| Voiced alveolar lateral approximant | |
|---|---|
| l | |
| IPA Number | 155 |
| Audio sample | |
| Encoding | |
| Entity (decimal) | l |
| Unicode (hex) | U+006C |
| X-SAMPA | l |
| Braille |  |
| Voiced postalveolar lateral approximant | |
|---|---|
| l̠ | |
| Audio sample | |
| Voiced dental lateral approximant | |
|---|---|
| l̪ | |
| Audio sample | |
The voiced alveolar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar lateral approximants is ⟨l⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is l.
As a sonorant, lateral approximants are nearly always voiced. Voiceless lateral approximants, /l̥/ are common in Sino-Tibetan languages, but uncommon elsewhere. In such cases, voicing typically starts about halfway through the hold of the consonant. No language is known to contrast such a sound with a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative [ɬ].
In a number of languages, including most varieties of English, the phoneme /l/ becomes velarized ("dark l") in certain contexts. By contrast, the non-velarized form is the "clear l" (also known as: "light l"), which occurs before and between vowels in certain English standards.[1] Some languages have only clear l.[2] Others may not have a clear l at all, or have them only before front vowels (especially [i]).
- ^ Adjaye, Sophia (2005). Ghanaian English Pronunciation. Edwin Mellen Press. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-7734-6208-3.
realization of /l/ is similar to that of RP: 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. ISBN 978-0-521-72975-8.
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")