Lack of Alveolars
The alveolar or dental consonants and are, along with, the most common consonants in human languages. Nonetheless, there are a few languages which lack them. A few languages on Bougainville Island and around Puget Sound, such as Makah, lack nasals and therefore, but have . Colloquial Samoan, however, lacks both and, though it has a lateral alveolar approximant . (Samoan words written with the letters t and n are pronounced with and except in formal speech.) In Standard Hawaiian, is an allophone of, but and are distinct.
Read more about this topic: Alveolar Consonant
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