Velarized alveolar lateral approximant
| IPA number | 209 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| X-SAMPA | 5 | ||
| |||
The velarized alveolar lateral approximant (also known as dark l) is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages.
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 is also velarized, meaning the back of the tongue is raised toward the soft palate, or velum.
- 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.
In English
In many accents 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.
Some other dialects of English, such as Scottish English use a velarized or dark l in all positions, while Hiberno-English uses clear l everywhere. Some English accents, such as Cockney and Estuary English use [w], [u] or [o] instead of dark l's, a process known as l-vocalization.
Similar changes are found in other languages, such as Serbian, as seen in the Serbian name Beograd of Belgrade. Velarized l developed into [w] also in Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, and the Sorbian languages.
