Lateral flap
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A lateral flap is a family of consonantal sounds, used in some spoken languages.
There are four attested or claimed lateral flaps in the world's languages:
- The alveolar lateral flap is quite common.
- A retroflex lateral flap is found in the Iwaidja language of Australia.
- A palatal lateral flap may also occur in Iwaidja, but is uncertain.
- A velar lateral flap occurs allophonically in Melpa and a few other languages of New Guinea.
[edit] Features
Features of lateral flap:
- Its manner of articulation is flap, which means it is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another.
- It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the sides of the tongue, rather than the middle of the tongue.