[t]→[l]Certainty: 5/5Commonality: 4/5
Voiceless alveolar plosive to Alveolar lateral approximant
The transformation of a voiceless alveolar plosive /t/ into an alveolar lateral approximant /l/ is a documented phonetic shift, primarily characterized by a process of lateralization. This involves a change in the manner of articulation, where the complete closure of the oral cavity for a plosive is relaxed to allow airflow over the sides of the tongue, resulting in a lateral sound, while maintaining the alveolar place of articulation.
Phonetic Effects
Lenition, Lateralization, Plosive to Approximant
Language Examples
*t→/l/— Lateralization of *t conditioned by a following *a.
Middle Chinese /ʔiɪt̚/→/il/— Final -t in Middle Chinese loanwords shifted to -l in Sino-Korean.
Related Transformations
More Lenition Shifts
Spotted a mistake or have a better example?
EchoDrift is community-driven. You can suggest a change directly through GitHub.
Propose an Edit on GitHub