A class of speech sounds produced with a midline obstruction by raising the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth that causes sound to be emitted laterally as in the case of the first sound in the word ‘law’. The l sounds of English and Welsh are laterals. However, in Welsh (and Polish) distinctions are made among various lateral components, with a small number of other languages going further using the tip of the tongue to produce clicks and buzzes.
See Bilabial, Clicks, Fricative, Glottal, Labio-dental, Lingua-alveolar (or alveolar), Lingua-palatal (or palatal), Lingua-velar (or velar), Liquid, Plosive, Rhotic sound