Voiced velar lateral approximant

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

The 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.

The velar laterals of the world often involve a prestopped realization [ɡ͡ʟ].^[2]

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 that air is exclusively allowed to escape through the mouth.
• 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 [ʟ] involves no contact of the tip of the tongue with the roof of the mouth: just like for the velar stop [ɡ], the only contact takes place between the back of the tongue and the velum. This contrasts with the velarized alveolar lateral approximant [ɫ] – also known as the dark l in English feel [fiːɫ] – for which the apex touches the alveolar ridge.^[3]

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

• List of languages with [ʟ] on PHOIBLE