# Voiced palatal lateral approximant

The voiced palatal lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʎ⟩, a rotated lowercase letter ⟨y⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is L.
Many languages that were previously thought to have a palatal lateral approximant actually have a lateral approximant that is, broadly, alveolo-palatal; that is to say, it is articulated at a place in-between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate (excluded), and it may be variously described as alveolo-palatal, lamino-postalveolar, or postalveolo-prepalatal. None of the 13 languages investigated by Recasens (2013), many of them Romance, has a 'true' palatal. That is likely the case for several other languages listed here. Some languages, like Portuguese and Catalan, have a lateral approximant that varies between alveolar and alveolo-palatal.
There is no dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the alveolo-palatal lateral approximant. If precision is desired, it may be transcribed ⟨l̠ʲ⟩ or ⟨ʎ̟⟩; they are essentially equivalent because the contact includes both the blade and body (but not the tip) of the tongue. There is also a non-IPA letter U+0234 ȴ LATIN SMALL LETTER L WITH CURL; ⟨ȴ⟩ ("l", plus the curl found in the symbols for alveolo-palatal sibilant fricatives ⟨ɕ, ʑ⟩) is used especially in Sinological circles.
The voiced palatal lateral approximant contrasts phonemically with its voiceless counterpart /ʎ̥/ in the Xumi language spoken in China.

## Features

Features of the voiced palatal lateral approximant:
* Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
* Its place of articulation is palatal, which means it is articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised to the hard palate.
* Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
* 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.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

## Occurrence

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Albanian | Malsia e Madhe | lule | [ˈʎuʎɛ] | 'flower' | |
| Albanian | Arbëresh | lule | [ˈʎuʎɛ] | 'flower' | |
| Albanian | Arvanitika | lule | [ˈʎuʎɛ] | 'flower' | |
| Aragonese | Aragonese | agulla | [a̠ˈɣuʎa̠] | 'needle' | |
| Aromanian | Aromanian | ljepuri | [ˈʎe̞puri] | 'rabbit' | |
| Astur-Leonese | Asturian | llingua | [ˈʎĩŋɡwa̝] | 'language' | Where /ʎ/ is absent and replaced by different sounds (depending on dialect), a phenomenon known as che vaqueira, its corresponding sounds are spelled ⟨ḷḷ⟩. |
| Astur-Leonese | Leonese | llingua | [ˈʎĩŋɡwa̝] | 'language' | Where /ʎ/ is absent and replaced by different sounds (depending on dialect), a phenomenon known as che vaqueira, its corresponding sounds are spelled ⟨ḷḷ⟩. |
| Astur-Leonese | Mirandese | lhéngua | [ˈʎɛ̃ɡwɐ] | 'language' | Where /ʎ/ is absent and replaced by different sounds (depending on dialect), a phenomenon known as che vaqueira, its corresponding sounds are spelled ⟨ḷḷ⟩. |
| Aymara | Aymara | llaki | [ʎaki] | 'sad' | |
| Basque | Basque | bonbilla | [bo̞mbiʎa̠] | 'bulb' | |
| Breton | Breton | familh | [fa̠miʎ] | 'family' | |
| Bulgarian | Bulgarian | любов | [ʎuˈbof] | 'love' | Alveolo-palatal. See Bulgarian phonology |
| Catalan | Standard | llac | [ˈʎ̟äk] | 'lake' | Alveolo-palatal. See Catalan phonology |
| Catalan | Eastern Aragon | clau | [ˈkʎ̟äw] | 'key' | Allophone of /l/ in consonant clusters. |
| Chipaya | Chipaya | lloqa | [ʎoqa] | 'bank' | See Chipaya languages |
| English | Australian | million | [ˈmɪʎən] | 'million' | Frequent realization of the sequence /lj/ |
| English | Canadian (Atlantic and Newfoundland) | million | [ˈmɪʎən] | 'million' | Frequent realization of the sequence /lj/ |
| English | County Donegal | million | [ˈmɪʎən] | 'million' | Realization of the sequence /lj/. |
| English | General American | million | [ˈmɪʎən] | 'million' | Common realization of the sequence /lj/; sometimes realized as [jj]. See English phonology |
| English | Hiberno-English | million | [ˈmɪʎən] | 'million' | Common realization of the sequence /lj/ |
| English | New England | million | [ˈmɪʎən] | 'million' | Common realization of the sequence /lj/ |
| English | New York City | million | [ˈmɪʎən] | 'million' | Common realization of the sequence /lj/ |
| English | New Zealand | million | [ˈmɪʎən] | 'million' | Common realization of the sequence /lj/ |
| English | Received Pronunciation | million | [ˈmɪʎən] | 'million' | Common realization of the sequence /lj/ |
| English | South African | million | [ˈmɪʎən] | 'million' | Common realization of the sequence /lj/ |
| English | Southern American | million | [ˈmɪʎən] | 'million' | Common realization of the sequence /lj/ |
| English | Philippine | gorilla | [goˈɾɪʎɐ] | 'gorilla' | Common realization of ⟨ll⟩ between vowels due to Spanish influence. |
| Enindhilyagwa | Enindhilyagwa | angalya | [aŋal̠ʲa] | 'place' | Laminal post-alveolar |
| Faroese | Faroese | telgja | [ˈtʰɛʎt͡ʃa] | 'to carve' | Allophone of /l/ before palatal consonants. Sometimes voiceless [ʎ̥]. See Faroese phonology |
| Franco-Provençal | Franco-Provençal | balyi | [baʎi] | 'give' | |
| French | Some dialects | papillon | [papiʎɒ̃] | 'butterfly' | Corresponds to /j/ in modern standard French. See French phonology |
| Galician | Standard | illado | [iˈʎa̠ðo̝] | 'insulated' | Most Galician speakers, especially the urban and younger populations, are nowadays yeístas because of influence from Spanish |
| Greek | Greek | ήλιος | | 'sun' | Postalveolar. See Modern Greek phonology |
| Hungarian | Northern dialects | lyuk | [ʎuk] | 'hole' | Alveolo-palatal. Modern Standard Hungarian has undergone a phenomenon akin to Spanish yeísmo, merging /ʎ/ into /j/. See Hungarian ly and Hungarian phonology |
| Irish | Irish | duille | [ˈd̪ˠɪl̠ʲə] | 'leaf' | Alveolo-palatal. Some dialects contrast it with palatalized alveolar /lʲ/. See Irish phonology |
| Italian | Italian | figlio | | 'son' | Alveolo-palatal. Realized as fricative [ʎ̝] in a large number of accents. See Italian phonology |
| Ivilyuat | Ivilyuat | Ivil̃uɂat | [ʔivɪʎʊʔat] | 'the speaking [Ivilyuat]' ('Ivilyuat language') | |
| Jaqaru | Jaqaru | allaka | [a'ʎaka] | 'pumpkin' | See Jaqaru Language |
| Jebero | Jebero | llinllin | [ʎinʎin] | 'name' | See Jebero Language |
| Korean | Seoul dialect | 천리마 / cheollima | [t͡ɕʰʌ̹ʎʎima̠] | 'qianlima' | /l/ is palatalized to [ʎ] before /i, j/ and before palatal consonant allophones |
| Latvian | Latvian | ļaudis | [ʎàwdis] | 'people' | See Latvian phonology |
| Mapudungun | Mapudungun | aylla | [ˈɐjʎɜ] | 'nine' | See Mapuche language |
| Norwegian | Northern and central dialects | alle | [ɑʎːe] | 'all' | See Norwegian phonology |
| Occitan | Standard | miralhar | [miɾa̠ˈʎa̠] | 'to reflect' | See Occitan phonology |
| Paiwan | Standard | veljevelj | [vəʎəvəʎ] | 'banana' | See Paiwan language |
| Paez | Paez | silli | [siʎi] | 'reed' | See Paezan languages |
| Portuguese | Standard | alho | [ˈaʎu] | 'garlic' | Alveolo-palatal in European Portuguese. May instead be [lʲ], [l] (Northeast) or [j] (Caipira), especially before unrounded vowels. See Portuguese phonology |
| Portuguese | Many dialects | sandália | [sɐ̃ˈda̠l̠ʲɐ] | 'sandal' | Possible realization of post-stressed /li/ plus vowel. |
| Quechua | Quechua | qallu | [qaʎʊ] | 'tongue' | |
| Romanian | Transylvanian dialects | lingură | [ˈʎinɡurə] | 'spoon' | Corresponds to [l] in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology |
| Scottish Gaelic | Scottish Gaelic | till | [tʲʰiːʎ] | 'return' | Palatal or palatalised apical dental. Can manifest as [j], or among some younger speakers, as [lj]. See Scottish Gaelic phonology |
| Serbo-Croatian | Serbo-Croatian | љуљaшка / ljuljačka | [ʎ̟ǔʎ̟äːʂkä], [ʎ̟ǔʎ̟äːt͡ʂkä] | 'swing (seat)' | Palato-alveolar. See Serbo-Croatian phonology |
| Sissano | Sissano | piyl | [piʎ] | 'fish' | |
| Slovak | Slovak | ľúbiť | | 'to love' | Merges with /l/ in western dialects. See Slovak phonology |
| Spanish | Andean (from Argentina to Colombia) | caballo | [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʎo̞] | 'horse' | Found in traditional speakers in Peninsular Spanish. Also found in Andean countries and Paraguay. For most speakers, this sound has merged with /ʝ/, a phenomenon called yeísmo. See Spanish phonology. "Caballo" with yeísmo is pronounced [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʝo̞] |
| Spanish | Castilian, Aragonese and Catalonian outside of large cities | caballo | [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʎo̞] | 'horse' | Found in traditional speakers in Peninsular Spanish. Also found in Andean countries and Paraguay. For most speakers, this sound has merged with /ʝ/, a phenomenon called yeísmo. See Spanish phonology. "Caballo" with yeísmo is pronounced [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʝo̞] |
| Spanish | Central areas in Extremadura | caballo | [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʎo̞] | 'horse' | Found in traditional speakers in Peninsular Spanish. Also found in Andean countries and Paraguay. For most speakers, this sound has merged with /ʝ/, a phenomenon called yeísmo. See Spanish phonology. "Caballo" with yeísmo is pronounced [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʝo̞] |
| Spanish | Eastern and southwestern Manchego | caballo | [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʎo̞] | 'horse' | Found in traditional speakers in Peninsular Spanish. Also found in Andean countries and Paraguay. For most speakers, this sound has merged with /ʝ/, a phenomenon called yeísmo. See Spanish phonology. "Caballo" with yeísmo is pronounced [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʝo̞] |
| Spanish | Murcian | caballo | [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʎo̞] | 'horse' | Found in traditional speakers in Peninsular Spanish. Also found in Andean countries and Paraguay. For most speakers, this sound has merged with /ʝ/, a phenomenon called yeísmo. See Spanish phonology. "Caballo" with yeísmo is pronounced [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʝo̞] |
| Spanish | Paraguayan | caballo | [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʎo̞] | 'horse' | Found in traditional speakers in Peninsular Spanish. Also found in Andean countries and Paraguay. For most speakers, this sound has merged with /ʝ/, a phenomenon called yeísmo. See Spanish phonology. "Caballo" with yeísmo is pronounced [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʝo̞] |
| Spanish | Philippine | caballo | [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʎo̞] | 'horse' | Found in traditional speakers in Peninsular Spanish. Also found in Andean countries and Paraguay. For most speakers, this sound has merged with /ʝ/, a phenomenon called yeísmo. See Spanish phonology. "Caballo" with yeísmo is pronounced [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʝo̞] |
| Spanish | Very few areas in Andalusia | caballo | [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʎo̞] | 'horse' | Found in traditional speakers in Peninsular Spanish. Also found in Andean countries and Paraguay. For most speakers, this sound has merged with /ʝ/, a phenomenon called yeísmo. See Spanish phonology. "Caballo" with yeísmo is pronounced [ka̠ˈβ̞a̠.ʝo̞] |
| Xumi | Lower | [ʎ̟o˩˥] | [ʎ̟o˩˥] | 'musk deer' | Alveolo-palatal; contrasts with the voiceless /ʎ̥/. |
| Xumi | Upper | [ʎ̟ɛ˦] | [ʎ̟ɛ˦] | 'correct, right' | Alveolo-palatal; contrasts with the voiceless /ʎ̥/. |