| Voiced velar lateral approximant | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ʟ | |||
| IPA number | 158 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| source · help | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ʟ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+029F | ||
| X-SAMPA | L\ | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
The voiced velar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used as a distinct consonant in a very small number of spoken languages in the world. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʟ⟩, a small capital version of the Latin letter l (since 1989), and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is L\.
The velar laterals of the world often involve a prestopped realization .
Features
Features of the 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 air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
- 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 solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.
The velar lateral involves no contact of the tip of the tongue with the roof of the mouth: just like for the velar stop , the only contact takes place between the back of the tongue and the velum. This contrasts with the velarized alveolar lateral approximant – also known as the dark l in English feel – for which the apex touches the alveolar ridge.
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | Southern US | middle | '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 | 'full' | ||||
| Hiw | r̄evr̄ov | 'evening' | Realized as prestopped . | ||
| Melpa | paⱡa | 'fence' | Realized as prestopped . | ||
| Mid-Wahgi | aglagle | 'dizzy' | Realized as prestopped . | ||
See also
- Voiceless velar lateral approximant,
- Velarized alveolar lateral approximant,
- Voiceless alveolar lateral fricative,
- Velar lateral tap,
- Voiced velar lateral fricative,
- Voiceless velar lateral fricative, or extIPA
- Index of phonetics articles
Notes
- François (2010), pp. 422–426.
- François (2010), p. 425.
- François (2010), p. 423.
- Wells (1982), p. 551.
- François (2010), p. 419.
- Ladefoged (2005), p. 169.
- Roca & Johnson (1999), p. 73.
References
- François, Alexandre (2010), "Phonotactics and the prestopped velar lateral of Hiw: resolving the ambiguity of a complex segment" (PDF), Phonology, 27 (3): 393–434, doi:10.1017/s0952675710000205, S2CID 62628417
- Ladefoged, Peter (2005), Vowels and Consonants (2nd ed.), Blackwell
- Roca, Iggy; Johnson, Wyn (1999), A Course in Phonology, Blackwell Publishing
- Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Vol. 3: Beyond the British Isles (pp. i–xx, 467–674). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511611766. ISBN 0-52128541-0 .
