Lambda (Latin letter)

Lambda
Ꟛ λ
Upper and lower case of Latin lambda
Usage
Writing systemLatin script
Typealphabetic
Sound values
History
Development
Λ λ
  • Ꟛ λ
SistersꟜ ƛ
Other
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Lambda (Ꟛ (⅄), ꟛ (λ)) is an additional letter of the Latin script, based on the lowercase letter lambda from the Greek alphabet (λ). It is used in Heiltsuk, Liqʼwala, Kwakʼwala, and Pilagá. In these languages, Latin lambda represents a variety of lateral phonemes. The lower-case variant is a homoglyph of lower-case lambda. The upper-case is a large variant of the lower case in Pilagá but a turned Y in North America.[1]

Usage

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The letter appears in the Liqʼwala dialect of Kwakʼwala language, where it represents //. In Kwakʼwala, Latin lambda may also be used instead of the digraph ⟨dƚ⟩.[2]

In the Heiltsuk dialect of North Wakashan, Latin lambda represents // and may be alternatively rendered as ⟨dh⟩.[3]

In the Pilagá language, Latin lambda is used to represent /ʎ/.[1]

Unicode support was assigned to U+A7DA and U+A7DB in September 2024.[4]

Encodings

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Character information
Preview
Unicode name LATIN CAPITAL LETTER LAMBDA LATIN SMALL LETTER LAMBDA
Encodings decimal hex dec hex
Unicode 42970 U+A7DA 42971 U+A7DB
UTF-8 234 159 154 EA 9F 9A 234 159 155 EA 9F 9B
Numeric character reference Ꟛ Ꟛ ꟛ ꟛ
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References

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  1. ^ a b Jacquerye, Denis Moyogo (2021-08-18). "Proposal to encode additional Latin letters for languages of Argentina, Canada and the USA" (PDF). Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  2. ^ Werle, Adam. "Linguistics 181: Kwakwala" (PDF).
  3. ^ Humchitt, Robyn (1975). "The Heiltsuk Alphabet" (PDF). Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  4. ^ [1]