Voiced velar lateral approximant

Not to be confused with a Voiced velarized alveolar lateral approximant.

A voiced velar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used as a distinct consonant in a very small number^[1] of spoken languages in the world. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that has represented this sound since 1989 is ⟨ʟ⟩, a small capital letter l.

Voiced velar lateral approximant
ʟ
IPA number	158
Audio sample
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Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ʟ
Unicode (hex)	U+029F
X-SAMPA	L\
Braille
Image

Voiced velar lateral tap
ʟ̆
Audio sample
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Encoding
X-SAMPA	L\_X

Voiced uvular lateral approximant
ʟ̠
IPA number	158 414
Audio sample
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Encoding
X-SAMPA	L\_-

Velar laterals often involve a prestopped realization [ᶢʟ].^[2]

According to Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), the extremely short duration of /ʟ/ in intervocalic position (20–30 ms) in some of the languages in New Guinea, such as Kanite and Melpa, warrants calling it a voiced velar lateral tap. The IPA has no specific symbol for this sound, but it may be represented with a breve for extra-short, such as ⟨ʟ̆⟩, to indicate a tapped consonant.

It is reported that some dialects of English may have a voiced uvular lateral approximant,^[3] which can be represented in the IPA as ⟨ʟ̠⟩ (a retracted ⟨ʟ⟩), though evidence of this consonant is limited.

Features

Features of a voiced velar lateral approximant:

• Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
• Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
• Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
• It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
• It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.
• Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

A velar lateral [ʟ] involves no contact of the tip of the tongue with the roof of the mouth: just like for a velar stop [ɡ], the only contact takes place between the back of the tongue and the velum. This contrasts with a velarized alveolar lateral approximant [ɫ] – also known as the dark l in English feel [fiːɫ] – for which the apex touches the alveolar ridge.^[4]

Occurrence

Velar

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
English	Southern US[5]	middle	[ˈmɪɾʟ̩]	'middle'	May occur before or after a velar consonant, as in milk and cycle, when assimilating /ʊ/, as in wolf, or before labial consonants, as in help. See English phonology
		full	[ˈfʟ̩ː]	'full'
Franco-Provençal[6]		grêlon	[ˈɡriʟœ]	'hailstone'	Valais dialects
Hiw[7]		r̄evr̄ov	[ɡ͡ʟəβˈɡ͡ʟɔβ]	'evening'	May be realized as prestopped [ᶢʟ], affricate [ɡʟ̝], or laterally released stop [ɡᶫ].
Melpa[8]		paⱡa	[paᶢʟa]ⓘ	'fence'	May be realized as prestopped [ᶢʟ] or tapped [ʟ̆].
Mid-Wahgi[9]		aglagle	[aʟaʟe]	'dizzy'	May be realized as prestopped [ᶢʟ].

Uvular

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
English	Some American speakers[3]	wool	[wʊʟ̠]	'wool'	May be velar or simply alveolar instead. See English phonology.

See also

• Voiceless velar lateral approximant, [ʟ̥]
• Velarized alveolar lateral approximant, [ɫ]
• Voiceless alveolar lateral fricative, [ɬ]
• Voiced velar lateral fricative, [ʟ̝]
• Voiceless velar lateral fricative, [ʟ̝̊] or extIPA [𝼄]
• Index of phonetics articles