| Voiced velar lateral fricative | |
|---|---|
| ʟ̝ | |
| 𝼄̬ | |
| Audio sample | |
The voiced velar lateral fricative is a very rare consonantal sound that can be found in Archi, a Northeast Caucasian language of Dagestan, in which it is clearly a fricative, although further forward than velars in most languages, and might better be called prevelar.[1]
It occurs as an intervocalic allophone of /𝼄/ in Nii and perhaps some related Wahgi languages of New Guinea.[citation needed]
The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that traditionally represents this sound is ⟨ʟ̝⟩, though in extIPA ⟨𝼄̬⟩ is preferred. The two symbols are equivalent.
Features[edit]
Features of the voiced velar lateral fricative:
- Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
- Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
- Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
- 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.
- The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.
Occurrence[edit]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archi[1] | наӏлъдут | [naˤʟ̝dut] | 'blue' | Prevelar.[1] | |
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "The Archi Language Tutorial" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2009-12-23. (The source uses the symbol for the voiced alveolar lateral fricative, ⟨ɮ⟩, but also notes that the sound to be prevelar.)
