l̪|l vs ɬʲ

Voiced Alveolar Lateral Fricative vs Voiceless Alveolar Lateral Fricative

How these sounds differ

l̪|l

Voiced Alveolar Lateral Fricative

Voicing: voiced
Place: alveolar
Manner: lateral fricative
Class: consonant
In languages: 52 / 500

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ɬʲ

Voiceless Alveolar Lateral Fricative

Voicing: voiceless
Place: alveolar
Manner: lateral fricative
Class: consonant
In languages: 2 / 500

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Cross-linguistic distribution

Languages with l̪|l

Languages with both

Languages with ɬʲ

0 languages in our database contrast both sounds as distinct phonemes. Languages that have one but not the other tend to merge them into a single phoneme — meaning speakers of those languages often struggle to hear the distinction when learning a language that contrasts them.

Has l̪|l, not ɬʲ (20)

SEDANG Austroasiatic TARASCAN Tarascan NENETS Uralic ARCHI Nakh-Daghestanian SAMA Austronesian BEJA Afro-Asiatic BELLA COOLA Salishan BRAO Austroasiatic BRUU Austroasiatic ASHUSLAY Mataguayan NYAH KUR Austroasiatic HIGHLAND CHINANTEC Otomanguean UPPER CHEHALIS Salishan LAI Sino-Tibetan CHATINO Otomanguean DAHALO Afro-Asiatic DANI Nuclear Trans New Guinea YUPIK Eskimo-Aleut EYAK Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit PO-AI Tai-Kadai

Has ɬʲ, not l̪|l (2)

Northern Khanty Uralic ITELMEN Chukotko-Kamchatkan