A lateral flap is a family of
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced w ...
al sounds, used in some
spoken language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
s.
There are four attested or claimed lateral flaps in the world's languages:
* The
alveolar lateral flap
The voiced alveolar lateral flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a fusion of a rotated lowercase letter with a letter . Approved i ...
is quite common.
*A
retroflex lateral flap
The voiced retroflex lateral flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The expected symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is ().Kirk Miller & Michael AshbyL2/20-252RUnicode request for IPA modifier-letters (a), ...
() is found throughout South Asia, from
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...
to
Oriya, in the
Iwaidjan languages of Australia, and sporadically elsewhere.
*A
palatal lateral flap
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 approx ...
has been described from Iwaidja, but may be a palatalized alveolar flap.
*A
velar lateral flap occurs allophonically in
Melpa and a few other languages of New Guinea.
Features
Features of lateral flap:
{{SIA
Lateral consonants