Editing Liquid consonant (section)

== Liquids and phonological change ==
Liquids seem to be more or less subjected to certain sound changes or phonological processes than other consonants. On an auditory level, liquid consonants resemble each other, which is likely the reason they undergo or trigger [[Assimilation (phonology)|assimilation]], [[dissimilation]] and [[Metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]].<ref name=":102">{{Citation |last=Gordon |first=Matthew K. |title=Phoneme inventories |date=2016-04-01 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199669004.003.0003 |work=Phonological Typology |pages=43–82 |access-date=2023-12-30 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199669004.003.0003 |isbn=978-0-19-966900-4 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Metathesis===
Cross-linguistically, liquids tend to be more prone to [[Metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]] than other consonants,<ref name=":72">{{Cite journal |last=Cser |first=András |editor-first1=Patrick |editor-first2=Joseph |editor-last1=Honeybone |editor-last2=Salmons |date=2014-11-03 |title=Basic Types of Phonological Change |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232819.013.036 |journal=Oxford Handbooks Online |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232819.013.036|url-access=subscription }}</ref> especially long-distance metathesis.<ref name=":112">{{Citation |last=Gordon |first=Matthew K. |title=Segmental processes |date=2016-04-01 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199669004.003.0005 |work=Phonological Typology |pages=123–174 |access-date=2023-12-30 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199669004.003.0005 |isbn=978-0-19-966900-4 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In Spanish, a frequent example is the behaviour of /r/ and /l/:

* Lat. [[wiktionary:crocodilus#Latin|''c'''r'''ocodīlus'']] > Span. [[wiktionary:cocodrilo#Spanish|''cocod'''r'''ilo'']] “crocodile”
* Lat. [[wiktionary:miraculum#Latin|''mī'''r'''ācu'''l'''um'']] > Span. [[wiktionary:milagro#Spanish|''mi'''l'''ag'''r'''o'']] “miracle”
* Lat. [[wiktionary:periculum#Latin|''pe'''r'''īcu'''l'''um'']] > Span. [[wiktionary:peligro#Spanish|''pe'''l'''ig'''r'''o'']] “danger”
* Lat. [[wiktionary:parabola#Latin|''pa'''r'''abo'''l'''a'']] > Span. [[wiktionary:palabra#Spanish|''pa'''l'''ab'''r'''a'']] “speech”

In English, [[wiktionary:comfortable|''comfortable'']] is frequently pronounced /ˈkʌmf.tɚ.bəl/ in rhotic varieties, even though its stem, [[wiktionary:comfort|''comfort'']], is pronounced /ˈkʌm.fɚt/, with the rhotic /ɹ/ in its original position.

=== Assimilation ===
Liquid consonants can also undergo [[Assimilation (phonology)|assimilation]]: compare [[Italian language|Italian]] ''pa'''rl'''are'' "to speak" with [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] ''pa'''rr'''ari''. This phenomenon, which is not so common worldwide, is attested in [[Finnish language|Finnish]]: e.g., the [[Root (linguistics)|root]] ''tul-'' "to come" combined with the [[Participle|past participle]] suffix -''nut'', [[Sandhi|yields]] the surface form ''tu'''ll'''ut''. This is one of the reasons [[Long consonant|long liquids]] are common in Finnish.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bybee |first=Joan |editor-first1=Patrick |editor-first2=Joseph |editor-last1=Honeybone |editor-last2=Salmons |date=2015-04-07 |title=Articulatory Processing and Frequency of Use in Sound Change |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232819.013.016 |journal=Oxford Handbooks Online |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232819.013.016|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

A specific form of liquid assimilation, liquid [[Consonant harmony|harmony]], is present is some languages. In Sundanese, some morphemes have two different realisations depending on what liquid is present in the root.<ref name=":112" />

===Dissimilation===
Liquids are also prone to [[dissimilation]] when they occur in sequence.<ref name=":72" /> For example, [[Old Italian]] ''co'''l'''onne'''ll'''o'' "colonel" is borrowed into [[Middle French]] as ''co'''r'''onne'''l''''', which is in turned loaned into English as ''[[wiktionary:colonel|colonel]]'', with an orthography inspired by Italian but with the /ˈkɚnəl/ or /ˈkɜːnel/ pronunciation with the rhotic ''r'', which is absent in writing.

=== Epenthesis ===
[[Epenthesis]], or the addition of sounds, is common in environments where liquids are present, especially [[consonant cluster]]s. The epenthetic sound can be a vowel or a consonant.<ref name=":72" /> For example, the genitive of the [[Ancient Greek]] noun <span lang="grc" dir="ltr">ἀνήρ</span> ''anḗr'' "man" is <span lang="grc" dir="ltr">ἀν'''δ'''ρός</span> ''an'''d'''rós'', with the insertion of a [d] sound between a [[nasal consonant]] and the liquid [r]. Another example is the [[Irish language|Irish]] word ''<span lang="ga" dir="ltr">bolg</span>'' "belly", usually pronounced with an epenthetic [[Mid central vowel|schwa]] {{IPA|[ə]}} after the liquid {{IPA|[lˠ]}}: {{IPA|[ˈbˠɔlˠəg]|lang=ga}}.

=== Other types of phonological change ===
Liquids can often be the result of [[lenition]],<ref name=":72" /> the change of a consonant towards characteristics that are typical of vowels, making it "weaker". They are also likely to become [[vowel]]s or [[Glide consonant|glides]], a process known as vocalisation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morén-Duolljá |first=Bruce |date=2011-04-28 |title=Vowel Place |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781444335262.wbctp0019 |journal=The Blackwell Companion to Phonology |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1002/9781444335262.wbctp0019|isbn=978-1-4051-8423-6 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> See, for example, the pronunciation of Spanish {{IPA|/ɾ/}} as {{IPA|[j]}} in the [[Cibao]] region of the [[Dominican Republic]] at the end of a syllable: [[standard Spanish]] {{IPA|/muˈxeɾ/}} is optionally pronounced as {{IPA|[muˈxej]}} in [[Cibao|Cibaeño]] Spanish.<ref name=":12" />