Delateralization is a replacement of a

lateral consonant A lateral is a consonant in which the airstream proceeds along one or both of the sides of the tongue, but it is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth. An example of a lateral consonant is the English ''L'', as in ''La ...

by a

central consonant A central consonant, also known as a median consonant, is a consonant sound that is produced when air flows across the center of the mouth over the tongue. The class contrasts with lateral consonants, in which air flows over the sides of the tongue ...

Yeísmo

Arguably, the best known example of this sound change is yeísmo, which occurs in many

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

and some Galician dialects. In accents with yeísmo, the

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 , a rotated lowercase letter (not to be confused with lowerca ...

merges with the

palatal approximant The voiced palatal approximant, or yod, is a type of consonant used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is j, and in the Americanist phonetic n ...

which, phonetically, can be an affricate (word-initially and after ), an approximant (in other environments) or a fricative (in the same environments as the approximant, but only in careful speech). In

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

, the palatal lateral approximant merged with centuries ago. The same happened to the historic palatal nasal , although that is an example of

lenition In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them more sonorous. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language at a ...

Arabic ''Ḍād''

Another known example of delateralization is the sound change that happened to the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

''ḍād'', which, historically, was a lateral consonant, either a

pharyngealized Pharyngealization is a secondary articulation of consonants or vowels by which the pharynx or epiglottis is constricted during the articulation of the sound. IPA symbols In the International Phonetic Alphabet, pharyngealization can be indicat ...

voiced alveolar lateral fricative The voiced alveolar lateral fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents voiced dental, alveolar, and postalveolar lateral fricatives is (sometime ...

or a similar affricated sound or . The affricated form is suggested by loans of ''ḍ'' into Akkadian as ''ld'' or ''lṭ'' and into Malaysian as ''dl''. However, some linguists, such as the French orientalist André Roman supposes that the letter was actually a pharyngealized

voiced alveolo-palatal sibilant The voiced alveolo-palatal sibilant fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ("z", plus the curl also found in its voiceless counter ...

, similar to the Polish '' ź'', which is not a lateral sound. In modern Arabic, there are three possible realizations of this sound, all of which are central: * Pharyngealized

voiced alveolar stop The voiced alveolar, dental and postalveolar plosives (or stops) are types of consonantal sounds used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents voiced dental, alveolar, and postalveolar plos ...

* Pharyngealized voiced dental stop *

Velarized Velarization is a secondary articulation of consonants by which the back of the tongue is raised toward the velum during the articulation of the consonant. In the International Phonetic Alphabet, velarization is transcribed by one of four di ...

voiced dental stop .

References

Lateral consonants Sound changes Central consonants {{Phonetics-stub