Editing Liquid consonant (section)

==Occurrence and geographical distribution==
According to a survey by linguist [[Ian Maddieson]], most languages have one to three liquids (with systems of two liquids being the most common) and they are usually [[Dental consonant|dental]] or [[Alveolar consonant|alveolar]].<ref name=":102"/> Liquid consonants are also rarely [[Gemination|geminated]] cross-linguistically.<ref name=":102"/>

Many languages, such as [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], or [[Polynesian languages]] (see below), have a single liquid [[phoneme]] that has both lateral and rhotic [[allophone]]s.<ref name="lm1822">{{SOWL|182}}</ref>

[[English language|English]] has two liquid phonemes, one lateral, {{IPAslink|l}} and one rhotic, {{IPAslink|ɹ}}, exemplified in the words '''''l'''ed'' and '''''r'''ed''.

Many other European languages have one lateral and one rhotic phoneme. Some, such as [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Italian language|Italian]] and [[Serbo-Croatian language|Serbo-Croatian]], have more than two liquid phonemes. All three languages have the set {{IPA|/l/, /ʎ/, /r/}}, with two laterals and one rhotic. Similarly, the [[Languages of Iberia|Iberian languages]] contrast four liquid phonemes. {{IPA|/l/}}, {{IPA|/ʎ/}}, {{IPA|/ɾ/}}, and a fourth phoneme that is an [[alveolar trill]] in most Iberian languages except for many varieties of [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], where it is a [[Uvular consonant|uvular]] trill or fricative (also, the majority of Spanish speakers lack {{IPA|/ʎ/}} and use the central {{IPA|/ʝ/}} instead). Some European languages, for example [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[Irish language|Irish]], contrast a [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]] lateral–rhotic pair with an unpalatalized (or [[Velarization|velarized]]) set (e.g. {{IPA|/lʲ/ /rʲ/ /l/ /r/}} in Russian).

Elsewhere in the world, two liquids of the types mentioned above remains the most common attribute of a language's consonant inventory except in North America and Australia. A majority of [[Indigenous languages of the Americas#Northern America|indigenous North American languages]] do not have rhotics at all and there is a wide variety of [[Lateral consonant|lateral sounds]], though most are [[obstruent]] laterals rather than liquids. Most [[Australian Aboriginal languages|indigenous Australian languages]], in contrast, are very rich in liquids, with some having as many as seven distinct liquids. They typically include dental, alveolar, retroflex and palatal laterals, and as many as three rhotics.

On the other side, there are many indigenous languages in the [[Amazon Basin]] and eastern North America, as well as a few in Asia and Africa, with no liquids.

[[Polynesian languages]] typically have only one liquid, which may be either a lateral or a rhotic. Non-Polynesian [[Oceanic languages]] usually have both {{IPA|/l/}} and {{IPA|/r/}}, occasionally more (e.g. [[Araki language|Araki]] has {{IPA|/l/}}, {{IPA|/ɾ/}}, {{IPA|/r/}}) or less (e.g. [[Mwotlap language|Mwotlap]] has only {{IPA|/l/}}). [[Hiw language|Hiw]] is unusual in having a [[Pre-stopped consonant|prestopped]] [[Velar lateral approximant|velar lateral]] {{IPA|/ᶢʟ/}} as its only liquid.<ref>{{citation |last=François |first=Alexandre |title=Phonotactics and the prestopped velar lateral of Hiw: Resolving the ambiguity of a complex segment |url=https://www.academia.edu/848679 |journal=Phonology |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=393–434 |year=2010a |doi=10.1017/s0952675710000205 |s2cid=62628417}}.</ref>