Lallation

A lallation (also called cambia-letras (Spanish) or troca-letra (Portuguese), "letter changer", in Latin America) is an imperfect enunciation of l that makes it sound like r or vice versa. It is frequently found in infantile speech.

The speech pattern has been particularly associated with the use of the Portuguese, Spanish and English languages by Chinese, Korean, and Japanese people. Lallation has thus been a common feature of Western stereotypes of East Asian people. It is also common among English-speakers in parts of East Africa.

See also

• Engrish
• Perception of English /r/ and /l/ by Japanese speakers