ABSTRACT

Speech sound classified according to its manner in which the airstream bypasses its obstruction (namely, around openings on either side of the tongue) in contrast with medians. For example, in the approximants [1] and [ł] in Brit. Eng. [lιtł] little and in the fricative and the approximant [1] in ‘wasteful’ or [-la] ‘to come’ in the SinoTibetan language Yi. In Yaragia, a language spoken in New Guinea, there is a velar lateral. Laterals can function as nuclei ( nucleus) of syllables, e.g. [1] in Czech [‘plzen] ‘Pilsen.’ In English, laterals are formed with the pulmonary airstream mechanism. The Khoisan language of Nama has lateral clicks.