Velarized alveolar lateral approximant
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| IPA – number | 209 |
| IPA – text | ɫ |
| IPA – image | 
|
| Entity | ɫ |
| X-SAMPA | 5 |
| Kirshenbaum | l<vzd> |
| Sound sample | |
|---|---|
The velarized alveolar lateral approximant, which may actually be uvularized or pharyngealized, also known as dark l, is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages.
[edit] Features
Features of the velarized alveolar lateral approximant:
- Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
- Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue — termed respectively apical and laminal — against the alveolar ridge. It also has a secondary articulation of velarization, uvularization, or pharyngealization, meaning that the back or root of the tongue approaches the soft palate (velum), the uvula, or the back of the throat, respectively.
- Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
- It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
- It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the sides of the tongue, rather than the middle of the tongue.
- The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.
[edit] In English
In many dialects of English, including Received Pronunciation, the velarized lateral alveolar approximant occurs in syllable coda position, as in bell and milk. In syllable onset position, however, the non-velarized or "plain" alveolar lateral approximant is found. In other words, the dark l is the l-sound used in bell and milk, as opposed to the clear l, which is the l-sound used in lad or lip.
Some other dialects of English, such as Scottish English, use a velarized or dark l in all positions, while Hiberno-English (Irish English) uses clear l everywhere. Some English accents, such as Cockney, Estuary English and South Australian English use [w], [u] or [o] instead of dark l's, a process known as l-vocalization (so that bell becomes "beww" and milk becomes "miwk").
[edit] In other languages
Similar changes are found in other languages, such as Serbian, as seen in the Serbian name Beograd of Belgrade. Scottish gaelic uses the dark l as an allophone of [ʎ] and standard [l] to show grammatical differences, the dark l being a "broad l," (followed by a broad vowel, "a" "o" or "u") and [ʎ] being a "slender l" (followed by "e" or "i") where these two sounds occur at the beginning of a word. The broad l in the middle of a word does not change, although the slender l becomes [l] in the middle of words. The slender l also changes to [l] in instances of lenition.
Velarized l developed into [w] also in the Brazilian dialects of Portuguese (e.g. Brazil is pronounced Braziu in Brazilian Portuguese), in Polish, and in the Sorbian languages.
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