[l]→[ʎ]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 5/5
Alveolar lateral approximant to Voiced palatal lateral approximant
Lateral palatalization involves the shift from the alveolar lateral [l] to the palatal lateral [ʎ]. This change is extremely common when /l/ is followed by the palatal glide [j] or high front vowels. It is a defining historical development in Italian, Spanish, and several Slavic languages. The process often results in the loss of alveolar contact in favor of a dorsal contact against the hard palate.
Phonetic Effects
Palatalization, Lateral Palatalization, Lateral Shift
Language Examples
filia [lj]→figlia [ʎ] (Italian)— Historical palatalization of Latin /lj/.
folia [lj]→foglia [ʎ] (Italian) / hoja [x] (Spanish)— Spanish historically went through a [ʎ] stage before shifting to [x].
*volja [lj]→volja [ʎ]— Palatalization of /l/ before /j/ in Slavic.
mulier→mulher [ʎ]— The palatal lateral /ʎ/ (written 'lh') is a core phoneme in Portuguese.
Related Transformations
More Romance Shifts
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