Voiced dental and alveolar lateral approximants

Voiced dental and alveolar lateral approximants are a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents them is Template:Angbr IPA.

As a sonorant, lateral approximants are nearly always voiced. Voiceless lateral approximants, Template:IPA 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 Template:IPA.

In a number of languages, including most varieties of English, the phoneme Template:IPA becomes velarized ("dark l") in certain contexts. Template:Anchor 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Some languages have only clear l.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Others may not have a clear l at all, or have it only before front vowels (especially Template:IPAblink).

Features

Features of voiced alveolar lateral approximants:

• There are four specific variants of Template:IPA:
  • Dental, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the upper teeth, termed respectively apical and laminal.
  • Denti-alveolar, which means it is articulated with the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, and the tip of the tongue behind upper teeth.
  • Alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
  • Postalveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.

Occurrence

Languages may have clear apical or laminal alveolars, laminal denti-alveolars (such as French), or true dentals, which are uncommon. Laminal denti-alveolars tend to occur in continental European languages.<ref>Schirmer's pocket music dictionary</ref> However, a true dental generally occurs allophonically before Template:IPA in languages that have it, as in English health.

Template:Multiple image Apical dentals and alveolars are often colored by surrounding vowels in their articulation, as the main portion of the tongue body remains free.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp If necessary, this coloring can be transcribed with superscript vowels, such as Template:Angbr IPA.Template:SfnpTemplate:Efn

Dental

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Arabic	GulfTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'when'	Laminal denti-alveolar. See Arabic phonology
Chinese	Cantonese	Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	[l̪an˨˩]	'orchid'
	Mandarin	Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	[l̪an˨˥]
HungarianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'battery'	Laminal denti-alveolar. See Hungarian phonology
ItalianTemplate:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'much, a lot'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of Template:IPA before Template:IPA.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See Italian phonology
MacedonianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'left'	Laminal denti-alveolar. See Macedonian phonology
MapudungunTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'sea, lake'	Interdental.Template:Sfnp
Norwegian	Urban EastTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'plant (industrial)'	Allophone of Template:IPA after Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp See Norwegian phonology
SpanishTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'altar'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of Template:IPA before Template:IPA. See Spanish phonology
Swedish	Central StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'everything'	Laminal denti-alveolar. See Swedish phonology
UzbekTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'future'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Velarized between a non-front rounded vowel and a consonant or juncture phoneme.Template:Sfnp
Vietnamese	HanoiTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'fire'	See Vietnamese phonology

Alveolar

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Arabic	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'no'	See Arabic phonology
Armenian	EasternTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:Audio-IPA	'moon'
Assyrian		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'bread'
CatalanTemplate:Sfnp<ref name="ESDCL">Template:Cite web Template:Cite web</ref>	Eastern	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'fabric'	Apical 'front alveolar'.Template:Sfnp<ref name="ESDCL"/> May also be velarized.Template:Sfnp See Catalan phonology
	Western		Template:IPA
Chuvash		Template:Lang	[хu'la]	'city'
Dutch	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'to let'	Laminal. Some Standard Belgian speakers use the clear Template:IPA in all positions.Template:Sfnp See Dutch phonology
	Some Eastern accentsTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'mold'	Laminal; realization of Template:IPA in all positions.Template:Sfnp See Dutch phonology
Dhivehi		Template:Lang/Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'song'
English	Most accentsTemplate:Sfnp	let	Template:IPA	'to let'	Varies between apical and laminal, with the latter being predominant.Template:Sfnp
	Irish, Geordie<ref name="mark jones">Template:Cite web</ref>	tell	Template:IPA	'to tell'
Esperanto		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'moon'	See Esperanto phonology
Filipino		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'to cook'	See Filipino phonology
Georgian		ლექსი/leksi	Template:IPA	'verse/poetry'	See Georgian phonology
		რბილი/rbili	Template:IPA	'soft'
Greek		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'word'	See Modern Greek phonology
Hebrew		Template:Lang/Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'night'	See Modern Hebrew phonology.
ItalianTemplate:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'bed'	Apical.Template:Sfnp See Italian phonology
Japanese		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'six'	Apical.Template:Sfnp More commonly Template:IPAblink. See Japanese phonology
Kashubian<ref name="treder">Template:Cite web</ref>		Template:Example needed
Khmer		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'music'	See Khmer phonology
Korean		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'one' or 'work'	Realized as alveolar tap ɾ in the beginning of a syllable. See Korean phonology.
KyrgyzTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'butterfly'	Velarized in back vowel contexts. See Kyrgyz phonology
Laghu		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'Laghu language'
Laghuu	Nậm Sài, Sa Pa Town	Template:IPA		'Laghuu language'
Malayalam		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'head'	See Malayalam phonology
MapudungunTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'to give'
Nepali		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'long'	See Nepali phonology
OdiaTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'good'
Persian		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'llama'	See Persian phonology
PolishTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:Audio-IPA	'field'	Contrasts with Template:IPA (Template:IPA) for a small number of speakers. When it does, it might be palatalized to Template:IPA. See Polish phonology
RomanianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'hazelnut'	Apical. See Romanian phonology
Scottish Gaelic<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'headland'	Apical.Template:Sfnp Contrasts with Template:IPA and Template:IPA. See Scottish Gaelic phonology
SlovakTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:Audio-IPA	'silent'	Syllabic form can be long or short. See Slovak phonology
SloveneTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'airplane'	See Slovene phonology
SpanishTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'to speak'	See Spanish phonology
TamilTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'tiger'	See Tamil phonology
Welsh		Template:Lang	[djavɔl]	'devil'	See Welsh phonology
UkrainianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'face'	Contrasts with palatalized form. See Ukrainian phonology

Postalveolar

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Igbo	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'bury'
ItalianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'the deer'	Palatalized laminal; allophone of Template:IPA before Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp See Italian phonology
TurkishTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:Audio-IPA	'tulip'	Palatalized; contrasts with a velarized dental lateral Template:IPAblink.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp May be devoiced elsewhere. See Turkish phonology
Zapotec	TilquiapanTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'soot'

Variable

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
FaroeseTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'soft'	Varies between dental and alveolar in initial position, whereas the postvocalic Template:IPA may be postalveolar, especially after back vowels.Template:Sfnp See Faroese phonology
FrenchTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'he'	Varies between laminal denti-alveolar and apical alveolar, with the latter being predominant.Template:Sfnp See French phonology
Gbe	All lectsTemplate:Sfnp	Template:IPA		'to lie down'	Occurs syllable-initially or as second element of syllable-initial cluster; nasalized Template:IPA is always followed by a nasal vowel.Template:Sfnp See Gbe phonology
German	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'love'	Varies between denti-alveolar, laminal alveolar and apical alveolar.Template:Sfnp
Norwegian	Urban EastTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'life'	In process of changing from laminal denti-alveolar to apical alveolar, but the laminal denti-alveolar is still possible in some environments, and is obligatory after Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp See Norwegian phonology
Portuguese	Most Brazilian dialects,<ref>Depalatalization and consequential iotization in the speech of Fortaleza Template:Webarchive. Page 2. Template:In lang</ref>Template:Sfnp<ref>Template:In lang Accenti romanze: Portogallo e Brasile (portoghese) – The influence of foreign accents on Italian language acquisition Template:Webarchive</ref> some EP speakers<ref name="FinleyRodrigues2019">Template:Cite journal</ref>	Template:Nowrap	Template:IPA	'runaround'<ref>Runaround generator</ref>	Clear, dental to sometimes alveolar.Template:Sfnp Only occurs in syllable onset, with l-vocalization widely occurring in coda. Sometimes found before front vowels only in the European variety. See Portuguese phonology.
		Template:Lang	Template:Audio-IPA	'Lithuania'

Velarized or pharyngealized alveolar lateral approximant

A voiced velarized or pharyngealized alveolar lateral approximant (also known as dark l) is a type of consonantal sound used in some languages. It is an alveolar, denti-alveolar, or dental lateral approximant, with a secondary articulation of velarization or pharyngealization. The regular symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represent this sound are Template:Angbr IPA (for a velarized lateral) and Template:Angbr IPA (for a pharyngealized lateral), though the dedicated letter Template:Angbr IPA, which covers both velarization and pharyngealization, is perhaps more common. The latter should not be confused with belted Template:Angbr IPA, which represents the voiceless alveolar lateral fricative. However, some scholars use that symbol to represent the velarized alveolar lateral approximant anyway<ref>For example Template:Harvcoltxt.</ref> – though such usage is considered non-standard.

If the sound is dental or denti-alveolar, one could use a dental diacritic to indicate so: Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA.

Velarization and pharyngealization are generally associated with more dental articulations of coronal consonants, so dark l tends to be dental or denti-alveolar. Clear (non-velarized) l tends to be retracted to an alveolar position.Template:Sfnp

The term dark l is often synonymous with hard l, especially in Slavic languages. (Template:Cf.s)

Features

Features of a dark l:

• There are four specific variants of Template:IPA:
  • Dental, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the upper teeth.
  • Denti-alveolar, which means it is articulated with the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, and the tip of the tongue behind upper teeth.
  • Alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or, more rarely,Template:Sfnp the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
  • Postalveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
• It has a secondary articulation of velarization or pharyngealization, meaning that the back or root of the tongue approaches the soft palate (velum), or the back of the throat, respectively.

Occurrence

Dental or denti-alveolar

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Bashkir		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:Audio-IPA	'city'	Velarized dental lateral; occurs in back vowel contexts.
BelarusianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'Belarus'	Laminal denti-alveolar; contrasts with palatalized form. See Belarusian phonology
Bulgarian<ref>Bulgarian phonology</ref>Template:Better source needed		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'chair'	Laminal denti-alveolar. See Bulgarian phonology
CatalanTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'tall'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of Template:IPA before Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp See Catalan phonology
Classical ArmenianTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'games'	Template:IPAslink Template:Transliteration in modern Armenian.
IcelandicTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'sailed'	Laminal denti-alveolar; rare. See Icelandic phonology
Kashubian	Older southeastern speakers<ref name="treder"/>	kôłbasa			Laminal denti-alveolar; realized as Template:IPAblink by other speakers.<ref name="treder"/>
LithuanianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'hi'	Laminal denti-alveolar; contrasts with palatalized form. See Lithuanian phonology
MacedonianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'garlic'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Present only before back vowels (Template:IPA) and syllable-finally. See Macedonian phonology
Norwegian	Urban EastTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'speech'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Allophone of Template:IPA after Template:IPA, and sometimes also after Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp However, according to Template:Harvcoltxt, this allophone is not velarized.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt, cited in Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> See Norwegian phonology
Polish	Eastern dialectsTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'paw'	Laminal denti-alveolar. Corresponds to Template:IPA in other varieties. See Polish phonology
RussianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'small'	Pharyngealized laminal denti-alveolar. See Russian phonology
Scottish GaelicTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'Mallaig'	Apical dental, occasionally laminal.Template:Sfnp In certain dialects manifests as Template:IPAblink or Template:IPA. Contrasts with Template:IPA and Template:IPA. See Scottish Gaelic phonology
Swedish	Northern VästerbottenTemplate:Sfnp	kall	Template:IPA	'cold'	Allophone of /lː/
TurkishTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'servant'	Laminal denti-alveolar; contrasts with a palatalized postalveolar lateral Template:IPAblink.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp May be devoiced elsewhere. See Turkish phonology

Alveolar

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Afrikaans	StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'table'	Velarized in all positions, especially non-prevocalically.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See Afrikaans phonology
Albanian	Standard	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'smoking pipe'
Arabic	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'God'	Also transcribed as Template:Angbr IPA. Many accents and dialects lack the sound and instead pronounce Template:IPA. See Arabic phonology
CatalanTemplate:Sfnp	Eastern	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'to the'	Apical. Can be always dark in many dialects. See Catalan phonology
	Western		Template:IPA
Dutch	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'molds'	Laminal; pharyngealized in northern accents, velarized or post-palatalised in southern accents. It is an allophone of Template:IPA before consonants and pauses, and also prevocalically when after the open back vowels Template:IPA. Many northern speakers realize the final Template:IPA as a strongly pharyngealised vocoid Template:IPA, whereas some Standard Belgian speakers use the clear Template:IPA in all positions.Template:Sfnp See Dutch phonology
	Some Netherlandic accentsTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'to let'	Pharyngealized laminal; realization of Template:IPA in all positions.Template:Sfnp See Dutch phonology
EnglishTemplate:Sfnp	Australian	feel	Template:Audio-IPA	'feel'	Most often apical; can be always dark in Australia and New Zealand. See Australian English phonology, New Zealand English phonology, and English phonology
	Canadian
	Dublin
	General American
	New Zealand
	Received Pronunciation
	South African
	Scottish	loch	Template:IPA	'loch'	Can be always dark except in some borrowings from Scottish Gaelic
Greek	Northern dialects<ref>Northern Greek Dialects Portal for the Greek Language</ref>	Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	Template:IPA	'ball'	Allophone of Template:IPA before Template:IPA. See Modern Greek phonology
Georgian		Template:Lang/Template:Transliteration	[ˈʒo̞ɫo̞]	'raspberry'	An allophone of /l/ before /o u/ and /a/. See Georgian phonology
Kurdish	Sorani	Template:Lang/گاڵتا	Template:IPA	'joke'	See Kurdish phonology
Romanian	Bessarabian dialectTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'horse'	Corresponds to non-velarized Template:IPATemplate:Fix in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology
Serbo-CroatianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang/Template:Lang/لاق	Template:IPA	'easy'	Apical; may be syllabic; contrasts with Template:IPAslink. See Serbo-Croatian phonology
UzbekTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Example needed			Apical; between a non-front rounded vowel and a consonant or juncture phoneme. Non-velarized denti-alveolar elsewhere.Template:Sfnp

Variable Template:Anchor

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Portuguese	EuropeanTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'thousand'	Dental and strongly velarized in all environments for most speakers, though less so before front vowels.<ref>On /l/ velarization in European Portuguese Amália Andrade, 14th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, San Francisco (1999)</ref><ref name="FinleyRodrigues2019"/>
	Older and conservative Brazilian<ref>Template:In lang The process of Norm change for the good pronunciation of the Portuguese language in chant and dramatics in Brazil during 1938, 1858 and 2007 Template:Webarchive Page 36.</ref><ref>TEYSSIER, Paul. "História da Língua Portuguesa", Lisboa: Livraria Sá da Costa, pp. 81-83.</ref>Template:Sfnp<ref>"Um caso de português tonal no Brasil?" – Centro de Comunicação e Expressão – Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Template:In lang. Page 49.</ref>	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'alcohol, ethanol'	When Template:IPA,<ref>"Um caso de português tonal no Brasil?" – Centro de Comunicação e Expressão – Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Template:In lang. Page 52.</ref> most often dental. Coda is now vocalized to Template:IPA in most of Brazil (as in EP in rural parts of Alto Minho and Madeira).<ref>MELO, Gladstone Chaves de. "A língua do Brasil". 4. Ed. Melhorada e aum., Rio de Janeiro: Padrão, 1981</ref> Stigmatized realizations such as Template:IPA, the Template:IPA range, Template:IPAblink and even Template:IPA (zero) are some other coda allophones typical of Brazil.<ref>Português do sul do Brasil – variação fonológica Template:Webarchive Leda Bisol and Gisela Collischonn. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, 2009. Pages 153–156.</ref> See Portuguese phonology

See also

• Index of phonetics articles
• Lateral consonant
• Velarization
• L-vocalization
• Ł

References

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External links

• Dark L
• Template:Phoible
• Template:Phoible