In a number of languages, including most varieties of English, the phoneme/l/ becomesvelarized ("darkl") in certain contexts. By contrast, the non-velarized form is the "clearl" (also known as: "lightl"), which occurs before and between vowels in certain English standards.[1] Some languages have only clearl.[2] Others may not have a clearl at all, or have it only beforefront vowels (especially[i]).
Dental, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the upperteeth, termed respectivelyapical andlaminal.
Denti-alveolar, which means it is articulated with the blade of the tongue at thealveolar ridge, and the tip of the tongue behind upper teeth.
Alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectivelyapical andlaminal.
Postalveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, termed respectivelyapical andlaminal.
Itsphonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
It is anoral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
It is alateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.
Languages may have clear apical or laminal alveolars, laminal denti-alveolars (such as French), or true dentals, which are uncommon. Laminal denti-alveolars tend to occur incontinental European languages.[3] However, a true dental generally occursallophonically before/θ/ in languages that have it, as in Englishhealth.
Apical dentals and alveolars are often colored by surrounding vowels in their articulation, as the main portion of the tongue body remains free.[4][5][6] If necessary, this coloring can be transcribed with superscript vowels, such as ⟨lⁱlᵘlᵊ⟩.[7][a]
Varies between dental and alveolar in initial position, whereas the postvocalic/l/ may be postalveolar, especially after back vowels.[48] SeeFaroese phonology
In process of changing from laminal denti-alveolar to apical alveolar, but the laminal denti-alveolar is still possible in some environments, and is obligatory after/n,t,d/.[52] SeeNorwegian phonology
Avoiced velarized or pharyngealized alveolar lateral approximant (also known asdarkl) is a type ofconsonantal sound used in some languages. It is an alveolar, denti-alveolar, or dental lateral approximant, with asecondary articulation ofvelarization orpharyngealization. The regular symbols in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet that represent this sound are ⟨lˠ⟩ (for a velarized lateral) and ⟨lˤ⟩ (for a pharyngealized lateral), though the dedicated letter ⟨ɫ⟩, which covers both velarization and pharyngealization, is perhaps more common. The latter should not be confused with belted ⟨ɬ⟩, which represents thevoiceless alveolar lateral fricative. However, some scholars use that symbol to represent the velarized alveolar lateral approximant anyway[59] – though such usage is considered non-standard.
If the sound is dental or denti-alveolar, one could use adental diacritic to indicate so: ⟨l̪ˠ⟩, ⟨l̪ˤ⟩, ⟨ɫ̪⟩.
Velarization and pharyngealization are generally associated with more dental articulations ofcoronal consonants, so darkl tends to be dental or denti-alveolar. Clear (non-velarized)l tends to beretracted to an alveolar position.[60]
Dental, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the upperteeth.
Denti-alveolar, which means it is articulated with the blade of the tongue at thealveolar ridge, and the tip of the tongue behind upper teeth.
Alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or, more rarely,[60] the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectivelyapical andlaminal.
Postalveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, termed respectivelyapical andlaminal.
Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of/l/ after/ɔ,oː,ɑ,ɑː/, and sometimes also after/u,uː/.[15] However, according toEndresen (1990), this allophone is not velarized.[67] SeeNorwegian phonology
Laminal; pharyngealized in northern accents, velarized or post-palatalised in southern accents. It is an allophone of/l/ before consonants and pauses, and also prevocalically when after the open back vowels/ɔ,ɑ/. Many northern speakers realize the final/l/ as a strongly pharyngealised vocoid[ɤˤ], whereas some StandardBelgian speakers use the clear/l/ in all positions.[75] SeeDutch phonology
When[lˠ~lʶ~lˤ~lˀ],[86] most often dental.Coda is nowvocalized to[u̯~ʊ̯] in most of Brazil (as in EP in rural parts ofAlto Minho andMadeira).[87] Stigmatized realizations such as[ɾ~ɽ~ɻ], the/ʁ/ range,[j] and even[∅] (zero) are some other coda allophones typical of Brazil.[88] SeePortuguese phonology
^Adjaye, Sophia (2005).Ghanaian English Pronunciation. Edwin Mellen Press. p. 198.ISBN978-0-7734-6208-3.realization of/l/ is similar to that ofRP: a 'clear' or non-velarized/l/ =[l] pre-vocalically and intervocalically; and a 'dark' or velarized/l/ =[ɫ] pre-consonantally and pre-pausally
^Celce-Murcia, Marianne; et al. (2010).Teaching Pronunciation. Cambridge U. Press. p. 84.ISBN978-0-521-72975-8.the light/l/ used in all environments in [standard] German (e.g.,Licht "light,"viel "much, many") or in French (e.g.,lit "bed",île "island")
^Technically speaking, a[u]-colored[lᵘ] is equivalent to a velarized[ɫ] ("darkl"), while a[i]-colored[lⁱ] is equivalent to a plain[l] ("clearl"). However, the typical clear-dark distinction implies only two forms of an alveolar/l/, when in fact any vowel may color its articulation, as shown byJones (1922:45) with palatograms of the additional examples[lᵉ],[lᵓ],[lᵅ],[lᵊ]; and bySzalay et al. (2024) withMRI andformant analysis confirming a[lⁱ]-[lᵅ]-[lᵘ] distinction.
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![[i]-colored [l] (sagittal)](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAn_outline_of_English_phonetics_fig30.png)
![[u]-colored [l] (sagittal)](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAn_outline_of_English_phonetics_fig31.png)
![[ə]-colored [l] (sagittal)](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAn_outline_of_English_phonetics_fig32.png)
![[i]-colored [l] (palatogram)](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAn_outline_of_English_phonetics_fig33.png)
![[u]-colored [l] (palatogram)](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAn_outline_of_English_phonetics_fig37.png)
![[ə]-colored [l] (palatogram)](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAn_outline_of_English_phonetics_fig38.png)
