Delateralization

<h2 id="yesmo-romance-languages">Yeísmo (Romance languages)</h2>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Ye%C3%ADsmo/StFg9UEM">Yeísmo</a>
Arguably, the best known example of this sound change is yeísmo, which occurs in many <a href="/facts/Spanish_language/95BgYNfv">Spanish</a> and some <a href="/facts/Galician_language/bGIhIvMX">Galician</a> dialects.
In accents with yeísmo, the <a href="/facts/Palatal_lateral_approximant/95EyBgHm">palatal lateral approximant</a> /ʎ/ merges with the <a href="/facts/Palatal_approximant/v0NVCbUh">palatal approximant</a> /ʝ/ which, phonetically, can be an affricate [<a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_affricate/GnhVuaQ8">ɟ͡ʝ</a>] (word-initially and after /n/), an approximant [<a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_approximant/v0NVCbUh">ʝ̞</a>] (in other environments) or a fricative [<a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_fricative/MUQsm9J6">ʝ</a>] (in the same environments as the approximant, but only in careful speech).
In <a href="/facts/Romanian_language/zAY3GnkL">Romanian</a>, the palatal lateral approximant /ʎ/ merged with /j/ centuries ago. The same happened to the historic palatal nasal /ɲ/, although that is an example of <a href="/facts/Lenition/htEV4TwT">lenition</a>.
In <a href="/facts/French_language/qe1DnaQh">French</a>, ⟨il⟩ (except in the word "il" [il]) and ⟨ill⟩ (usually followed by "e"; exceptions include "ville" [vil]) are usually pronounced [ij]. It generally occurs word- or morpheme-finally. For example, travail "work" (noun) [tʁavaj], travaillait "(he/she/it) used to work" [tʁavaje], gentille "kind" <a href="/facts/Grammatical_gender/2hEshpnP">feminine</a> singular [ʒɑ̃tij].
Furthermore, when a French word ending in al is pluralized, rather than becoming als, it becomes aux. For example, un animal spécial "a special animal" > des animaux spéciaux "(some) special animals".

<h2 id="turkish">Turkish</h2>
Delateralisation can occur in Turkish. Its one lateral is [l], which can become [j] after [i]. For example, değil "not" is pronounced [de.ij].

<h2 id="english">English</h2>
Main article: <a href="/facts/L-vocalization/d6Ubls6k">L-vocalization § Modern_English</a>
In some accents, when [l] appears word-finally, or after a vowel and before a consonant, it can become [w]. For example, little [ˈlɪ.tʰl̩] > [ˈlɪ.tʰw̩], bell [bɛl] > [bɛw], help [hɛlp] > [hɛwpʰ].

<h2 id="polish">Polish</h2>
The <a href="/facts/Polish_language/lzpvYDvV">Polish</a> <a href="/facts/Polish_alphabet/Ju1Roo9c">letter</a> <a href="/facts/%C5%81/0Ge4MIc9">Ł</a> represents the sound [w]. The orthography is evidence of an original lateral.

<h2 id="arabic-d">Arabic Ḍād</h2>
Main article: <a href="/facts/%E1%B8%8C%C4%81d/gMKQ4VUj">Ḍād</a>
Another known example of delateralization is the sound change that happened to the <a href="/facts/Arabic_language/A1e66hVV">Arabic</a> ḍād, which, historically, was a lateral consonant, either a <a href="/facts/Pharyngealization/yesDa9qg">pharyngealized</a> <a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_fricative/69Vsl5Dx">voiced alveolar lateral fricative</a> [ɮˤ]ⓘ or a similar <a href="/facts/Affricate/Fn2y7FIA">affricated</a> sound [<a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_affricate/h76MgFjP">d͡ɮˤ</a>] or [<a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_affricate/h76MgFjP">dˡˤ</a>].<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">1</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a> The affricated form is suggested by loans of ḍ into Akkadian as ld or lṭ and into Malaysian as dl.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a> However, some linguists, such as the French orientalist André Roman supposes that the letter was actually a pharyngealized <a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolo-palatal_sibilant/03LloGUa">voiced alveolo-palatal sibilant</a> [ʑˤ], similar to the Polish <a href="/facts/%C5%B9/Bf1NUwpT">ź</a>, which is not a lateral sound.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a>
In modern Arabic, there are three possible realizations of this sound, all of which are central:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a>

<ul><li>Pharyngealized <a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_stop/A6hNvmCp">voiced alveolar stop</a> [dˤ]ⓘ</li>
<li>Pharyngealized <a href="/facts/Voiced_dental_stop/A6hNvmCp">voiced dental stop</a> [d̪ˤ]</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Velarization/r0vmyV4T">Velarized</a> voiced dental stop [d̪ˠ].</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Versteegh, Kees (1999). "Loanwords from Arabic and the merger of ḍ/ḏ̣". In Arazi, Albert; Sadan, Joseph; Wasserstein, David J. (eds.). Compilation and Creation in Adab and Luġa: Studies in Memory of Naphtali Kinberg (1948–1997). Eisenbrauns. pp. 273–286. ISBN 9781575060453. <a href="9781575060453" target="_blank">9781575060453</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Versteegh, Kees (2000). "Treatise on the pronunciation of the ḍād". In Kinberg, Leah; Versteegh, Kees (eds.). Studies in the Linguistic Structure of Classical Arabic. Brill. pp. 197–199. ISBN 9004117652. <a href="9004117652" target="_blank">9004117652</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Versteegh, Kees (2003) [1997]. The Arabic language (Repr. ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780748614363. <a href="9780748614363" target="_blank">9780748614363</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Versteegh, Kees (1999). "Loanwords from Arabic and the merger of ḍ/ḏ̣". In Arazi, Albert; Sadan, Joseph; Wasserstein, David J. (eds.). Compilation and Creation in Adab and Luġa: Studies in Memory of Naphtali Kinberg (1948–1997). Eisenbrauns. pp. 273–286. ISBN 9781575060453. <a href="9781575060453" target="_blank">9781575060453</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Versteegh, Kees (2000). "Treatise on the pronunciation of the ḍād". In Kinberg, Leah; Versteegh, Kees (eds.). Studies in the Linguistic Structure of Classical Arabic. Brill. pp. 197–199. ISBN 9004117652. <a href="9004117652" target="_blank">9004117652</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Roman, André (1983). Étude de la phonologie et de la morphologie de la koiné arabe. Vol. 1. Aix-en-Provence: Université de Provence. pp. 162–206. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Versteegh, Kees (2003) [1997]. The Arabic language (Repr. ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780748614363. <a href="9780748614363" target="_blank">9780748614363</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Delateralization open-in-new

Delateralization