Occurrence
Although the sound is rare among European languages outside the Caucasus (being found notably in Welsh, where it is written ⟨ll⟩), it is fairly common among Native American languages such as Navajo and Caucasian languages such as Avar. It is also found in African languages like Zulu, Asian languages like Chukchi and Taishanese, and several Formosan languages and a number of dialects in Taiwan. Both of J.R.R. Tolkien's Welsh-inspired artificial languages, Sindarin and early Quenya, have this sound as well.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adyghe | плъыжь | 'red' | |||
| Ahtna | dzeł | 'mountain' | |||
| Aleut | Atkan dialect | hla | 'boy' | ||
| Amis | Southern dialect | kudiwis | 'rabbit' | ||
| Avar | лъабго | 'three' | |||
| Basay | lanum | 'water' | |||
| Berber | Ayt Seghrouchen | altu | 'not yet' | allophone of /lt/ | |
| Bunun | ludun | 'mountain' | |||
| Cherokee | Some speakers | ᎥᏝ | 'no' | Corresponds to in the speech of most speakers | |
| Chickasaw | lhinko | 'to be fat' | |||
| Chinese | Taishanese | thlam | 'three' | ||
| Chukchi | левыт | 'head' | |||
| Creek | rakko | 'big' | Historically transcribed thl or tl by English speakers. | ||
| Dahalo | 'fat' | ||||
| Eyak | qe'ł | 'woman' | |||
| Fali | 'shoulder' | ||||
| Faroese | hjálp | 'help' | |||
| Greenlandic | illu | 'house' | |||
| Hadza | 'man' | ||||
| Haida | tla'únhl | 'six' | |||
| Hmong | hli | 'moon' | |||
| Inuktitut | akłak | 'grizzly bear' | See Inuit phonology | ||
| Kabardian | плъэ | 'look!' | |||
| Kaska | tsį̄ł | 'axe' | |||
| Mochica | paxllær | 'lima bean' | |||
| Nahuatl | altepetl | 'city' | allophone of /l/ | ||
| Navajo | łaʼ | 'little' | See Navajo phonology | ||
| Nisga’a | hloks | 'Sun' | |||
| Norwegian | Trønder dialect | tatl / tasl | 'sissyness' | See Norwegian phonology | |
| Saaroa | rahli | 'chief' | |||
| Sahaptin | łp’úł | 'tears' | |||
| Sandawe | 'goat' | ||||
| Sassarese | moltu | 'dead' | |||
| Sesotho | ho hlahloba | 'to examine' | See Sesotho phonology | ||
| St’át’imcets | lhésp | 'rash' | |||
| Taos | 'wife' | See Taos phonology | |||
| Thao | kilhpul | 'star' | |||
| Tsez | лъи | 'water' | |||
| Welsh | llwyd | 'grey' | See Welsh phonology | ||
| Yi | ꆧꁨ hlop-bbop | 'moon' | |||
| Zulu | isihlahla | 'tree' | |||
| Zuni | asdemła | 'ten' | |||
Read more about this topic: Voiceless Alveolar Lateral Fricative
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