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Universal 835:
- Original
- A liquid with both lateral and non-lateral allophones is the likeliest candidate for the single liquid in a system.
- Standardized
- IF there is any other liquid, THEN there will be a liquid with both lateral and non-lateral allophones.
- Keywords
- liquid, lateral, non-lateral
- Domain
- phonology
- Type
- implication
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- statistical
- Basis
- sample of 321 languages by Maddieson 1980
- Source
- Lass 1984: 158-9, taken from survey by Maddieson 1980
- Counterexamples
A good example is Nasioi (E. Papuan) with an alveolar tap realized as [ l] before /u o/.