[l]→[y]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5
Alveolar lateral approximant to Close front rounded vowel
The shift from the lateral approximant [l] to the front rounded vowel [y] (or palatal glide [j]) is a result of palatalization and vocalization. It typically occurs in consonant clusters or after front vowels, where the lateral articulation is replaced by a palatal or front-rounded quality.
Phonetic Effects
Palatalization, Vocalization
Language Examples
florem (Latin)→fiore [fj]— Initial clusters with L vocalized to palatal glides in the development of Italian.
pluvia→pioggia
viel [l]→vü [y]— Dialectal vocalization of [l] to a front rounded vowel quality.
Related Transformations
More Romance Shifts
Sources & References
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