Lateral flap explained

A lateral flap is a family of consonantal sounds, used in some spoken languages.

There are four attested or claimed lateral flaps in the world's languages:

• The alveolar lateral flap pronounced as /[ɺ]/ is quite common.
• A retroflex lateral flap pronounced as /[ ]/ (pronounced as /[ɭ̆ ]/) is found throughout South Asia, from Pashtun to Oriya, in the Iwaidjan languages of Australia, and sporadically elsewhere.
• A palatal lateral flap pronounced as /[ʎ̆]/ has been described from Iwaidja, but the authors note that it may be a palatalized alveolar flap pronounced as /[ɺʲ]/.
• A velar lateral flap pronounced as /[ʟ̆]/ occurs allophonically in Melpa and a few other languages of New Guinea.

Features

Features of lateral flap: