[l]→[d]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5
Fortition Delateralization Romance Bantu Sino-Tibetan Austronesian Italo-Dalmatian Ibero-Romance Sinitic Malayo-Polynesian
Alveolar lateral approximant to Voiced alveolar plosive
The phonetic transformation from the alveolar lateral approximant /l/ to the voiced alveolar plosive /d/ is a documented sound change, primarily characterized by fortition and delateralization. This shift involves the tongue maintaining its alveolar contact but changing its manner of articulation from an approximant, where air flows around the sides of the tongue, to a plosive, where airflow is completely obstructed and then released. This change often occurs in specific phonetic environments, such as before certain vowels or in post-nasal positions.
Phonetic Effects
Fortition, Delateralization
Language Examples
ILLUM→iddhu— From Latin to Salentine, where /l/ became /d/ (realized as [ɖ]) in specific contexts.
ILLAM→iddha— From Latin to Salentine, where /l/ became /d/ (realized as [ɖ]) in specific contexts.
ILLŌS→iddhi— From Latin to Salentine, where /l/ became /d/ (realized as [ɖ]) in specific contexts.
leixar→deixar— Shift from Old Galician-Portuguese 'leixar' to Modern Portuguese 'deixar'.
lexar→dejar— Shift from Old Spanish 'lexar' to Modern Spanish 'dejar'.
/l/ before high vowels→[d]— Alternations between /l/ and [d] occur before high vowels [i] and [u].
xo-bol-a ('to rot')→bod-ile ('rotted')— Morphophonological alternation of /l/ to /d/.
xo-bal-a ('to count')→bad-ile ('counted')— Morphophonological alternation of /l/ to /d/.
xo-sEl-a ('to find')→sEd-ile ('found')— Morphophonological alternation of /l/ to /d/.
/l/ post-nasal→[d]— Post-nasal fortition from /l/ to [d].
li2 ('you')→di2— Common pronunciation shift from /l/ to /d/.
*l before *i→d— A regular sound change from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *l to d before *i.
Related Transformations
More Romance Shifts
Sources & References
- Regular sound change; The evidence of a single example - Scholar Hub Universitas Indonesia (October 31 2018).
- THE PHONOLOGY OF BETSIMISARAKA MALAGASY by ... - UDSpace.
- Grounded Constraints and The Consonants of Setswana - Maria Gouskova.
- Regular sound change; The evidence of a single example - ResearchGate (March 05 2026).
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