[ɭ]→[ɽ]Certainty: 2/5Commonality: 1/5

Lenition Manner Change Flapping Dravidian

Voiced retroflex lateral approximant to Voiced retroflex flap

The voiced retroflex lateral approximant [ɭ] shifts to the voiced retroflex flap [ɽ] through manner change and lenition in South Asian languages. This transformation reflects the phonetic relationship between retroflexed laterals and flaps in rapid speech and dialectal variation.

Phonetic Effects

Lenition, Manner Change, Flapping

Language Examples

Tamil Dravidian

[ɭ]→[ɽ]— Casual/intervocalic weakening of retroflex lateral

Telugu Dravidian

[ɭ]→[ɽ]— Fast speech variant in retroflex environments

Related Transformations

Reverse strengthening to lateral Non-retroflex lateral to flap

More Lenition Shifts

[a] → [∅] — Elision [b] → [v] — Spirantization [tɕ] → [ʃ] — De-affrication [tɕ] → [ɕ] — Lenition [d] → [∅] — Elision

Sources & References

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