Voiceless alveolar lateral affricate

Updated on Oct 29, 2023

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IPA number 103 (148) Unicode (hex) U+0074 U+0361 U+026C		Entity (decimal) t͡ɬ

The voiceless alveolar lateral affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is ⟨t͡ɬ⟩ (often simplified to ⟨tɬ⟩), and in Americanist phonetic notation it is ⟨ƛ⟩ (lambda bar).

Features

Features of the voiceless alveolar lateral affricate:

Its manner of articulation is affricate, which means it is produced by first stopping the airflow entirely, then allowing air flow through a constricted channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.

Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.

Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.

It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.

It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.

The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

References

Voiceless alveolar lateral affricate Wikipedia

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