archi]], allophonic in Wahgi)
Only the alveolar lateral fricatives have dedicated letters in the IPA proper, though the retroflex letters are 'implied'. The others are provided by the [[extIPA]]. * [[Voiceless lateral-median fricative]] {{IPA|[θ̠ˡ]}} or extIPA {{IPA|[ʪ]}} (in [[ʽAsir province|Al-Rubūʽah]] [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Mehri language|Mehri]]) * [[Voiced lateral-median fricative]] {{IPA|[ð̠ˡ]}} or extIPA {{IPA|[ʫ]}} (in [[Rijal Almaa]] [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Mehri language|Mehri]])
===Affricates=== * [[Voiceless alveolar lateral affricate]] {{IPA|[tɬ]}} (in Navajo, [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]] and [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]]) * [[Voiced alveolar lateral affricate]] {{IPA|[dɮ]}} (allophonic in Zulu and Xhosa) * [[Voiceless retroflex lateral affricate]] {{IPA|[ʈꞎ]}} (in [[Bhadrawahi language|Bhadrawahi]]) * [[Voiced retroflex lateral affricate]] {{IPA|[ɖɭ˔]}} ({{IPA|[ɖ𝼅]}}) (in [[Bhadrawahi language|Bhadrawahi]]) * [[Voiceless palatal lateral affricate]] {{IPA|[c𝼆]}} (perhaps prepalatal in [[Sandawe language|Sandawe]] and [[Hadza language|Hadza]]) * [[Voiced palatal lateral affricate]] {{IPA|[ɟʎ̝]}} (perhaps prepalatal in [[Sandawe language|Sandawe]]) * [[Voiceless velar lateral affricate]] {{IPA|[k𝼄]}} (in [[Archi language|Archi]], [[Laghuu language|Laghuu]], [[Muji language|Muji]]) * [[Voiced velar lateral affricate]] {{IPA|[ɡʟ̝]}} (in [[Hiw language|Hiw]], [[Laghuu language|Laghuu]], [[Muji language|Muji]])
===Flaps=== * [[Voiceless alveolar lateral flap]] {{IPA|[ɺ̥]}} (in [[Yavitero language|Yavitero]],{{sfnp|Mosonyi|Esteban|2000|pp=594–661}} [[Karu language|Karu]]) * [[Voiced alveolar lateral flap]] {{IPA|[ɺ]}} (in [[Wayuu language|Wayuu]], [[Iwaidja language|Iwaidja]]) * [[Voiceless retroflex lateral flap]] {{IPA|[𝼈̥]}} (allophonic in Wahgi) * [[Voiced retroflex lateral flap]] {{IPA|[𝼈]}} (in [[Pashto language|Pashto]], [[Iwaidja language|Iwaidja]]) * [[Palatal lateral flap]] {{IPA|[ʎ̮]}} (allophonic in [[Iwaidja language|Iwaidja]] and [[Ilgar language|Ilgar]]) * [[Velar lateral flap]] {{IPA|[ʟ̆]}} (in [[Kanite language|Kanite]] and [[Melpa language|Melpa]])
===Ejective=== ====Affricates==== * [[Alveolar lateral ejective affricate]] {{IPA|[tɬʼ]}} (in [[Besleney#Language|Baslaney]], Navajo, Tlingit) * [[Palatal lateral ejective affricate]] {{IPA|[c𝼆ʼ]}} (in [[Dahalo language|Dahalo]], Sandawe, Hadza) * [[Velar lateral ejective affricate]] {{IPA|[k𝼄ʼ]}} (in [[Archi language|Archi]], [[Gǀwi language|Gǀwi]], [[Zulu language|Zulu]]) * [[Uvular lateral ejective affricate]] {{IPA|[q𝼄̠ʼ]}} (in [[ǂʼAmkoe language|ǂʼAmkoe]], [[Gǀwi language|Gǀwi]])
====Fricatives==== * [[Alveolar lateral ejective fricative]] {{IPA|[ɬ']}} (in [[Adyghe language|Adyghe]], [[Kabardian language|Kabardian]], [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]])
===Clicks=== * [[Alveolar lateral click]]s {{IPA|[ᵏǁ]}}, {{IPA|[ᵏǁˀ]}}, {{IPA|[ᵑ̊ǁʰ]}} ''etc.'' (in all five [[Khoisan languages|Khoisan]] families and several [[Bantu languages]])
==Ambiguous laterality== The IPA requires sounds to be defined as to laterality, as either median or lateral. However, languages may be ambiguous as to some consonants' laterality.{{sfn|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=243}} A well-known example is the liquid consonant in Japanese, represented in common transliteration systems as {{angle brackets|r}}, which can be recognized as a (post)[[alveolar tap]] {{IPA|/ɾ/}},<ref name="ipajp">{{cite book |last=Okada |first=Hideo |year=1999 |chapter=Japanese |title=Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=117–119 |isbn=978-0-52163751-0}}</ref> [[alveolar lateral flap]] {{IPA|/ɺ/}}, (post)[[alveolar lateral approximant]] {{IPA|/l/}}, (post)[[alveolar approximant]] {{IPA|/ɹ/}},<ref name="ipajp"/> [[voiced retroflex stop]] {{IPA|/ɖ/}},<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Arai |first1=Takayuki |last2=Warner |first2=Natasha |last3=Greenberg |first3=Steven |year=2007 |title=Analysis of spontaneous Japanese in a multi-language telephone-speech corpus |journal=Acoustical Science and Technology |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=46–48 |doi=10.1250/ast.28.46}}</ref> and various less common forms.
==Lateralized consonants== A superscript {{angbr IPA|ˡ}} is defined as [[lateral release (phonetics)|lateral release]].
Consonants may also be pronounced with simultaneous lateral and median airflow. This is well-known from speech pathology with a [[lateral lisp]]. However, it also occurs in nondisordered speech in some southern [[Arabic dialects]] and possibly some [[Modern South Arabian languages]], which have pharyngealized nonsibilant {{IPA|/ʪ̪ˤ/}} and {{IPA|/ʫ̪ˤ/}} (simultaneous {{IPA|[θ͜ɬˤ]}} and {{IPA|[ð͡ɮˤ]}}) and possibly a sibilant {{IPA|/ʪ/}} (simultaneous {{IPA|[s͜ɬ]}}). Examples are {{IPA|/θˡˤaim/}} 'pain' in the dialect of [[ʽAsir province|Al-Rubūʽah]] and {{IPA|/ðˡˤahr/}} 'back' and {{IPA|/ðˡˤabʕ/}} 'hyena' in [[Rijal Alma language|Rijal Almaʽa]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Heselwood |first=Barry |title=Phonetic transcription in theory and practice |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-7486-9101-2 |pages=122–123 |chapter=Phonetic notation |chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/phonetic-transcription-in-theory-and-practice/phonetic-notation/4323870E65E445EF2E327FF46912089A}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Watson |first=Janet |date=January 2011 |title=Lateral fricatives and lateral emphatics in southern Saudi Arabia and Mehri |url=https://www.academia.edu/8283145 |location=Oxford |publisher=Archaeopress |volume=41 |book-title=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=Janet |title=Nicht Nur mit Engelszungen: Beiträge zur Semitischen Dialektologie: Festschrift für Werner Arnold |date=January 2013 |publisher=Harrassowitz |isbn=978-3447-06926-7<!--Academia.edu copy missing 3 in ISBN--> |location=Wiesbaden |chapter=Lateral reflexes of Proto-Semitic D and Dh in Al-Rubūʽah dialect, south-west Saudi Arabic: Electropalatographic and acoustic evidence |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/8283071}}</ref> (Here the {{angbr IPA|ˡ}} indicates simultaneous laterality rather than lateral release.) Biblical Hebrew may have had non-emphatic median-lateral sibilants {{IPA|[ʃ͡ɬ]}} and {{IPA|[s͜ɬ]}}, while [[Old Arabic]] has been analyzed as having the emphatic median–lateral fricatives {{IPA|[θ͜ɬˤ]}}, {{IPA|[ð͡ɮˤ]}} and {{IPA|[ʃ͡ɬˤ]}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Potet |first=Jean-Paul |title=Arabic and Persian Loanwords in Tagalog |publisher=Lulu.com |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-291-45726-1 |pages=89 ff}}</ref>{{Self-published source|date=March 2026}}
==See also== * [[Delateralization]] * [[Lateral release (phonetics)]] * [[List of phonetics topics]]
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
===Sources=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Cruttenden |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2nMAgAAQBAJ |title=Gimson's Pronunciation of English |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4441-8309-2 |edition=8th}} * {{SOWL}} * {{cite book |last1=Mosonyi |first1=Emilio Esteban |title=Manual de Lenguas Indígenas de Venezuela |last2=Mosonyi |first2=Jorge C. |last3=Largo |first3=Águeda |publisher=Fundación Bigott |year=2000 |editor-last1=Mosonyi |editor-first1=Largo |location=Caracas |pages=595-661 |chapter=Yavitero |editor-last2=Esteban |editor-first2=Jorge |oclc=46771684}}
{{refend}}
{{IPA navigation}} {{Articulation navbox}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Consonants by manner of articulation]] [[Category:Lateral consonants| ]]